Yes, Columbus North is a heavy favorite against Bloomington North in tonight’s girls basketball sectional semifinals, and yes, the Bull Dogs are primed to face a state-ranked opponent in Saturday’s East Central Sectional final.
But make no mistake about it, Columbus North is not looking ahead to a potential matchup with either Class 4A No. 9 East Central or 4A No. 10 Martinsville. The Bull Dogs are focused squarely on Bloomington North.
“We never really look ahead,” Columbus North coach Pat McKee said. “It’s just the next game. That’s the way we’ve always done it. As coaches, we may look at things beyond one game, but with players, it’s the task at hand because anything beyond that sets you up for difficult situations. We know we have to take care of business (today) because if we don’t, there is no Saturday.”
The game between the Bull Dogs (12-5) and Cougars (6-16) will tip off around 8 p.m. East Central (17-4) and Martinsville (16-4) play in the 6 p.m. opener. The sectional final will be at 7 p.m. Saturday.
Columbus North is coming off arguably its two best games of the season — a 59-18 win against Terre Haute North on Saturday that clinched the outright Conference Indiana championship and a 57-43 win against Bloomington South in Tuesday’s sectional opener. On Tuesday, the Bull Dogs went 12 of 16 from the field, including 7 of 11 from 3-point range, in the first half and were 18 of 19 from the free-throw line for the game.
“I thought we played really well against Terre Haute North,” McKee said. “We scored, and we defended. We challenged them at halftime of that game to play not like it was won, and they played really well the second half. (Tuesday), we played really well for big sections of the game. We shot really well in the first half, and in the second half, we moved the ball quite well. We limited Bloomington South to one shot on most possessions.”
Tonight’s game will be a rematch of a game won by Columbus North 60-39 on Jan. 22. That came in the midst of the Cougars’ six-game losing streak to end the regular season.
“I think they’re a little better than their record indicates,” McKee said. “Look at who they’ve played, and their losses are to good people for the most part. They’ve won several games, and they’re OK. If we just think we’re going to show up and not have to do anything, then we could be surprised.”
Bloomington North is led by a pair of freshman. Mia Robbenolt, a 5-foot-10 guard-forward, averages 11.0 points, 5.0 rebounds and 2.1 steals a game, and 5-8 guard Ava Reitmeier adds 10.3 points.
Mallory Barrow, a 5-10 sophomore guard, averages 9.4 points for the Cougars.
“They have some good young players who in some ways are better now and in time will continue to become better,” McKee said. “They may be more ready now than they were a few weeks ago. As young players getting full-blown varsity experience, they’re better now than they were a month ago or two weeks ago, even if there were growing pains in their process.”
Alexa McKinley, a 5-7 senior, leads the Bull Dogs with 12.4 points and 4.0 assists a game. Lauren Barker, a 5-5 sophomore, averages 11.4 points, and 5-10 junior Kylah Lawson adds 10.4 points, 9.2 rebounds and 2.0 steals.
Columbus North also has gotten contributions from its other starters, 5-11 senior Madison White and 5-8 sophomore Emma Long, as well as 5-5 senior Kanon Matsuno, 5-9 junior Lucy Norman and 6-0 senior Emily Herndon off the bench.
If the Bull Dogs win tonight, they would face one of two teams they’ve beaten this season. They won 55-49 at Martinsville on Nov. 13 and beat East Central 61-51 at home on Jan. 14.
East Central is led by 6-0 sophomore Josie Trabel (17.0 ppg, 6.0 rpg) and 5-8 junior Hope Fox (14.9 ppg, 3.2 spg). Martinsville is led by senior Pa’shence Walker and juniors Ashlynn Traylor and Delaney Wolfe.
But as McKee mentioned, the clear focus for now is on Bloomington North.
“We just have to play our game and try to execute and do what we did (Tuesday) night — play a clean game, hit some shots and make sure we defend and rebound,” McKee said. “There were many good things, and hopefully, we can continue to do that.”
