BLOOMINGTON — After playing Bloomington South to a stalemate the first 16 minutes Thursday night, Columbus East girls basketball coach Danny Brown made a couple of adjustments.
Defensively, the Olympians started getting out on the Panthers shooters after Bloomington South made seven 3-pointers in the first half. Offensively, Brown moved Emma Jenkins to the high post and put 6-foot-4 Gabby Dean on the low block, and East dominated the inside on its way to a 58-45 victory.
“With Gabby, we could run her out of the high post or run her on the wing or we could run her on the low post,” Brown said. “We just exchanged her and Emma and put Emma up there (at the high post) and just pounded it inside to (Dean) and Leah. Emma did a great job right there.”
Dean finished with 20 points and 10 rebounds for the Olympians (2-0). Koryn Greiwe also scored 20 points, and Leah Bachmann went for 16 points and 14 rebounds.
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“I feel like the second half, we finally stepped it up,” Bachmann said. “Gabby was just on fire tonight. They were passing it in, and we just had really good looks. I think that we start slow a lot of the time, and we need to start out like we played the second half.”
The Panthers (2-1) took their last lead at 30-29 on a 3-pointer by Brooke Grinstead about a minute into the third quarter. From there, East went on a 15-1 run to take a 44-31 lead with 1:50 left in the period.
Bloomington South scored the final eight points of the third quarter to cut the lead to 44-39. The Panthers still were within 50-45 with 3:30 remaining, but a three-point play by Greiwe sparked an 8-0 Olympians run to end the game.
“We knew Gabby and Leah were going to be tough inside,” Brown said. “Emma did a good job running the high post part of it. Once they get in the bonus, we try to keep the ball in Koryn’s hands, and she’s deadly at the foul line.”
East finished with a 42-27 rebound advantage. Jenkins grabbed eight boards.
“We made changes throughout the game, and it really helped get everyone more involved, and we executed better,” Dean said. “Everyone was coachable along the way, and it helped us.”
Grinstead hit seven of Bloomington South’s 12 3-pointers and led all scorers with 24 points.
“We played pretty good team defense,” Brown said. “They have some shooters. We just couldn’t shake them the first half. Every time we’d get a three-point lead or four-point lead, they’d hit a 3. But we got out on them better in the second half and executed our offense really well the second half.”
The Olympians, who played without starter Saige Stahl and backup Kaitlyn Carothers, could see the Panthers again in February in the East Central Sectional.
“To beat them by 13 on their home floor, a sectional opponent, and we’re not at full strength yet, we’re pretty happy with that,” Brown said. “I know Larry (Winters’) teams will get better. They always do come sectional time, but we hope to be in that same situation where we just keep getting better and better. We’re just glad to be playing basketball.”
