Columbus East’s Kenzie Cheek, left, and Columbus North’s Kaylie Harmon watch as Harmon’s shot sails toward the basket during a high school basketball game Dec. 19, 2024 at Columbus East.
The Republic file photo
Another girls basketball season went and Bartholomew County schools went away empty handed once again as their sectional title drought continues.
Columbus East was the most recent sectional winner in 2018. North’s last title was in 2017 and Hauser’s last title was 2005.
Here is a very early look at the three teams heading into next year:
Columbus North
The Bull Dogs had a huge opportunity in front of them and didn’t take advantage. They had home court advantage in the sectional but were upset by East Central in the championship game.
While North finished the season 17-8, the narrative has remained the same the past few years — they are beating teams they should be beating. They are 0-7 when they played against teams higher ranked than them in the Jeff Sagarin Rating and 17-1 playing teams lower than them in the rating, with East Central handing them that loss in that sectional final.
The Bull Dogs have been stuck in mediocrity, at least in 4A, ranking 43rd out of 82 teams. The good news is that North will be in contention of winning the sectional next year with the majority of its core coming back. Depending on the schedule next year, the win total should be around the same, but there’s still one question that needs to be answered once again. “Can they finally get over the hump?” We’ll know the answer a year from now.
Columbus East
This was a season the Olympians would like to put behind them in a hurry. They faced much adversity this year with a young core group that had very little to zero varsity experience from the previous year.
East was also plagued by many injuries in their 2-21 season, but the Olympians will return nearly everyone heading into next year.
While East won’t be in contention just yet for the sectional title, the good news is that they have nowhere to go but up. Depending on the schedule, more wins are possible once everyone is healthy and have another year of varsity experience.
Hauser
There was an improvement on wins this season for the Jets, who got it to double-digit wins until falling flat in the second half of the year and losing in the first round of the sectional to Jac-Cen-Del.
Hauser’s Abby Manley guards Greenwood Christian Academy’s Annaleece Jackson Dec. 26, 2024 in the first round of the Hauser Tournament. Paige Grider for The Republic
The Republic file photo
Hauser finished the year 10-14. They started the season 9-5 until finishing the latter half of the season 1-9. The Jets will return almost everyone next year.
Hauser has shown it can compete with many teams during the course of the season if it can be more consistent. The road is going to be tough for the Jets to win the sectional next year. If the schedule remains the same, more wins are not out of the question.
