Luke Harmon
After opening the boys basketball season with four consecutive road games, Columbus North was glad to be back in its own gym Saturday night.
The Bull Dogs used the friendly confines of their home court to their advantage, shooting 58 percent (7 for 12) from 3-point range. That led to a 58-44 win against Martinsville.
“We really just shared the ball really well and played as a team,” senior Luke Harmon said. “Our team chemistry is really good. We all trust each other, and we’re always willing to give up a good shot for a great shot.”
Harmon matched the career-high 19 points he put up in Friday’s 85-51 win at Silver Creek. He hit four 3-pointers in that game, when North went 9 for 14 from long range, and hit four more 3s on Saturday.
The biggest basket of the game, though, may have come at the first-quarter buzzer. Trailing 14-12, the Bull Dogs (3-2) got the ball to Cooper Horn in the right corner, and Horn buried a 3 to give North the lead for good.
Horn’s basket jump-started a 9-0 run that put the Bull Dogs in control.
“That was a big shot right there,” North coach Paul Ferguson said. “It was good execution by our guys. Cooper had a big shot.”
North had trailed the Artesians (2-2) by as many as five in the first quarter.
“Credit to Martinsville,” Ferguson said. “They’re a good team. Kip (Staggs) had them very well-coached to play against our zone. We had to make adjustments because of what Martinsville was doing, and once we figured that out, we got rolling, especially the second half.”
Horn finished with 16 points for the Bull Dogs. Ty Ferguson scored 14 points and grabbed seven rebounds to lead North to a 24-18 advantage on the boards.
“Our offense got going this weekend,” Paul Ferguson said. “We had a really good week of practice, and we worked on some of the things we weren’t doing well over the Thanksgiving Weekend. (Friday) night, we had four guys in double figures, and tonight, we had three, so that type of production for us, that balance is really crucial.”
Columbus North 58, Martinsville 44
Martinsville;14;2;13;15;—;44
Columbus North;15;9;17;17;—;58
Martinsville (2-2): Brody Staggs 2 0-0 4, Will Bastin 2 2-2 6, Lane Taylor 0 0-0 0, Rhys Wolf 1 0-0 3, Caleb Cheatham 4 0-0 8, Landon Marton 0 0-0 0, Grady Gardner 6 0-0 17, Hunter Stroud 0 0-0 0, Jack Wolff 2 2-2 6. Totals: 17 4-4 44.
Columbus North (3-2): Luke Harmon 7 1-1 19, Tyler Blythe 1 0-0 3, Damon Edwards 1 0-0 2, Ty Ferguson 5 3-4 14, Zac Horn 0 0-0 0, Luke Enneking 0 0-0 0, Cooper Horn 7 1-1 16, Philip McKinley 1 0-0 2, Blake Osbourne 0 0-0 0, Max Coomes 0 0-0 0, Drew Schiefer 1 0-0 2, Garrett Long 0 0-0 0. Totals: 23 5-6 58.
3-point goals: Martinsville 6 (Gardner 5, Wolf); Columbus North 7 (Harmon 4, Blythe, Ferguson, Horn).
