Because of its football team’s perennial run deep into the playoffs, Columbus East doesn’t schedule boys basketball games until early December.

That’s a good thing this year since the football squad is playing in the Class 5A state finals Saturday. The basketball team will open Dec. 2 at Heritage Christian.

In the meantime, the Olympians have plenty of non-football players who have been practicing the past couple of weeks. They had a chance to go against an opponent for the first time in Saturday’s scrimmage with Roncalli.

“Defensively, we did a great job, and that’s to be expected,” East coach Brent Chitty said. “Offensively, we did a lot of great things. I kind of thought it’s about where we would be.”

The Olympians lost five seniors to graduation, including four starters. Three of those are currently playing college basketball.

The lone returning starter is 6-foot-3 senior Tanner McFall, who averaged about 9 points a game last season.

“We expect big things out of Tanner,” Chitty said. “But the way this group plays, they really play well as a unit. They’re a really unselfish group. They really share the basketball, and they’re confident in each other. It’s going to be hard to key on one guy.”

Jonathan Foster, a 6-2 senior, and 5-10 junior point guard Max Nolting saw plenty of action in the backcourt last season. Chaz Painter, a 6-8 senior, played some in the post.

Up from the junior varsity are 6-6 senior Kyle Frost, 6-3 junior Thomas Myers, 6-4 sophomore Matthew Frost, 5-9 sophomore Drew Johnson, 6-3 junior Drew Hasson and 6-0 junior Wyatt Koopman.

“I’m pleased with the improvement that these kids have had,” Chitty said. “There’s probably 10 guys that on any given night can step up and play for us. Individually, out of this group, I look to have somebody else emerge every night.”

Chitty said he also is expecting about four or five football players that could contribute to try out next week.

East will try to bounce back from its first losing season since 2010-11. The Olympians went 11-13 last season, although two of the losses were by one point and two others came in overtime.

The toughest loss, however, came in the first round of the sectional against a Columbus North team that East had beaten in the regular season.

“We always want to play hard and be very competitive and hopefully have some success in the tournament,” Chitty said. “This is a hard-working group, so they’re fun to be around.”

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The 2016-17 Columbus East boys basketball schedule:

Dec. 2;at Heritage Christian;7:30 p.m.

Dec. 9;Bedford North Lawrende;7:30 p.m.

Dec. 10;at Silver Creek;7:30 p.m.

Dec. 16;at Columbus North;7:30 p.m.

Dec. 21;Rushville;7:30 p.m.

Dec. 27;at Noblesville Tournament;4 p.m.

Dec. 28;at Noblesville Tournament;TBA

Jan. 6;Franklin;7:30 p.m.

Jan. 10;at Shelbyville;7:30 p.m.

Jan. 13;at Bloomington South;7:30 p.m.

Jan. 14;at Seymour;7:30 p.m.

Jan. 21;Jeffersonville;7:30 p.m.

Jan. 27;East Central;7:30 p.m.

Jan. 28;at Bloomington North;7:30 p.m.

Feb. 2;Brownstown Central;7:30 p.m.

Feb. 4;New Albany;2 p.m.

Feb. 10;at Jennings County;7;30 p.m.

Feb. 11;at Franklin;7:30 p.m.

Feb. 14;Franklin Central;7:30 p.m.

Feb. 17;at Madison;7:30 p.m.

Feb. 18;Martinsville;7:30 p.m.

Feb. 22;Floyd Central;7:30 p.m.

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GIRLS BASKETBALL

Hauser 50, Southwestern (Shelby) 47

Southwestern;8;8;14;17;—;47

Hauser;9;10;12;19;—;50

Southwestern (4-2, 2-1): Emmy Wendling 5 0-1 10, Emma Abel 3 0-0 8, Annie Coy 1 8-10 10, Logan DeArmitt 3 3-4 9, Megan Benson 2 2-4 7, Madison Van Gorden 1 1-2 3, A.J. Kessler 0 0-0 0, Madeleine Correll 0 0-0 0. Totals: 15 14-21 47.

Hauser (5-0, 2-0): Tori Chandler 7 3-6 20, Sarah Tedder 2 2-4 6, Grace Hasler 3 5-9 11, Lauryn Starnes 0 1-4 1, Hailey Lange 1 3-6 5, Taylor Henderson 0 4-6 4, Ali Hoover 0 1-2 1, Jada Asher 0 2-2 2, Mykenzie Ault 0 0-0 0. Totals: 13 21-39 50.

3-point goals: Southwestern 3 (Abel 2, Benson); Hauser 3 (Chandler 3).

BOYS SWIMMING

Columbus North 132, Jennings County 40

200 medley relay: 1. CN (Jared Carroll, Sam Russell, Nicholas Green, Thomas Goble) 1:45.07; 2. CN (Jackson Swain, Harrison Griffin, Solomon Gearheart, Ayush Panda) 1:57.64; 3. JC (Jesse Wallace, Cameron Mills, Jason Franks, Beau Harriman) 2:04.89.

