Kaylie Harmon
Columbus North built itself a huge lead at halftime, and the only trouble it faced was the first possessions of the third quarter.
After Bull Dog coach Brett White called a timeout 84 seconds into the second half, North got into the groove and didn’t let up to coast to a 59-44 girls basketball victory over the Owls.
“We talked about at halftime that we needed the killer instinct, and I felt like the first three possessions weren’t reflecting that,” White said. “It was a reminder of what we wanted to accomplish, and I thought we responded after the timeout.”
After North (8-2) led 34-13 at halftime, Seymour (2-7) cut it to 38-25 before the Bull Dogs closed out the quarter with a 12-6 run to lead 50-31. The Owls didn’t threaten in the fourth quarter.
The game was tight in the first quarter, with North leading 13-9. The Bull Dogs then went on a scoring frenzy and started the quarter with a 18-2 run to lead 31-11.
“In the second quarter, we pushed the ball and ran some sets that worked well and executed plays,” North senior Kenna Conrad said. “We moved the ball and got some kickouts for 3s. We got some easy drives. We just moved the ball around well.”
Kaylie Harmon finished with a game-high 17 points to lead the Bull Dogs.. Miley McClellan chipped in 14 points, with most coming off offensive rebounds and putbacks. Ava Wilson was the third in double figures for North with 11.
“It was definitely something we focused on, crashing the boards and trying to create second and third opportunities if we can,” McClellan said.
The Bull Dogs have less than 48 hours rest to prepare for the annual city rivalry with Columbus East Thursday. The JV begins at 6 p.m. with the varsity game to follow.
“The nice thing about that game is, you don’t have to pump them up. They’ll have the energy. They’ll have the emotion, but on the other hand, then you’ve got to corral that emotion a little bit with things and still stick to what we want to accomplish,” White said. “We’ll come in (Wednesday) and work on some things in preperation, probably more mental than physical, then we’ll come by out on Thursday and hopefully put a good product on the floor.”
Columbus North 59, Seymour 44
Seymour;9;4;18;13;—;44
Columbus North;13;21;16;7;—;59
Seymour (2-7): Kelsea Hensley 4 0-0 8, Claire Skaggs 4 0-0 11, Emmy Munson 2 2-2 7, Avah Kriete 0 0-0 0, Abby Otte 3 0-0 8, Trista Wischeimer 0 0-0 0, Kennedy Burnette 0 1-2 1, Banesa Sebastian Juan 0 0-0 0, Sophie Skidmore 2 2-5 7, Emmy Followell 0 2-4 2. Totals: 15 7-13 44.
Columbus North (8-2): Kenna Conrad 2 0-0 4, Ava Wilson 5 0-0 11, Claire Finney 0 0-0 0, Riley Sims 2 0-0 5, Sydni Schiefer 1 2-2 4, Riley Hurt 0 0-0 0, Kaylie Harmon 6 2-4 17, Miley McClellan 7 0-0 14, Avery Johnson 2 0-0 4, Addy Wheatley 2 0-0 4. Totals: 25 4-6 59.
3-point goals: Seymour 7 (Skaggs 3, Otte 2, Munson, Skidmore). Columbus North 5 (Harmon 3, Wilson, Sims).
