Jennings County’s Juliann Woodard, center, brings the ball down the court against Columbus North at Columbus North, Tuesday, Dec. 19, 2023.
Paige Grider | For The Republic
Going into Tuesday night’s game against Class 4A No. 7 Jennings County, Columbus North girls basketball coach Brett White made it a point to try to slow down the Panthers’ top two scorers.
The Bull Dogs were able to do that; however, Jennings third and fourth scorers came through with big games. Senior point guard Alivia Elmore scored a season-high 21 points, and Maddy McIntosh added 15 to lead the Panthers to a 62-36 victory.
“That was basically what we talked about — if they were going to beat us, is was going to be not with their two leading scorers,” White said. “But a quality team like Jennings has more than just three players. You kind of hope that Option 3, Option 4, Option 5 don’t beat you, but unfortunately, they did tonight.”
Options 1 and 2 didn’t exactly have off nights. Michigan State recruit Juliann Woodard had nine points and 11 rebounds, and Mollie Ernstes added eight points for Jennings (12-1).
“We just play so well together, and it’s really fun,” Elmore said. “We all play as a team, and nobody fights and we all get along. We’re always staying together, so it’s really fun.”
“That what we talk about — somebody has to step up every night,” Jennings coach Kristi Sigler added. “I think as long as we continue to share the basketball, continue to push in transition, people are going to have opportunities to do so.”
The Panthers scored 20 points in each of the first two quarters and led 40-25 at the half. The Panthers then held North to two points in the third quarter.
“Overall defensively, I thought we gave up way too many points in the first half,” Sigler said. “We talked about that at halftime, and to hold them to 11 in the second half is obviously an improvement.”
Kaylie Harmon led the Bull Dogs (8-4) with nine points. North committed 15 turnovers to only seven for the Panthers.
“I liked the way we competed,” White said. “We carried out our game plan basically, other than, we got caught in transition a few times and gave up easy baskets in transition, especially early on. But in the half-court, we defended well until they kind of wore us down late. They made a few adjustments and got some easy baskets. But I felt like we competed the whole way out.”
North visits Franklin Central on Thursday. The win was the 10th in a row for Jennings, which hosts East Central today.
“Honestly, it’s game to game,” Sigler said. “The preparation is from day to day to the next team that we’re playing. We have a quick turnaround for (today). I think the kids’ confidence is high, and they continue to feed off one another.”
Jennings County 62, Columbus North 36
Jennings County;20;20;8;14;—;62
Columbus North;13;12;2;9;—;36
Jennings County (12-1): Juliann Woodard 4 0-0 9, Avynn Belding 0 0-0 0, Maddy McIntosh 6 0-0 15, Kaydence Lowman 0 0-0 0, Riley Byford 0 0-0 0, Alivia Elmore 6 9-9 21, Etta Young 2 1-2 5, Alexis Carson 2 0-0 4, Mollie Ernstes 3 2-2 8, Cheyeanna Leslie 0 0-0 0. Totals: 23 12-13 62.
Columbus North (8-4): Kenna Conrad 2 1-4 6, Ava Wilson 0 0-0 0, Olivia Johnson 2 0-0 5, Riley Sims 1 0-0 3, Kaylie Harmon 3 2-3 9, Paige Terry 0 0-0 0, Kaitlin White 0 0-0 0, Miley McClellan 2 1-2 6, Avery Johnson 1 0-0 3, Sydney Johnson 2 0-0 4. Totals: 13 4-9 36.
3-point goals: Jennings County 4 (McIntosh 3, Woodard); Columbus North 6 (Conrad, O. Johnson, Sims, Harmon, McClellan, A. Johnson).