200 freestyle: 1. Peyton Moore (JC) 1:51.25; 2. Evan Patterson (CN) 1:52.76; 3. Goble (CN) 1:55.23; 4. Panda (CN) 2:00.66; 5. Wallace (JC) 2:23.48.

200 individual medley: 1. Angel Torres Martinez (CN) 2:13.15; 2. Adam Zhuang (CN) 2:14.64; 3. Jackson Nagel (CN) 2:17.95; 4. Trey Hundley (JC) 2:19.02; 5. Evan Dubben (JC) 2:22.85.

50 freestyle: 1. Carroll (CN) 22.56; 2. Green (CN) 23.60; 3. Paco Cena Zavala (CN) 24.27; 4. Harriman (JC) 26.88; 5. Jason Gasper (JC) 32.46.

Diving: 1. Kaemon Jiles (CN) 244.10; 2. Austin Mills (JC) 215.25; 3. Cameron Mills (JC) 197.45; 4. Grant Fehribach (CN) 192.75; 5. Kenny Ventura (CN) 78.85.

100 butterfly: 1. Russell (CN) 55.58; 2. Green (CN) 57.15; 3. Patterson (CN) 59.93; 4. Dubben 1:02.17; 5. Jason Franks (JC) 1:13.64.

100 freestyle: 1. Torres Martinez (CN) 52.03; 2. Nagel (CN) 52.89; 3. Goble (CN) 53.30; 4. Harriman (JC) 1:01.73. 5. Jason Gasper (JC) 1:26.52.

500 freestyle: 1. Moore (JC) 5:08.90; 2. Harrison Griffin (CN) 5:23.33; 3. Torres Martinez (CN) 5:43.25; 4. Charlie Allen (CN) 6:01.41.

200 freestyle relay: 1. JC (Harriman, Dubben, Hundley, Moore) 1:41.33; 2. CN (Nagel, Griffin, Green, Lizhi Qin) 1:42.56; 3. CN (Panda, Torres, Allen, Paxton Rush) 1:42.58.

100 backstroke: 1. Carroll (CN) 57.48; 2. Cena Zavala (CN) 1:03.82; 3. Jackson Swain (CN) 1:05.40. 4. Wallace (JC) 1:16.46; 5. Franks (JC) 1:27.30.

100 breaststroke: 1. Russell (CN) 1:04.83; 2. Griffin (CN) 1:12.97; 3. Hundley (JC) 1:14.19; 4. Albert Zhang (CN) 1:15.17.

400 freestyle relay: 1. CN (Patterson, Russell, Nagel, Zhuang) 3:27.81; 2. JC (Wallace, Dubben, Hundley, Moore) 3:51.52; 3. CN (Cena Zavala, Torres Martinez, Rush, Zhang) 3:53.06.

GIRLS SWIMMING

Columbus North 122, Jennings County 64

200 medley relay: 1. CN (Madison Sandlin, Alex Nusawardhana, Karlie Brown, Erica Samuel) 2:04.57; 2. CN (Darby Coles, Ana Guerra-Zavala, Betsy King, Olivia Morlok) 2:05.86; 3. JC (Breanna Herald, Gabby Genda, Brooklyn Ernstes, Kyelina Hembree) 2:36.22.

200 freestyle: 1. Morlok (CN) 2:04.99; 2. Ashton Koons (JC) 2:10.32; 3. Samuel (CN) 2:15.54; 4. Lauren Mackey (CN) 2:26.21; 5. Fizzie Kirchner (JC) 2:28.39.

200 individual medley: 1. Nusawardhana (CN) 2:16.05; 2. Sierra Bott (JC) 2:37.98; 3. Abbey Landini (CN) 2:43.66; 4. Pavitha Venkataraman (CN) 2:55.11; 5. Herald (JC) 3:12.02.

50 freestyle: 1. King (CN) 25.76; 2. Sarah Webster (JC) 27.58. 3. Jalea Millon (JC) 28.24; 4. Sandlin (CN) 28.72; 5. Grace Schuette (CN) 33.85.

Diving: 1. Hailey Brown (JC) 188.00; 2. Emma Wilson (CN) 146.25; 3. Madison Grimes 94.55; 4. Ashley Mull (JC) 89.15; 5. Abigal Burnside (JC) 79.40.

100 butterfly: 1. Coles (CN) 1:04.03; 2. Brown (CN) 1:05.95; 3. Webster (JC) 1:15.51; 4. Venkataraman (CN) 1:21.17; 5. Ernstes (JC) 1:35.22.

100 freestyle: 1. King (CN) 55.50; 2. Millon (JC) 1:01.36; 3. Guerra-Zavala (CN) 1:05.44; 4. Chloe Fields (JC) 1:10.07; 5. Jackie Fry (CN) 1:16.21.

