Columbus North’s Garrett Long goes up for a layup against Jennings County Jan. 16 at Columbus North High School.
The Republic file photo
Columbus North had a strong summer of basketball, but the team that takes the court to begin the season next week will look a little different.
Junior Anderson Horn, who played JV as a freshman before focusing on football last year, came back out for basketball this season, but sustained a season-ending injury in practice last week. Senior Garrett Long, who was the Bull Dogs’ leading rebounder and second leading scorer last season, will miss at least the first couple weeks with an ankle injury from football season.
North also will be without athletic junior Parker Elmore, who played with the Bull Dogs the first part of the summer before being ruled ineligible by the IHSAA after his transfer from Jennings County.
“We’re building on what we did this summer,” North coach Paul Ferguson. “We had a very strong summer. We’re hoping that (Long is) able to come back healthy. He had a great summer. We’re rounding into shape, and we’re excited about the guys we have.”
Columbus North’s Caleb Ferguson shoots against Heritage Christian Nov. 21, 2023 at Columbus North, Tuesday.
The Republic file photo
The Bull Dogs return all five starters from last year’s team that went 6-16, including 0-5 in Conference Indiana. Besides the 6-foot-4 Long, who averaged 8.8 points and 4.6 rebounds, North returns 6-1 junior point guard Caleb Ferguson, who led the team with 12.5 points, 3.4 assists and 1.7 steals a game; along with 6-4 senior Nolan Pickup (6.5 ppg, 4.3 rpg), 6-2 senior Max Coomes (6.5 ppg) and 6-1 senior Nate Enneking (6.4 ppg).
Austin Perry, a 6-0 sophomore, likely will begin the season as a starter. Ben Ferguson, a 5-10 senior, also returns, along with 5-10 junior Mason Acton and 6-3 senior Eli Smith.
“Max Coomes, Caleb Ferguson, Austin Perry, Ben Ferguson are guys who have hit 3s fairly consistently, and Nate Enneking has worked on his shot and scored at a high level this summer,” Paul Ferguson said.
Braylon Thoman, a 6-2 senior football standout, is playing high school basketball for the first time and could figure into the rotation. Cam Kleinhenz, a 6-3 senior, is playing basketball for the first time since his freshman year.
“Ideally, we’d like to find a rotation of eight or nine guys, and we’re still figuring out who’s going to be in the rotation,” Paul Ferguson said. “We kind of had a rotation this summer, but now, it’s a little different.”
Also battling for playing time will be 6-2 junior Zach Fedor, 6-3 junior Ben Kriesant, 5-11 junior Eli Wrightsman and 6-0 sophomore Brennan Hester. Wrightsman led Brown County with 15.0 points a game last season.
Paul Ferguson is pleased with what he has seen through the first couple weeks of practice.
“I’ve been very impressed with their work ethic,” he said. “They’re a very spirited bunch and really work well together. They’re very competitive in practice. They’re a very competitive group.”
That competitiveness, he hopes, will lead to success throughout the season and into the postseason.
“I think the sectional is wide open,” Paul Ferguson said. “I think it will be really competitive. I’m kind of anxious to see those sectional teams early in the year and see what we have.”
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