T.J. Perry made hundreds of baskets in Memorial Gym during his illustrious playing career at Columbus North.
Tuesday night, it was Perry’s daughter Lauren who took over as the sharpshooter in Memorial Gym, but unfortunately for the Bull Dogs, she wasn’t playing for the home team.
Perry went 5 of 6 from 3-point range and scored a game-high 17 points to lead Carmel to a 57-43 girls basketball win over North.
Perry wasn’t the only Greyhound with a famous father or grandfather who hurt the Bull Dogs on Tuesday. Isabelle Shepherd, the granddaughter of 1968 Indiana Mr. Basketball Billy Shepherd, added 11 points for Carmel.
“They’re a really solid team,” North coach Brett White said. “They move the basketball well. They take the right shots. They know how to get the basketball to the right people at the right times, and they don’t make too many mistakes. We knew they were better than what their record appeared, based on the teams that they play, and they played well tonight.”
North (10-8) led 5-2 two minutes into the game when the Greyhounds (8-9) went on a 16-0 run to take control. The Bull Dogs answered with a 13-4 run to get back within four, but Carmel scored the last four points of the first half and the first four of the second half to stretch the lead to 30-18.
North got back to within 36-29 with three minutes left in the third quarter, but the Greyhounds finished the period with a 9-2 run, and the Bull Dogs couldn’t get back within single digits in the fourth.
“I think there were times when we competed well,” White said. “I thought there were times when we ran the floor the way we wanted to, and overall, we took care of the basketball, which has been a problem at times for us. We just need to find ways to lengthen out those times.”
Miley McClellan
Miley McClellan led North with 12 points. Avery Johnson scored 11 points, and Kaylie Harmon had 11 points and eight rebounds to lead the Bull Dogs to a 26-25 advantage on the boards.
“I thought the difference between Saturday (a win against Bloomington South) and today was our energy level,” White said. “On Saturday, we had really good energy. Today, I didn’t feel like we had as much. We just didn’t take things away the way we wanted to, so that’s something we need to improve on, and that’s something we’ll work on here as we get through January.”
Carmel 57, Columbus North 43
Carmel;14;12;19;12;—;57
Columbus North;5;13;13;12;—;43
Carmel (8-9): Keaton Gatlin 3 2-2 9, Tianna Bryant 0 1-2 1, Isabelle Shepherd 3 4-4 11, Rilee McBride 0 0-0 0, Lauren Perry 5 2-2 17, Jamie Elliott 0 0-0 0, Taryn Fisher 3 3-5 9, Megan Hamm 3 0-0 7. Totals: 17 15-19 57.
Columbus North (10-8): Ava Wilson 1 0-0 2, Olivia Johnson 2 0-1 5, Riley Sims 0 0-0 0, Kaylie Harmon 4 2-2 11, Paige Terry 0 0-2 0, Kaitlin White 0 0-0 0, Miley McClellan 4 4-6 12, Avery Johnson 4 2-2 11, Sydney Johnson 1 0-0 2. Totals: 16 8-13 43.
3-point goals: Carmel 8 (Perry 5, Gatlin, Shepherd, Hamm); Columbus North 3 (O. Johnson, Harmon, A. Johnson).
