Keaton Lawson
Columbus East saw itself down double digits against Bloomington South Friday at the Orange Pit.
The Olympians didn’t go away quietly.
East came storming back within a single point, but the Panthers were able to hang on for a 53-50 victory.
“I’m really proud of our guys for fighting and not giving up on the game,” East senior Keaton Lawson said. “The younger guys, I really like. They really like to work hard. They put in 100% effort. They really helped. With Judah (Lewis) coming back, it helped us a ton. They all did phenomenal.”
Lewis returned to the starting lineup for East after missing the past few games due to a back injury.
“He’s going to be huge. He’s been huge every time he’s been on that floor. He helped us not only offensively, but defensively and rebounding,” East coach Perry Nash said. “He can do just so many things in his game, and when he’s rolling like he is, he has so much joy and guys want to play with him. I saw that joy out on the floor, and it fires us up and makes us play better.”
Bloomington South (9-4) led 44-31 toward the end of the third quarter, but the Olympians (4-6) ended the quarter on a 6-0 run, and then a 3-pointer from Lewis to open the fourth quarter cut the deficit to 44-40.
Later in the fourth quarter, Lawson was fouled on a shot attempt with 32.6 seconds left. He converted one of two free throws to make it 51-50.
East was forced to foul with 19.5 seconds left. Jack Clark converted on one of two free throws to make it 52-50. After the Olympians failed to convert on the ensuing possession, they fouled again with 6.8 seconds left. Duncan Combs converted one of two free throws.
On the inbounds, East got it across halfcourt with 3.7 seconds left and called a timeout to set up the potential game-tying shot. Following the timeout, the inbounds pass went to Lewis, and his shot attempt went off the rim for the Panthers to survive a major comeback from East.
Lawson finished with a game-high 23 points, and Lewis had 17 for the Olympians.
East will look to get back in the winning column with a tough Hoosier Hills Conference game with Seymour tonight.
Bloomington South 53, Columbus East 50
Bloomington South;16;15;13;9;—;53
Columbus East;13;9;15;13;—;50
Bloomington South (8-4): Jack Clark 4 3-4 11, Nate Lukes 3 0-0 7, Max Surdam 4 1-1 9, Ryan Stikeleather 3 0-0 7, Duncan Combs 7 1-2 15, Matt Tierney 1 0-0 2. Totals: 22 5-7 53.
Columbus East (4-5): Anthony Cowan 1 0-0 2, Graham Preizer 1 0-0 3, Judah Lewis 7 0-0 15, Keaton Lawson 8 7-10 23, Carson Gallion 0 0-0 0, Ben Ellegood 2 0-0 5, Logan Neal 1 0-0 2, Josiah Kiel 0 0-0 0. Totals: 20 7-10 50.
3-point goals: Bloomington South 4 (Clark 2, Lukes, Stikeleather). Columbus East 3 (Preizer, Lewis, Ellegood).
