Austin Perry
Austin Perry made the most of his second chance.
After turning the basketball over with Columbus North trailing Franklin by one point in the final minute, the Bull Dogs got the ball back and this time, Perry was on point. The sophomore nailed a 3-pointer with 14 seconds remaining to give North a 54-52 victory on senior night.
“I love those seniors,” Perry said. “They’re my favorite guys in the whole world. This team is just awesome. I love this team. I’m so happy for them.”
Nate Enneking
The Bull Dogs (18-3) got the ball back when Ben Ferguson pressured Franklin’s Kolt Nelson into a turnover, and Nate Enneking came up with the steal with 24 seconds remaining. North called a timeout, and Caleb Ferguson found Perry for the game-winner.
“I was supposed to lift on the ball screen,” Perry said. “There was a good chance it was going to come to me, and I was going to hit the roll guy, but I was open, and thankful I had the (feet) organized, and let it fly.”
“It wasn’t a set play,” North coach Paul Ferguson added. “It was more of a read concept of how they would play the ball screen, and the way they played it allowed Caleb to kick it to Austin. They kind of over-helped on (Garrett Long) in the post, and Austin was ready. Caleb made a great pass, and Austin knocked down the shot. The sophomore made a big shot on senior night.”
The Bull Dogs had to make one last defensive stop and forced Franklin’s Omari Thomas into an off-balance 3-pointer that was off the mark just before the buzzer.
“This team always believes they can come back and win, and that mentality is led by our seniors,” Paul Ferguson said. “They’ve been doing it all season. They’ve been doing it all season, and when we got in that huddle the last few timeouts, they believed they could do it again.”
Thomas had made five three-pointers, including four in the first half, when the Grizzly Cubs (7-13) built as big as a 10-point lead. North used a 10-0 run to the the game, but Franklin took advantage of two turnovers to scored five points in the final 10 seconds and take a 35-30 halftime lead.
The Grizzly Cubs led by as many as eight in the third quarter and only trailed once by one point in the second half until Perry’s late 3-pointer.
“We fight, obviously,” Long said. “I think we fight more than anybody. Down at halftime both games (this weekend). We won by 25 (against Bloomington North Friday) night after being down at halftime. We had a great fourth quarter (Saturday) and won it.”
Garrett Long
Enneking finished with 15 points, while Caleb Ferguson and Perry each scored 12 and Long added eight for the Bull Dogs. Perry grabbed seven rebounds to lead North to a 24-15 advantage on the boards.
“I just wanted to win for all my guys,” Long said. “They all wanted the same thing, too. Even the young guys, they wanted to win it for us. It was a team effort tonight.”
The win is the 11th in a row for the Bull Dogs and allowed them to finish unbeaten on their home court this season.
“I know it was kind of in the back of all of our minds going undefeated at home this year,” Enneking said. “It was a really big shot by AP.”
“For these guys to go undefeated (at home) this year after all the adversity they faced last year, they’ve just been so committed to the team and so committed to each other,” Paul Ferguson added. “It’s been really rewarding to do it with this group of seniors.”
North will close the regular season Thursday at Center Grove. But first, the Bull Dogs will tune into the tournament draw on Sunday evening.
“I think we’re playing our best basketball we’ve been playing all year,” Enneking said. “Like coach Ferguson said, we want to be playing our best basketball by sectional time, and I think we are working toward that, and we’re still going to be working toward that the next two weeks, just preparing to get better and continuing to improve for sectional time.”
Columbus North 54, Franklin 52
Franklin;12;23;12;5;—;52
Columbus North;15;15;16;8;—;54
Franklin (7-13): Antonio Barnes 4 1-1 11, Devin McFarrin 1 0-0 2, Chase Alyea 2 0-0 4, Omari Thomas 5 0-0 15, Jayce Nielsen 5 1-2 11, Kolt Nelson 3 2-2 9. Totals: 20 4-5 52.
Columbus North (18-3): Eli Smith 0 0-0 0, Caleb Ferguson 4 2-5 12, Nate Enneking 5 2-2 15, Austin Perry 3 4-4 12, Braylon Thoman 1 0-0 3, Max Coomes 1 0-0 2, Nolan Pickup 0 0-0 0, Ben Ferguson 1 0-0 2, Garrett Long 4 0-0 8. Totals: 19 8-11 54.
3-point goals: Franklin 8 (Thomas 5, Barnes 2, Nelson). Columbus North 8 (Enneking 3, C. Ferguson 2, Perry 2, Thoman).
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