After dropping four in a row going into Thursday’s regular-season finale, Columbus North wasn’t in the mood to see that streak extend after falling behind by double digits early in the second quarter.
The Bull Dogs rallied to cut the lead to one at halftime, then took control with a big second half to claim a 70-63 boys basketball win against Covenant Christian.
“I just want to give credit to Caleb Ferguson,” said junior Austin Perry, who led North with a game-high 25 points. “He does a great job in situations like that, really pulling us together as a team, getting us organized. We were obviously disorganized a lot. People weren’t in the right spots, and we weren’t executing well, and Caleb did a great job pulling us together and getting us back in our rhythm defensively and offensively.
“Caleb is a fantastic leader,” senior Ben Kriesant added. “He’s led this team a lot this season, and today, that really showed. In the locker room at halftime, he pulled the team together, called us out on the things we needed to improve on, and we did.”
The Bull Dogs (12-10) still trailed 44-38 midway through the third quarter when they went on a 10-0 run to take their first lead of the game. The Warriors (12-10) came back to take a 56-53 lead with 7:14 left in the game, but Ibar Baker came off the bench to hit a 3-pointer to tie it and spark a 14-2 North run that gave it a 67-58 lead with 2:38 remaining.
“Covenant is a really tough team,” North coach Paul Ferguson said. “That was a gritty win for us. They have a couple guys that can really shoot it from deep. When they stretch you out that much, it’s tough to play against. We had to change some defenses up, but we made some adjustments and got it done.”
Jack Whaley scored 11 points, and Caleb Ferguson had 10 points and eight rebounds for the Bull Dogs. Zach Fedor added eight points, and Kriesant chipped in seven points.
North hit 12 3-pointers, with six of the seven Bull Dogs who played hitting at least one 3.
“We’re preparing for sectional next week,” Perry said. “(Assistant) coach (Dalton) Judd is doing a great job getting us reps, getting us game-like shots in practice, and I feel like it’s translating on the floor for a lot of our guys. Jack Whaley knocked some big shots down. BK (Kriesant) hit a big 3. We’re starting to play well as a team, and when we’re shooting the ball, that’s when we’re at our best.”
North committed only five turnovers and outrebounded Covenant Christian 32-22.
“Rebounding was a big highlight for this game,” Kriesant said. “We struggled a little in the past two games on that, so me and a couple other guys — Ibar, Anderson (Horn) — really, every single person on the team crashed the boards hard this game, and that really helped us get the ‘W.’”
The Bull Dogs were back to full strength after being hit hard by injuries the past couple weeks.
“It’s nice to have all of our players out there and be able to see that Bull Dog team we saw earlier in the season,” Paul Ferguson said.
North now has a week to prepare for its first sectional game, a semifinal clash against Columbus East at 6 p.m. March 6 at North.
“We have a week to get ready,” Paul Ferguson said. “We’ve been banged up. They’ve been banged up. We’ll get both teams in here next Friday night, and it’s going to be a great atmosphere and a lot of fun.”
Columbus North 70, Covenant Christian 63
Covenant Christian;18;14;20;11;—;63
Columbus North;12;19;22;17;—;70
Covenant Christian (12-10): Parker Williams 2 0-0 4, Judah Jackson 1 0-0 2, Weston Laughlin 7 0-0 19, Brayden Mansaro 0 0-0 0, Cason Soots 4 0-0 10, Isaac Crane 9 5-7 24, Dawson Collins 2 0-0 4. Totals: 25 5-7 63.
Columbus North (12-10): Jack Whaley 3 2-2 11, Ibar Baker 2 0-0 5, Caleb Ferguson 3 3-6 10, Zach Fedor 3 0-0 8, Austin Perry 10 1-1 25, Anderson Horn 2 0-0 4, Ben Kriesant 3 0-0 7. Totals: 26 6-9 70.
3-point goals: Covenant Christian 8 (Laughlin 5, Soots 2, Crane). Columbus North 12 (Perry 4, Whaley 3, Fedor 2, Baker, Ferguson, Kriesant).
