Columbus East got off to a good start in Saturday night’s boys basketball non-conference matchup against Franklin.
However, the fast start didn’t last long.
The Grizzly Cubs had a strong second quarter to take the lead for good, and the Olympians didn’t have enough offensive fire in the second half and fell 59-48.
“We got a lot of looks, but we just have to knock them down,” East coach Brent Chitty said. “We have to do a better job defensively. I thought that we didn’t have a lot of energy.”
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Drew Byerly won the physical battle inside to help Franklin (9-8) get off to a 6-0 start. Once the Olympians defense contained Byerly, it led to a comeback. Tyler Boyer and Jacob Pierce each hit 3-pointers that helped East (3-17) finish out the first quarter on a 12-0 run to lead 12-6.
The Grizzly Cubs then turned up the intensity and started out the second quarter on a 9-0 run, thanks to seven points from Damon Dickey during the run to lead 15-12. After the Olympians got it to 17-16 following a Seth Chandler basket, Franklin finished out the first half on a 8-1 run to lead 24-17 at the break.
“Our kids weren’t discouraged, but obviously, (East had) a better conversion rate at the very beginning of the game,” Franklin coach Brad Dickey said. “Damon helped get us going a little bit, and Drew got activated. He is one that always scores a lot of points for us. We had a lot of kids that handled the ball tonight. A lot of kids got on the scoreboard, so it was a positive experience.”
The Grizzly Cubs extended the lead out to 34-25, but then the Olympians came back with baskets from Daniel Murphy and Boyer to make it 34-29. Christian McClure then silenced the run with a 3-pointer to give Franklin a 37-29 lead. With the third quarter winding down, Peyton Ruble drained a 3-point shot from the left side at the buzzer to extend the Grizzly Cubs to their largest lead of the game at 42-31 heading into the fourth.
Franklin put the game away early in the fourth quarter by extending its lead to 48-34 and slamming the door on an East comeback.
Boyer and Daniel Murphy scored 14 each, and Jacob Pierce added 10 for the Olympians. Byerly finished with a game-high 22 points, and Damon Dickey added 13 for the Grizzly Cubs.
