Columbus North girls basketball couldn’t find its rhythm in its opening round game of the Subway/Columbus North Invitational against Elkhart Central Friday night.
The Bull Dogs made a serious comeback in the fourth quarter, but eventually the deficit was too much to overcome in a 56-47 loss.
The Bull Dogs now face Zionsville, who lost 56-47 against Evansville North in the consolation bracket beginning at 10 a.m. today.
“We had a big lull in the second and third quarters, and we need to play better than that,” North coach Pat McKee said. “Give Elkhart Central credit, they got the ball to the right people and created scoring opportunities for themselves.”
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North (7-6) had trouble early on fighting through Elkhart Central’s (9-3) press, which led to turnovers and points at the other end to give the Blue Blazers an early 8-3 lead. Once the Bull Dogs were able to establish offense in the half court, they executed an 7-2 run to tie the game at 10-10. After a 3-point-play from Yiesha Williams for the Blue Blazers, Lauren Barker hit a 3 for North to tie the game up, and then an Annie Anderson jumper from the right side gave the Bull Dogs a 15-13 lead, but an Elkhart Central basket right before the end of the first tied the game at 15-15.
The Blue Blazers started out aggressive on offensive, and coupled by the cold shooting by the Bull Dogs, allowed Elkhart Central to start the second on 13-3 run to lead 28-18. A Madison White 3-pointer snap the cold streak briefly for North, but the shooting woes for the Bull Dogs continued as they faced a 29-22 halftime deficit.
North couldn’t find its rhythm in the third quarter, and even though Elkhart Central only made one field goal, they were able to make most of their opportunities at the free throw line to extend the Bull Dog deficit to 41-26 heading into the fourth.
The Bull Dogs got it to within 47-43 with 2:41 left to play in regulation, but that was as close as North would get as Elkhart Central was able to hit its free throws down the stretch.
“We had some good moments, we just need to have more of them,” McKee said.
White led North with 13 points, while Barker and Sierra Norman each added 11.
