Kenzie Cheek
Columbus East did the job defensively Saturday afternoon against New Albany.
Unfortunately for the Olympians, they had a hard time putting the ball in the basket. That allowed the Bulldogs to pull away in the second half for a 50-40 Hoosier Hills Conference victory.
East limited New Albany to three field goals in the second half and 12 for the game. But the Bulldogs went to the free-throw line 32 times, making 23.
The Olympians were within 26-24 at halftime, but scored only two points in the third quarter as New Albany stretched the lead to seven in the final minute of the period. East got back to within 36-34 on a steal and layup by Ella Anthis with 3:26 left in the game, but didn’t score again until 35 seconds remained.
“We actually shot the ball a little bit better than we normally do, but we definitely had stints where we went a long period of time without scoring, which we struggled with,” East coach Kaitlyn Phillips said. “Especially in the third quarter and sometimes in the fourth quarter, we just really struggled to get over that hump. But defensively, it was a solid effort.”
Kenzie Cheek had eight points and eight rebounds, and Lola Watkins and Breyln Pool each scored eight points for the Olympians (5-15, 0-5). Anthis added seven points.
“We had more turnovers (18) than I would have liked,” Phillips said. “We didn’t get many fast-break attempts in the third quarter. But for the most part, we battled. We gave good effort. We just have to find a way to put the ball in the basket.”
New Albany 50, Columbus East 40
New Albany;13;13;6;18;—;50
Columbus East;11;13;2;14;—;40
New Albany (4-15, 1-4): Tori Bailey 0 0-0 0, Gracie Matheny 2 12-16 18, Bailey Belden 0 1-2 1, Mykel Brown 0 0-0 0, Shanelle Jones 1 5-8 7, Jaelynn Huggins 2 1-2 5, Emily Spainhour 5 4-4 15, Chloe Bekoll 2 0-0 4. Totals: 12 23-32 50.
Columbus East (5-15, 0-5): Kenzie Cheek 3 1-2 8, Lola Watkins 2 3-6 8, Ella Anthis 2 2-2 7, Emma Armstrong 0 0-0 0, Krea Martin 1 0-0 3, Hayden Meek 1 2-8 4, Brelyn Pool 2 2-2 8, Bailey Rohde 0 2-2 2. Totals: 11 12-22 40.
3-point goals: New Albany 3 (Matheny 2, Spainhour). Columbus East 6 (Pool 2, Cheek, Watkins, Anthis, Martin).
