Will Rieckers
So many times over the past two seasons, Columbus East has battled against good teams, only to fall short.
Friday night, the Olympians built a big lead and had to hold on for dear life, but managed to pick up their third win of the season a 59-55 Hoosier Hills Conference decision against Jennings County.
“We’ve lost come close ones this year,” said East senior Will Rieckers, who led all scorers with 18 points. “We’ve always been close. We just needed to turn things around. I think it was good for us to fight back. Picking up the energy at the end was great for us.”
The Olympians (3-13, 1-4) jumped out to an 11-4 lead late in the first quarter and led 19-6 early in the second. The Panthers (11-6, 3-2) cut the lead to seven, but East finished the first half on an 8-0 run to lead 29-14.
The Olympians led 34-16 early in the third and 45-29 late in the third. Jennings used a 13-0 run to get to within three and took a 52-51 lead with 2:19 left in the game, but East finished the game on an 8-3 run, five five of those points coming from Rieckers.
“I’m proud of our kids’ effort,” East coach Brent Chitty said. “You saw how well they shot in the second half. They didn’t shoot that way in the first half. We saw it on film. We knew they were that good.”
Ben Sylva scored 15 points for the Olympians. Pete Coriden had nine points, and Julius Dailey added eight points and six rebounds.
Keegan Manowitz led the Panthers with 16 points, while Carter Kent scored 15 on five 3-pointers. Jacob Vogel added 12 points and six rebounds.
“They’re an outstanding team, and they’re very well coached, and we knew they were going to come,” Chitty said. “We knew they weren’t going to lay down. They’re just too talented, but I have to give my kids credit. We somehow survived.”
East is back in action this afternoon for a game against Franklin. The contest was moved up to a 3:30 p.m. JV/5 p.m. varsity start because of the possibility of Franklin’s girls basketball team playing in the Columbus North Regional final tonight.
