Columbus East’s Kenzie Cheek, right, shields the ball from Columbus North’s Riley Sims Dec. 19, 2024 at Columbus East High School.
Mike Wolanin | The Republic
The Columbus East girls basketball team was dealt a major blow last summer when projected starter Brelyn Pool sustained a knee injury and was lost for the season.
Things didn’t get much better for the Olympians after starting guard Lola Watkins sustained a season-ending knee injury. That left them with only 14 healthy players between JV and varsity.
Although their 2-20 record may not indicate it, East has persevered. The Olympians picked up their second win of the season Tuesday, a 57-51 upset victory against Whiteland in the opening round of the Columbus North Sectional.
“We’ve had maybe more adversity than just about any other team in the state of Indiana this year,” East coach Kaitlyn Phillips said. “Starting with low numbers, losing Lola in the middle of the season; even coming into (Tuesday), Kenzie Cheek has been in a boot the last four days. Kimberly (Carothers) has had the flu. So we had every reason to give up and to not play hard, and we just played hard the whole night and battled. They relied on each other. Our bench was active and invested in the game, and it resulted in a lot of good things. I couldn’t be more proud.”
The reward for the Olympians is a rematch with North in the sectional semifinals at around 7:45 p.m. Friday. The Bull Dogs won 62-33 at East in December.
But North coach Brett White realizes the Olympians have improved.
“It seemed like they were playing with a lot of confidence (Tuesday) night,” White said. “As the season progresses, teams progress, and it looks like they’re progressing in the right direction right now.”
So, too, are the Bull Dogs (16-7). Although North has gone 3-6 following a 13-1 start, the second half of the schedule was much tougher than the first.
“We built the schedule in January to prepare us for the sectional,” White said. “Even though we may have come short in the win-loss column, those games built our toughness heading into the sectional.”
Sophomore guard Kaylie Harmon leads the Bull Dogs with 13.9 points and 3.1 assists per game. Senior Hadassah Hurt (9.7 ppg) and sophomores Avery Johnson (9.3 ppg) and Ava Wilson (7.9 ppg) also play in the backcourt, while junior Kenna Conrad (6.5 ppg, 6.0 rpg) takes care of the inside.
Carothers, a senior forward, leads East with 12.0 points and 6.3 rebounds. Junior forward Ella Anthis led the Olympians with 21 points in Tuesday’s win, while sophomore guard Krea Martin added 14. Cheek, a junior, is the other starting guard, and junior Averie Graham starts at center.
“Just like every other game that we’ve played this year, it really doesn’t have anything to do with North,” Phillips said. “It’s just about us and how we come out in the first quarter strong and aggressive and active, take care of the basketball and ride that roller-coaster of momentum, making sure that we’re being OK when they go on their runs and making sure that we’re staying level headed when we go on our runs. So, yeah sure, we’ll talk about North, but not anymore that we talk about any other team any other game. We’re just going to prepare the same way that we always do.”
Franklin (8-15) and East Central (10-11) will meet in Friday’s first semifinal at 6 p.m. The sectional final will be at 7:30 p.m. Saturday.
“We’re excited to host the sectional,” White said. “It’s been a long time since we have, so we hope the support will lead us to executing well and playing well on Friday.”
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