Silver Creek is arguably one of the top teams in the state, and Tuesday against Columbus North, the Dragons showed why.
The Dragons went out to a big lead early, and the Bull Dogs couldn’t recover and they fell to Class 3A No. 1 Silver Creek 71-55.
Silver Creek, a strong favorite to play at Bankers Life Fieldhouse for a 3A state title, has only three losses on the season, all against 4A schools in No. 1 North Central, No. 3 Bedford North Lawrence and Westfield.
“They’re a really good team. They run the floor really well. They make 3s,” North coach Pat McKee said. “They have one player, especially inside, who gets lots of rebounds and putbacks. They’re just a really good team. They’re athletically defensively, and they’re good on that end, too. All credit to them.”
The 3-point shot was falling in the first quarter for the Dragons (17-3), who hit four of them in the period, and it helped build a 20-5 lead on the Bull Dogs (7-4).
The second quarter didn’t get much easier. North cut it to as close as 22-10 early in the second quarter following a three-point-play from Alexa McKinley, but the duo of Alana Striverson and Marissa Gasaway combined for 14 of Silver Creek’s 16 second quarter points to make it 36-14 at the half.
The Bull Dogs were hitting their shots in the second half, but every time North got a basket, the Dragons would respond right back with a basket at the other end to keep the cushion needed to eventually get the win.
“In the first half, it’s not like we were awful, we just were passive,” McKee said. “When a couple things didn’t go our way, we played scared, and we just can’t do that against anybody, and especially not a team like this.
“The biggest thing is, they’re really good. They’ve beaten some really good teams, and they lost close two or three times to some really good teams.”
Striverson had a game-high 22 points for Silver Creek, and Gasaway finished with 20. The Bull Dogs were led by McKinley with 18 points, while Kylah Lawson finished with 15 and Lauren Barker added 13.
