Starting four guards sometimes can be a disadvantage when it comes to height.
But with three of Columbus North’s four guards standing at least 6-foot-1, the Bull Dogs have a big advantage when it comes to taking care of the basketball.
That was the case on Friday night when the Bull Dogs turned the ball over only one time in the first 27 minutes. They finished with only four for the night and rolled to a 74-46 win against Shelbyville in their home opener.
“We’ve been preaching ball toughness all year to these guys — ‘Take care of the ball, just be tough with it. Stay aggressive, but be tough,’” North coach Paul Ferguson said. “These guys have embraced that, and they’ve done a nice job not turning it over.”
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The Bull Dogs (3-1) led only 13-10 with 1:45 left in the first quarter before Cooper Horn hit a 3-pointer. Blake Barker, who had missed his first two shots and two free throws, then executed a shot fake in the left corner, drove the baseline and threw down a two-handed jam.
That seemed to get Barker going. Leading 18-13 after one quarter, North scored the first 12 points of the second period. Horn converted a 3-point play, then Barker, Sam King and Barker again hit 3-pointers to push the lead to 30-13 with 5½ minutes left in the first half.
“I just had to see the ball go through the hoop,” Barker said. “But my teammates helped me get to that spot where I was able to get going a little bit. They fed me the ball in the right spots. That was huge for us. We knew once we created a lot of space between them, they weren’t going to be able to catch back up. We took good shots and got in a good offensive rhythm, and that’s kind of what sealed the deal for us.”
North went 8 of 14 from the field in the second quarter, while the Golden Bears (1-2) went 3 of 13. The Bull Dogs led 39-21 at halftime.
“I loved our start,” Ferguson said. “We’ve been working all week on really being efficient in our half-court offense, and our first seven possessions were fantastic offensively. We didn’t make every shot, but just our flow and our movement was tremendous. Then the second quarter, we got hot and knocked down some 3s, and I thought our defensive pressure bothered them all night.”
Barker finished with 17 points to lead four North players in double figures. Horn scored 16, while Sam King had a career-high 13 off the bench and Max Wilson added 11.
“I thought we played really well as a team,” Ferguson said. “We moved the ball well. When we got into a half-court offense, we really clicked on all cylinders, and they just couldn’t handle our pressure out there.”
Jakub Trusina grabbed six rebounds to lead the Bull Dogs to a 30-20 advantage on the boards. Reese Harmon dished out seven of North’s 16 assists.
“We have a lot of senior leaders out there that take care of the ball,” Horn said. “Coach really emphasizes ball toughness, and I think we’ve been doing a good job.”
