For three of the four quarters against Perry Meridian Tuesday night, Columbus North was dominant.
The Bull Dogs had a little bit of a lull in the third quarter, but had runs of at least 10 points in each of the other three in rolling to a 63-31 girls basketball victory.
“We’re just trying to keep the momentum flowing heading into sectional next week,” North junior Madison White said. “It’s real important that we’re playing well and playing together. We’ve been playing well the last few games, so we’re just trying to keep it going.”
White and freshman Lauren Barker led a balanced scoring effort with 13 points apiece for the Bull Dogs (15-7). Alexa McKinley scored 12, while Sierra Norman added 11 and Annie Anderson had nine.
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“I think we’re doing a really good job with sharing the ball,” Barker said. “We penetrate well and kick. We have confidence in our teammates, and going into sectional, we’re just playing hard. I think one of our biggest assets is going hard on defense and then getting fast-break layups out of those.”
North scored the game’s first 10 points and led 18-6 after one quarter, thanks to three 3-pointers by Norman and a buzzer-beating 3 by Barker. The Bull Dogs had a 12-0 run in the second quarter and built the lead to 35-12 at halftime.
The Falcons began the (7-14) third period with a 17-5 run. They outscored North 19-11 in the quarter to cut the lead to 46-31, but then the Bull Dogs — mostly with their bench — shut out Perry Meridian in the fourth period, outscoring the Falcons 17-0.
“They played really well,” North coach Pat McKee said. “We shot the ball well and got a nice big lead. We had a little bit of a lull in the third quarter, but then I thought we responded out of a timeout and put the pedal back down and finished strong.”
The Bull Dogs played without starting post player Kylah Lawson, who has a sprained ankle. Emily Herndon made her first varsity start in Lawson’s place and grabbed eight rebounds to lead North to a 36-26 advantage on the boards.
The Bull Dogs committed only eight turnovers and made 11 3-pointers as a team.
“I think we’re sharing the ball really well and playing hard and just playing together,” White said.
