Columbus East coach Kylie Weichmann celebrates with the Olympains after Saige Stahl ties the game in the first quarter against East Central in the first round of the sectional at Shelbyville, Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2023.
Paige Grider for The Republic
SHELBYVILLE — After three long years of postseason frustration, the Columbus East girls finally got their payback on East Central.
The Trojans have been a thorn in the side of the Olympians for the past three years in the sectional. It wasn’t the case on Tuesday night as East pushed to a double digit lead in the second half to come with a 60-50 win in the opening round of the Shelbyville Sectional.
The Olympians move on to face Shelbyville in the second semifinal game on Friday.
The biggest key moment in the game came with about three minutes left to play in regulation. The Trojans were making a run and cut the deficit to 49-46. Maeleigh Roberts gave the Olympians some breathing room to go ahead 52-46. It enabled them to hit their free throws down the stretch to seal off the victory.
Roberts’ 3-point shooting couldn’t have come at a better time after going 0 for 7 for the perimeter in Thursday’s regular-season finale against Cathedral.
“I told her in practice the other day that she was going to hit a big shot for us before the season is over. She gets frustrated when she doesn’t hit shots,” East coach Danny Brown said. “I told her that the season is not over and you’re going to hit a big shot before this year is over, and that one was the big one to beat East Central.”
Brown’s biggest strategy on defense was to contain East Central top player, Josie Trabel. Trabel has been a headache for East over the past few years scoring 34 points each of the past couple games. The Olympians defense held her to eight points before she left with an injury in the third quarter.
“We had a game plan, obviously, and that was to stop Trabel,” Brown said. “We’ve been watching her enough over the last three years. We’ve seen enough. I’ve seen enough. We weren’t going to let her do that again. Hopefully it works, and it worked.”
East Central (15-11) jumped out to an 11-2 lead early in the game that prompted an East timeout with 3:18 left in the quarter. Once the Olympians (10-13) regrouped, Jenna Guse and Saige Stahl both hit 3-pointers during a 9-0 run of their own to tie the game at 11-11. Following a Trojans timeout, East gained its first lead of the game, but a layup from Emily Klem at the buzzer gave East Central a 14-13 lead.
The East defense allowed Laney Baker and Trabel run down the lane with ease as the duo combined to score all the second quarter points for the Trojans. The Olympians had a more balanced attack with Roberts hitting a couple of 3-pointers, Leah Bachmann and Saige Stahl added a couple baskets in a fast paced second quarter. East had a 29-26 halftime lead.
The game was tied at 33-33 until the Olympians finished on an 8-1 run to lead 41-34 heading into the fourth quarter. East led 45-36 following a Stahl layup. However, Trabel injured her ankle on the play and had to be helped off the court. She didn’t return to the game.
For the Olympians, Stahl led the way with 20 points. Roberts finished with 14, Guse had 13 and Bachmann added 11 to lead the scoring.
With Stahl facing a double team for much of the game, it was very key for the rest of the supporting cast to step up, and they delivered big.
“I knew coming in that they were going to double team me, and the team knew that too,” Stahl said. “Maeleigh came out and hit a bunch of shots. She’s been working on that, and she hit them tonight. Leah played strong, she got rebounds, she got put backs and hit her free throws. Jenna bringing the ball down strong. We didn’t have much turnovers tonight. That helped us out. If we keep playing like that, we’re going to do well in this tournament.”
Columbus East 60, East Central 50
Columbus East;13;16;12;19;—;60
East Central;14;12;8;16;—;50
Columbus East (10-13): Saige Stahl 8 3-3 20, Leah Bachmann 3 5-6 11, Jenna Guse 5 2-2 13, Maeleigh Roberts 4 2-2 14, Heidi Murphy 1 0-0 2, Allison Craig 0 0-0 0, Messiah Trapp 0 0-0 0. Totals: 21 12-13 60.
East Central (15-11): Josie Trabel 4 0-0 8, Ava Arnult 1 1-2 3, Caitlyn Dick 1 0-0 3, Laney Baker 10 4-6 24, Julia Tiemann 3 0-0 6, Emily Klem 3 0-0 6. Totals: 22 5-8 50.
3-point goals: Columbus East 6 (Roberts 4, Guse, Stahl); East Central 1 (Dick).
