Columbus East found itself down early to Brownstown Central in Thursday’s boys basketball game.
Once the Olympians established a rhythm, it was hard for the Braves to stop.
East showed better intensity and aggressiveness over the final three quarters to pick up a 50-35 victory.
“Our kids played pretty smart and knew when it was time to score. We wanted to make sure our shot was going to be something that we really wanted,” East coach Brent Chitty said. “Early in the game, we didn’t do a good job rebounding. We gave up too many offensive rebounds, but I thought we shored that up a little better as we went along. We limited those long-shot, long-rebound possibilities because we got a body on somebody.”
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The Olympians (6-7) quickly jumped out to a 4-0 lead over two minutes into the game. The Braves (13-3) got five straight points from Isaac Johnson to go in front 5-4.
Later in the opening quarter, East led 10-8, but 3-point baskets from Ethan Wischmeier and Matthew Garland put Brownstown ahead 14-10 with over a minute to go in the quarter. Matt Frost then converted a couple of free throws to cut the Braves lead to 14-12 after the first quarter.
“We played them before the past few years, and they play the same way every time. They always play hard, and we knew that they were going to come out like that,” Frost said. “It didn’t change our mindset at all. We just had to keep attacking.”
The Olympians took the lead back after Drew Johnson hit a free throw and basket to go ahead 15-14. Isaac Johnson answered back with a bucket to give Brownstown the lead again at 16-15 with 5:30 to go in the first half. Drew Johnson then converted a 3-pointer to put East in the lead 18-16.
The Olympians led 20-16 until an Isaac Johnson 3 cut it to 20-19, but two free throws from Frost made it 22-19 at the half.
The Braves came out to start the third quarter with a 6-2 run to lead 25-24 with about 4:30 left. East eventually took the lead and didn’t surrender it again by going on a 9-1 run to lead 33-26.
The Olympians led 43-31 with under three minutes left in the fourth quarter. Brownstown then starting fouling Frost, but he delivered at the line going 7 of 8 to seal the win.
Frost scored 13 of East’s final 17 points.
“We didn’t shoot free throws great, but we got to the free throw line and knocked down some that we needed to,” Chitty said. “I liked our management, and our basketball IQ was a little better.”
Frost finished with a game-high 21 points, and Drew Johnson added 12. Isaac Johnson led the Braves with 13.
