BLOOMINGTON — Columbus North clinched at least a share of the Conference Indiana girls basketball title Monday night and can win it outright on Saturday.
The Bull Dogs, playing their first of four games in the final week of the regular season, went on the road and downed Bloomington South 57-40 in a battle of conference unbeatens. North can finish off a perfect conference season with a win at home against Terre Haute North on Saturday.
“It’s really nice to get another conference win,” North senior Alexa McKinley said. “We have one more, but we’re on the right road for that.”
The Bull Dogs (9-4, 4-0) finished the first quarter on a 10-2 run to take a 14-6 lead. The Panthers (9-7, 4-1) came back to within 21-18, but then their second-leading scorer, Brooke Grinstead, picked up her third foul, and North went on an 11-0 run to go ahead 32-18. The Bull Dogs led 34-22 at the half.
After Bloomington South scored the first two points of the third quarter, North went on a 10-0 run to take a 44-24 lead. It was 46-26 after three quarters, and the Bull Dogs built the advantage to 53-30 midway through the fourth.
“The first quarter got us going,” McKinley said. “The second quarter, we really picked up our defensive intensity. The third quarter, we played pretty well, too.”
McKinley finished with 14 points. Kylah Lawson led North with 15 points and 14 rebounds.
“She played really well,” North coach Pat McKee said. “She not only rebounded and scored, she guarded arguably their best player (Anya Friend, who led the Panthers with 15 points).”
Lauren Barker added 12 points for the Bull Dogs. She hit a pair of 3-pointers during the pivotal second-quarter stretch.
“We did a good job getting the ball inside and kicking out for some shots,” McKee said. “Then, we got the ball inside because they were coming out on our shooters. Most of our 3s were well-selected 3s, so we had success.”
North and Bloomington South will meet again Feb. 2 in the opening round of the East Central Sectional.
