Columbus North’s Tyler Blythe, left, gets past Mooresville’s Nick Patterson to shoot a layup during a basketball game at Columbus North High School in Columbus, Ind., Friday, Jan. 13, 2023.
Mike Wolanin | The Republic
Columbus North took a double-digit lead in the second quarter, but Mooresville didn’t give up the victory so easy.
The Pioneers were ahead by one point during the third quarter, but the Bull Dogs retook the lead and were able to convert on their free throws late to come away with a 58-53 boys basketball victory Friday night.
“Mooresville’s a good team. We knew it was going to be a tough battle,” North coach Paul Ferguson said. “We’re grateful we had the lead and were in control of the game because we knew they were going to make a run.”
A big key statistic that helped the Bull Dogs (9-5) was taking care of the basketball. They committed only four turnovers in the game.
“They’re very long and athletic and have a couple of guys that are 6-(foot)-4 and really try to pressure you and turn you over, so I was pleased with how we took care of the ball,” Ferguson said. “At the end of the day, they had a really hard time guarding us off the dribble, and we were able to get to the rim against them.”
Both teams kept the game tight early. The Pioneers (7-7) went inside, while North got contributions from Ty Ferguson and Cooper Horn to lead 9-8 after the first quarter.
The Bull Dogs came out hot to start the second quarter by going on an 11-0 run to lead 20-8. The Pioneers eventually slowed down the momentum in the latter stages of the first half to make it 23-15 at the break.
Mooresville hit several perimeter baskets to retake the lead at 32-31, but North came back to lead 35-32 heading into the fourth quarter.
The Bull Dogs led 43-40 until Tyler Blythe drained a 3-pointer to give them a 46-40 lead. Late in the game with the score 50-44, North went 8 of 8 from the line to seal the win.
“They came out and started shooting the ball a lot better, so we had a couple timeouts there. We told each other we got to step it up. We’ve got to step up the intensity and work harder at it,” Blythe said. “The free throws helped us get the win.”
For the Bull Dogs, Horn finished with a game-high 22 points, Ty Ferguson had 15 and Blythe added 11.
It was a good bounce back win for North after dropping a Conference Indiana game against Terre Haute North last week.
“It was the moment where we realized we got knocked down, and that was good for us,” Horn said. “We haven’t really had that much this year, and that was really good for us as a team. That was the big thing that made us come together in practice this week. We’re not going to let that happen again all year, which is really good for us.”
Columbus North 58, Mooresville 53
Mooresville;8;7;17;21;—;53
Columbus North;9;14;12;23;—;58
Mooresville (7-7): Patterson 7 2-2 16, DeFur 2 2-3 7, Reeves 4 1-2 9, Rogers 1 0-0 2, Denny 3 0-0 8, Danielson 3 0-0 9. Totals: 21 5-7 53.
Columbus North (9-5): Luke Harmon 2 0-1 4, Tyler Blythe 3 4-4 11, Damon Edwards 2 0-2 4, Ty Ferguson 5 4-5 15, Cooper Horn 8 5-7 22, Drew Schiefer 1 0-0 2. Totals: 21 13-19 58.
3-point goals: Mooresville 6 (Danielson 3, Denny 2, DeFur); Columbus North 3 (Blythe, Ferguson, Horn).