500 freestyle: 1. K. Brown (CN) 5:56.55; 2. Abbey Landini (CN) 6:21.76; 3. Kirchner (JC) 6:49.37; 4. Madison Malcomb (JC) 7:12.40; 5. Genda (JC) 7:36.37.

200 freestyle relay: 1. JC (Fields, Millon, Koons, Kirchner) 1:43.05; 2. CN (Mackey, Sandlin, Guerra-Zavala, Landini) 1:58.35; 3. CN (Fry, Schuette, Sarah Baimukhametova, Rachel Brougher) 2:28.78.

100 backstroke: 1. Coles (CN) 1:03.36; 2. Bott (JC) 1:10.53; 3. Morlok (CN) 1:13.00; 4. Sandlin (CN) 1:13.90; 5. Ernstes (JC) 1:25.30.

100 breaststroke: 1. Nusawardhana (CN) 1:15.47; 2. Koons (JC) 1:18.15; 3. Samuel (CN) 1:23.42; 4. Fry (CN) 1:33.30; 5. Herald (JC) 1:44.47.

400 freestyle relay: 1. CN (Nusawardhana, Samuel, Morlok, King) 3:54.10; 2. CN (Coles, Brown, Landini, Guerra-Zavala) 4:06.52. 3. JC (Ernstes, Herald, Genda, Malcomb) 5:02.16.

HOPE — When Southwestern (Shelby) went on a big run early in the fourth quarter Monday night, it looked like Hauser would take its first loss of the season.

In the last four minutes, however, the Jets came roaring back. Hauser closed out the game on a 15-3 scoring run to remain unbeaten in a nail-biting 50-47 Mid-Hoosier Conference girls basketball thriller.

“It’s all them. I can’t take credit for it,” Hauser coach Brad Hamilton said. “They just found another level. We got a little momentum. You make a couple baskets and it builds some confidence. The defense has been our key all year. We gave up a little bit of a run, but we stopped them when we had to.”

The Class A No. 10 Jets (5-0, 2-0) are off to their best start under Hamilton, who is in his fourth year at the helm.

“It’s awesome and we have a great team,” said Hauser junior Grace Hasler, who finished with 11 points. “We all really like playing together, and there is a lot of energy with all of us being together.”

Tori Chandler, a junior exchange student from Australia, has been a huge factor in the Jets’ success so far. She finished with a game-high 20 points. Chandler kick-started the Jets’ fourth-quarter rally by draining a huge 3 to bring the tide back in their favor.

“When Tori made that shot, it brought all of our spirits up,” Hasler said. “We were able to hit our free throws late to win it.”

After letting the Spartans (4-2, 2-1) slip past them late in the game last season, Hauser did not want to experience déjà vu.

“We have worked very hard in preparing for this game,” senior co-captain Hailey Lange said. “We didn’t know what was coming at us because things change, but we stayed tough out there.”

Columbus North hosted its boys and girls season opener against Jennings County with six swimmers finishing first in two individual events.

The Bull Frogs had three boys finish first in multiple individual events on their way to a 132-49 win. The North girls had three girls finish first in multiple individual events, winning 122-64.

North’s Angel Torres Martinez won the boys 200-yard individual medley (2 minutes, 13.15 seconds) and 100 freestyle (52.03), Jared Carroll took the 50 freestyle (22.56) and 100 backstroke (57.48) and Sam Russell captured the 100 butterfly (55.58) and 100 breaststroke (1:04.83).

Kaemon Jiles scored 244.10 points to earn a first-place finish in diving. The Bull Frogs won the 200 medley (1:45.07) and the 400 freestyle (3:53.06) relays.

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For the North girls, Alex Nusawardhana placed first in the 200 IM (2:16.05) and 100 breaststroke (1:15.47), Betsy King won the 50 freestyle (25.76) and 100 freestyle (55.50) and Darby Coles took the 100 butterfly (1:04.03) and 100 backstroke (1:03.36).

Olivia Morlok won the 200 freestyle (2:16.05), Karlie Brown took the 500 freestyle (5:56.55) and the Bull Frogs placed first in the 200 medley (2:04.57) and the 400 freestyle (3:54.10) relays.

“I was pretty pleased,” North coach Logan Schaefer said. “The kids were as excited to begin the meet as we were. It’s been about four weeks for the girls of just swimming and about two weeks for the boys. They were chomping at the bit to get a meet and ready to race.”

“It’s great to see the work that we’re doing as a team in the pool to come back and show at our meets,” Schaefer said.

Jennings County coach Chaz Wilson also was proud of how his team performed. Peyton Moore won the boys 500 freestyle (5:08.90) and 200 freestyle (1:51.25). Hailey Brown won the girls diving event with 188.00 points, and the Panthers took both the boys (141:33) and girls (1:43.05) 200 freestyle relay.

“Our first meet for the boys went well tonight,” Wilson said. “For the girls, I thought we performed very well for our second meet. I was impressed with Peyton Moore and everybody in general. There are some things we need to work on overall as a team, but I think we still need to build up some things. Other than that, I thought we did excellent.”