Columbus North’s Hadassah Hurt shoots a free throw against East Central in the sectional final at Columbus North, Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025.
Paige Grider | For The Republic
Columbus North picked a bad night to have one of its worst shooting nights of the season.
The Bull Dogs went ice cold from the field Saturday night, and East Central made enough plays to hand them a 57-50 upset loss in the North Sectional final.
North shot 13 percent (3 of 23) from 3-point range and 30 percent (16 of 53) overall from the field.
“We didn’t shoot the basketball from the perimeter the way that we ordinarily do, and then defensively, we had trouble getting stops consistently,” North coach Brett White said. “They were getting downhill too often, and we were either fouling or giving up easy shots. Unfortunately, the result just didn’t turn out the way we wanted.”
After falling behind by as many as seven in the second quarter, the Bull Dogs (17-8) used a 9-0 run on a basket by Avery Johnson and seven straight points from Kaylie Harmon to take the lead. They led 24-21 before the Trojans’ Audrina Dugan hit a 3-pointer to tie the game at halftime.
“We talked about at halftime with the girls the fact that offensively, we just didn’t play well the first half, and here we are, we’re tied,” White said. “We felt like we’d hopefully get in the flow in the second half and be able to kind of turn the tide, and it just didn’t end up happening for us.”
East Central (12-11) scored the first six points of the second half to take the lead for good. North got back within 32-31 on a 3-pointer by Kenna Conrad and a basket by Avery Johnson, but then the Trojans scored six in a row again.
The Bull Dogs were within 45-40 midway through the fourth quarter when East Central’s Tatum Johnson hit a pair of 3-pointers sandwiched around an Avery Johnson basket, giving the Trojans their largest lead at 51-41 with 4:22 remaining.
North cut the deficit to 52-48 on an Avery Johnson 3 with 2:11 left. But East Central, which went only 20 of 36 from the free-throw line for the game, made enough down the stretch to seal the win.
“I thought we were rushing from the very beginning,” White said. “Maybe our inexperience showed a little bit, maybe a little bit of nerves. But even the shots that we normally take, I thought we were a little bit rushed on, and when you’re doing that, you don’t have a high success rate shooting the ball. We were able to kind of stabilize some things there, but we weren’t able to get those consistent stops.”
Freshman Natalie Stenger led the Trojans with 18 points. Dugan finished with 16 points, and Meredith Sizemore added 10 points and nine rebounds to lead East Central to a 36-27 advantage on the boards.
North had beaten the Trojans 56-41 on the same floor in December.
“They made a lot of perimeter shots (Saturday), and traditionally, they haven’t necessarily done that,” White said. “We weren’t able to turn them over like we did the first time. Defensively, they kind of stuck to their game plan, and we just didn’t shoot the ball the way we wanted to.”
Harmon led the Bull Dogs with 17 points. Avery Johnson scored 12 points, and Conrad added 11 points and seven rebounds.
North had a bounce-back season after going 11-13 last year. They lose senior starters Hadassah Hurt and Sydney Johnson, along with Emma Beaver, to graduation.
“We put ourselves in situations to win championships,” White said. “We were in a championship game of the (Scottsburg) holiday tournament, we were in a conference (Indiana) championship game an then we were in a sectional championship game. Unfortunately, we didn’t get over the hump, but the more times you put yourself in that situation, the better you’re going to be in the long run as you gain that experience. But overall, we got some wins vs. last year and got going in the right direction.”
East Central 57, Columbus North 50
East Central;11;13;18;15;—;57
Columbus North;7;17;13;13;—;50
East Central (12-11): Tatum Johnson 3 0-0 9, Natalie Stenger 4 9-17 18, Audrina Dugan 4 7-10 16, Anna Black 0 1-2 1, Kaleigh Meadows 1 0-1 2, Meredith Sizemore 4 2-4 10, Teagan Leihgeber 0 1-2 1. Totals: 16 20-36 57.
Columbus North (17-8): Kenna Conrad 4 2-5 11, Ava Wilson 1 0-0 2, Hadassah Hurt 2 2-3 6, Riley Sims 0 0-0 0, Sydni Schiefer 0 0-0 0, Kaylie Harmon 6 4-4 17, Avery Johnson 3 5-6 12, Sydney Johnson 0 2-2 2. Totals: 16 15-20 50.
3-point goals: East Central 5 (T. Johnson 3, Stenger, Dugan). Columbus North 3 (Conrad, Harmon, A. Johnson).
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