Koryn Greiwe breaks Columbus East’s girls basketball all-time scoring mark after draining this 3-point shot against Eastern in the third quarter in the Orange Pit at Columbus East High School.
Tommy Walker | For The Republic
Koryn Greiwe went into Monday night’s game against Eastern (Pekin) needing 28 points to break Columbus East’s all-time scoring record.
She almost got it in the first half.
After a 26-point first half, Greiwe broke Maria Stack’s record with her seventh 3-pointer of the game with 6:12 left in the third quarter. The 5-foot-7 senior point guard added another 3 for good measure later in the third quarter to finish with 32 points and lead the Class 4A co-No. 11 Olympians to a 78-39 win against the 2A No. 15 Musketeers.
“I did not know how many I needed tonight,” Greiwe said. “I tried to play the game, and then they stopped the game, and I was like, ‘What’s happening,’ and then when they said it, I just got a little emotional because I’ve worked so hard. It’s just something I’m proud of for myself. All the support from the fans really made me emotional.”
The record fell on a night when Greiwe was at her best. She went 8 for 8 from 3-point range, including one from midcourt at the first-half buzzer, 11 for 12 overall from the field and 2 for 2 from the free-throw line.
“I’ve been in the gym a lot shooting, and I finally found my stroke,” Greiwe said. “My teammates were giving me the ball, getting me in the right shooting pocket to go up and shoot and it just felt really good tonight. I was just patient, and then when my shot was open, I hit it.”
Greiwe, who scored 16 points in the first quarter, also led East (12-3) with six assists and six steals.
“Koryn just brought a lot of energy tonight,” East coach Danny Brown said. “She was determined to have a good game, and the first half was as good as I’ve ever seen her play. She was aggressive, she shot the ball well and she was making assists to go along with those 26 first-half points.”
Saige Stahl added 21 points and seven rebounds for the Olympians, who scored the game’s first 13 points and led 24-10 after one quarter and 51-22 at halftime. Jenna Guse came off the bench to score a career-high 11 points.
East bounced back from a 76-59 home loss to Zionsville on Wednesday.
“Our Saturday practice, we worked hard and got a lot of running in, just making sure we were ready for this game,” Greiwe said. “We had a hard practice, and we were really focused this game and made sure we knew what team we were. We knew who we were. We just had to play like it, so coming out in our press and just keeping our intensity the entire game is really what pushed us to succeed tonight.”
Greiwe now has 1,523 career points with six regular-season games remaining, plus the tournament.
“I’m sure she’ll be glad that it’s out of the way because I’m sure she kind of had that circled that she could get that done at some point this year, and we knew she could,” Brown said. “I’m glad it came at home, and we were able to recognize her with that.”
Columbus East 78, Eastern (Pekin) 39
Eastern;10;12;12;5;—;39
Columbus East;24;27;16;11;—;78
Eastern (9-6): Kylie Batt 0 0-0 0, Elizabeth Trueblood 0 0-0 0, Ava Sowder 7 0-0 14, McKenna Jeter 2 0-0 4, Gracie Lewis 1 0-1 3, Madeline Lewellen 1 0-0 2, Christina Knight 0 0-0 0, Kyia McKinley 4 6-6 14, Kaylee McKinley 1 0-0 2. Totals: 16 6-7 39.
Columbus East (12-3): Koryn Greiwe 11 2-2 32, Albany Speer 0 0-0 0, Jenna Guse 5 0-0 11, Maeleigh Roberts 0 0-0 0, Messiah Trapp 0 0-0 0, Saige Stahl 8 5-8 21, Leah Bachmann 3 0-0 6, Kaitlyn Carothers 1 0-0 2, Harley Gant 3 0-0 6. Totals: 31 7-10 78.
3-point goals: Eastern 1 (Lewis); Columbus East 9 (Greiwe 8, Guse).
