Lauren Sanders
The Columbus Christian girls had trouble shaking Christian Academy of Madison in the first half Saturday afternoon and led by only nine points at halftime.
But the Crusaders came out with a vengeance to start the second half. They scored the first 12 points of the third quarter in an overall 22-2 run that broke the semifinal game open and sent them to Monday’s Indiana Christian Schools Athletic Association South Regional final.
“That was a big stretch for us,” Columbus Christian coach Chris Noblitt said. “We told them at halftime, we were just playing not good defense. We were fouling a lot. We were reaching real bad. That stretch in the third quarter, we played a lot better and were getting a lot of steals.”
The Crusaders (14-9) forced turnovers on the Defenders’ first seven possessions of the third quarter and capitalized by scoring on six of them.
Sarah Lorimor
“I think our defense was pretty good, and that turned into our offense,” said senior Sarah Lorimor, who scored 12 of her game-high 20 points in the third quarter. “It really just gave us the momentum to keep going.”
“I think we played really well as a team and all together,” added freshman Lauren Sanders, who finished with 17 points. “We did make a few mistakes, and the first half was definitely rough. But in the second half, we really brought it to them.”
Emma Murray
Freshman Emma Murray added 12 points and 12 rebounds for Columbus Christian.
“I think we played overall good as a team,” Murray said. “We communicated, and we passed well. There’s some things we need to work on, but we were really strong as a team, and we can only get better from here.”
The Crusaders host Martinsville Tabernacle Christian at 6 p.m. Monday for a spot in next weekend’s ICSAA state final four at Calvary Christian in Indianapolis. Columbus Christian beat the Eagles, who feature the state’s leading scorer in Annie Sichting, by seven points at home and 10 on the road.
“They’re a good team,” Noblitt said. “It should be a real fun game. We’ve beaten them twice, but you never know.”
“If we play like we did in the second half, and we bring it to them like we have previously playing them, we can win and we can go to state,” Sanders added. “We believe that, but we have to go in there with the effort.”
Columbus Christian 64, Christian Academy of Madison 37
Christian Academy;10;9;6;12;—;37
Columbus Christian;19;9;22;14;—;64
Christian Academy of Madison (0-8): Emily Young 0 0-0 0, Jada Yoder 0 1-4 1, Hannah Skirvin 3 0-0 7, Haley Pettit 5 2-2 12, Megan Hoskins 0 0-0 0, Mylee Jackinowski4 5-8 13, Abby Whitice 0 0-0 0, Eva Fox 0 0-0 0, Elise Coulter 1 0-0 2, Lindsey Gross 0 0-0 0, Hannah Young 0 0-0 0, Reni Roberts 1 0-0 2. Totals: 14 8-14 37.
Columbus Christian (14-9): Sarah Lorimor 9 1-2 20, Eva Blair 10-0 2, Madi Blair 3 0-0 6, Paige Benjamin-Harden 2 0-0 5, Katie Bond 0 0-0 0, Lauren Sanders 6 2-3 17, Belle Blair 0 0-0 0, Mara Nickerson 1 0-0 2, Emma Murray 5 2-6 12. Totals: 27 5-11 64.
3-point goals: Christian Academy of Madison 1 (Skirvin); Columbus Christian 5 (Sanders 3, Lorimor, Benjamin-Harden).
