It wasn’t the performance that the Columbus East girls basketball team wanted in its final tuneup before next week’s sectional.
The Olympians had trouble against the full court press most of Thursday night’s game, but they were able to provide themselves many opportunities at the free-throw line. They hit 12 free throws in a row to finish the game and close out visiting Cathedral 51-43 for its seventh straight victory to finish the regular season 14-5.
“Cathedral is a really good defense team. They put good pressure on us the whole game and made us work,” East coach Danny Brown said. “It got us out of our offense a little bit, and we turned the ball over way too much at this time of the season. I give them a lot of credit. They did a good job. We’ve been hitting our free throws all year, and that’s a big difference when it comes down the stretch.”
Leading 35-34 heading into the fourth quarter, Leah Bachmann hit a couple of baskets inside that brought the flow of the game back on the Olympians side for a 39-34 lead. Saige Stahl and Koryn Greiwe combined to hit the 12 free throws to close out the game.
“Leading up to that, I really wasn’t on my game, so personally, it really boosted my confidence,” Bachmann said. “I feel everyone around us, we realized that we could pull this one out.”
East jumped out to a 9-4 lead that forced Cathedral (9-11) to call a timeout. Following the timeout, the Irish tied the game at 9-9. After both teams traded 3-point baskets, Greiwe hit a 3 with just over a minute left to put the Olympians ahead 15-12 after the opening quarter.
Cathedral took advantage of the East miscues in the second quarter, but the Olympians still led 21-18. The Irish got six straight points from Courtney Fields to help tie the game at 24-24 at the break.
East had several turnovers in the third quarter, giving the Irish plenty of opportunities to take the lead. However, Cathedral couldn’t convert on its chances to go ahead, and thus, the Olympians led 35-34 heading into the fourth.
Greiwe finished with a game-high 18 points for East. Stahl had 14, and Gabby Dean added eight.
The Olympians were shorthanded, playing without Emma Jenkins and Albany Speer. Jenkins has missed the previous three games due to a knee injury, and Speer was sent home before game time due to illness not related to COVID-19.
Brown said Jenkins and Speer should be ready to go for the sectional.
“We are really looking forward to having everyone back next week. We just have to make sure that we execute our offense and play defense and practice that this week,” Greiwe said. “Really focusing and working hard this week so we can go down there (to East Central) and have a great start.”
East has a tough draw in the sectional. The Olympians will take on host East Central in the first round, with the tipoff at 6 p.m. on Tuesday.
The Olympians lost to the Trojans in last year’s sectional final, and again this regular season back on Nov. 19.
“We had a good regular season, and we have three practices to get ready, and we’ll be ready,” Brown said.
