Hadassah Hurt
With the girls basketball sectional on tap for next week, Columbus North was looking to regain a little momentum heading into the postseason.
The Bull Dogs were able to do that with a 63-42 win against Rushville Thursday on senior night.
“It’s a little emotional because it’s the last regular-season game, but we get to play here again in sectional, so that kind of gives you a little excitement,” senior Hadassah Hurt said.
Emma Beaver
Hurt, who had eight points and two rebounds, was one of three North seniors honored prior to the game. She and Emma Beaver, who added four points and four rebounds in her first varsity start, are headed to IU Columbus to play.
“It’s very exciting and exhilarating to be out there and see the crowd,” Beaver said. “My family was here watching me, and they were very excited to see me play. It’s very nice to get a win on senior night.”
Sydney Johnson
The other senior, Sydney Johnson, finished with six points and three rebounds.
“I think we played well,” Johnson said. “I think we pushed the ball, and we all gave effort.”
Trailing 3-2 early, the Bull Dogs (26-7) finished the first quarter on a 17-1 run to take a 19-4 lead. After an even second quarter, they led 35-20 at the break. North built the margin to 48-24 going to the fourth.
“Early on, we got to the rim and just didn’t finish around the rim,” North coach Brett White said. “We missed a number of layups. In the past, we would have kind of folded, and tonight, we pushed through that and were able to kind of turn things around.”
Ava Wilson led the Bull Dogs with 14 points. Kenna Conrad scored nine, Hurt had eight and Kaylie Harmon and Avery Johnson each added seven.
Harmon grabbed six rebounds, and Audrey Nordman added five rebounds for North, which was outrebounded 37-34 by the Lions (7-17). The Bull Dogs forced 24 turnovers and committed 17, with only six of their turnovers coming in the second half.
“Senior night is always a little bit different,” White said. “You have a little added emotion. You have a little bit different lineup, so a few people in different spots. But I liked the way we came out in the second half. We set a couple of goals for them as far as turnovers are concerned and offensive rebounds, and I think we did a better job of that I thought overall in the second half. We took care of the ball better, and that was one of our goals.”
North now has a week to prepare for its Feb. 7 sectional semifinal, where it will host the winner of Tuesday’s Columbus East-Whiteland game.
“I think we’re playing really good as a team right now, and we’re excited to get started with preparation for the sectional,” Hurt said.
Columbus North 63, Rushville 42
Rushville;4;16;4;18;—;42
Columbus North;19;16;13;15;—;63
Rushville (7-17): Charlotte Caviness 0 1-3 1, Trisha Morgan 4 1-2 13, Carly Senour 2 5-6 10, Mikayla Herbert 1 0-0 3, Kelsey Morgan 2 2-5 6, Gracie Buzzard 1 5-8 7, Makenna Ripberger 1 0-0 2. Totals: 11 14-24 42.
Columbus North (16-7): Kenna Conrad 4 0-0 9, Ava Wilson 4 2-2 14, Hadassah Hurt 3 0-0 8, Riley Sims 3 0-0 6, Sydni Schiefer 1 0-0 2, Audrey Nordman 0 0-0 0, Kaylie Harmon 3 0-1 7, Avery Johnson 3 0-0 7, Sydney Johnson 2 2-2 6, Addy Dean 0 0-0 0, Addy Wheatley 0 0-0 0, Emma Beaver 1 2-2 4. Totals: 24 6-7 63.
3-point goals: Rushville 6 (T. Morgan 4, Senour, Herbert). Columbus North 9 (Wilson 4, Hurt 2, Conrad, Harmon, A. Johnson).
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