The Columbus North girls basketball team remains perfect.
New Albany kept the pressure late in the fourth quarter, but North closed it out with good free throw shooting down the stretch for a 47-40 victory Thursday night.
Balanced scoring also played a hand in the victory. A total of eight North players scorede.
“We’ve been pretty consistent with it this year,” North coach Brett White said. “We have a number of girls who are capable of scoring, and that’s something we know that we have. It something we have to use in our benefit as we attack different teams.”
Ava Wilson
The depth of North (5-0) was on full display. The North bench outscored New Albany 13-4. Ava Wilson led the charge for the North bench with nine points.
“I think we moved the ball well,” Wilson said. “I think when we had good runs, it was on the defensive end. We decided to hustle and outwork the other team.”
North led 34-30 after the third quarter and had its biggest lead of the game at 40-30 early in the fourth quarter. New Albany got it to within 42-37, but having to foul towards the end, North converted its free throws.
“The best thing has been the fact that we finish games off,” White said. “Down the stretch, we’ve done a decent job of handling situations, handling the basketball, getting to the free-throw line, extending out our leads. We’ve done that the last several games. That’s definitely a positive. We’ve really got to try to work on and get a better start to our game to where we get into a better flow earlier.”
Kaylie Harmon led North with a game-high 15 points. Wilson scored nine, and Avery Johnson and Kenna Conrad finished with six apiece.
Columbus North 47, New Albany 40
New Albany;12;10;8;10;—;40
Columbus North;11;13;10;13;—;47
New Albany (1-4): Tori Bailey 0 0-0 0, Claire Webster 3 2-2 10, Gracie Matheny 3 1-4 9, Rylan Byars 4 0-0 8, Sophia Corley 1 2-2 4, Emma Kennell 2 0-0 4, Jocelyn Huggins 0 0-0 0, Emily Spainhour 2 0-0 5. Totals: 15 5-8 40.
Columbus North (5-0): Kenna Conrad 2 2-2 6, Ava Wilson 4 1-1 9, Hadassah Hurt 2 1-4 5, Riley Sims 1 0-0 3, Kaylie Harmon 4 7-7 15, Paige Terry 1 0-2 2, Avery Johnson 3 0-0 6, Sydney Johnson 0 1-2 1. Totals: 17 12-18 47.
3-point goals: New Albany 5 (Webster 2, Matheny 2, Spainhour). Columbus North 1 (Sims).
