Columbus North’s Kayla Jones, left, and Jennings Country’s Alivia Elmore go for a loose ball during a basketball game at Columbus North High School in Columbus, Ind., Thursday, Jan. 6, 2022.
Columbus North and Jennings County played close for much of Thursday night’s girls basketball game.
It was a short stretch in the second half that made the difference.
The Panthers went on a 9-0 run at the end of the third quarter and start of the fourth quarter. They had a little bit of troubling closing the game out, but the cushion built was big enough to earn a 51-46 win over the Bull Dogs.
“We gained a lot of momentum and gained a lot of confidence,” Jennings coach Kristi Sigler said. “Down the stretch, we have to learn from that. When we go back and watch film, there’s a lot of opportunities that we continued to give them. Overall, to come in here on the road and to get the win is huge for the program.”
The Panthers (12-3) went ahead 8-4 in the first quarter until baskets from Andrea Justis and Kylah Lawson helped the Bull Dogs (9-5) tie the game at 8-8. Alivia Elmore scored the final six points for Jennings during a 6-3 run to end the first quarter leading 14-11.
Elmore went down with a minor injury early in the second quarter, but later returned to the game. With the Panthers leading 16-15, North got a couple baskets from Lauren Barker to retake the lead 19-16 near the midway mark of the quarter.
Jennings’ top player Juliann Woodard, who has been getting Division I offers, had a quiet first quarter but made her presence felt in the second quarter by driving to the basket and drawing fouls to put the Bull Dogs in foul trouble in the closing minutes of the first half. Woodard scored the Panthers next eight points, with six of them from the foul line to put them ahead 24-23, but it would be North that would take a 26-25 lead heading into halftime.
Woodard gave Jennings the lead early in the second half with a bucket to retake the lead 27-26. The lead changed back and forth through much of the third quarter. With the Bull Dogs leading 34-33, the Panthers utilized Woodard on the attack inside, and it led to them finishing out the quarter on a 7-2 run, capped off with a Woodard layup just before the buzzer to take a 40-36 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
“We didn’t identify a couple times defensively and allowed some players that we didn’t want to have the basketball to get the basketball,” North coach Brett White said. “We had a couple turnovers that turned into points for them. Giving up easy baskets when we really haven’t given up the easy baskets before, they were able to capitalize on that.”
Jennings started out the fourth quarter with a Lily Ernstes layup inside and a 3-pointer from Kali Thompson to take its largest lead of the game at 45-36. The lead was big enough for the Panthers to eventually close out the game.
“(Woodard) came off a great game last week at Ben Davis, two solid games up there,” Sigler said. “Obviously, with Alivia getting hurt and in foul trouble, we’re asking Juliann to handle the ball, score and play defense. She was asked to do a lot and she came through tonight.”
Woodard finished with a game-high 27 points and Elmore added 10 to lead the Panthers. Lauren Barker finished with a team-high 12 points, and Lawson added 10 for the Bull Dogs.
