Keaton Lawson
The comeback by Columbus East was almost complete.
The Olympians got it to within two late in the fourth quarter, but Shelbyville hit its free throws and made key defensive stops for the Golden Bears to escape with a 59-53 boys basketball win on Tuesday.
It was a tale of two halves for East. Unfortunately, a better second half couldn’t overcome the poor first half by the Olympians.
“I was proud of the guys and how we battled back, but we lost it in the first half, and we’ve got to do a better job” East coach Perry Nash said. “I talked to the guys, and we are going to have to look at some things and figure out how I can structure our practice. That way, we’re ready for that.”
After the Olympians (3-7) jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead, Shelbyville (9-4) went on a 13-2 went to lead 13-6. The teams traded points the rest of the way with the Golden Bears leading 17-10 after the first quarter.
East got it to within 20-14 early in the second quarter, but Shelbyville went on an 11-2 run to widen the gap to 31-16, which was the largest lead of the game. The Golden Bears eventually led 33-22 at the half.
The Olympians finally picked up momentum late in the third quarter by forcing turnovers and getting easy baskets to propel them to an 11-2 run to make it 44-41, after trailing 42-30 midway through the quarter. The momentum was quickly ceased when Caden Claxton hit a half-court heave at the buzzer to make it a 47-41 Shelbyville lead entering the fourth.
East got it to within 53-51 late in the fourth quarter. The Golden Bears hit its shots from the foul line to seal the victory.
“We have to play hard in the first half and come out like we should,” East sophomore Keaton Lawson said. “If we would have come out in the first half like we did in the second half, then we would have been able to do better.”
Lawson led the Olympians with game-high 20 points. Alex Duncan scored nine, and Carter Patterson added eight.
Mar Nicholson led the Golden Bears with 19.
“We’re still a young team. We’re still growing,” Nash said. “We got to play for 32 minutes. I think for a young team, that’s hard to visualize, hard to understand, but we are getting there. That’s something that we’re striving towards. I don’t think we’re far. It takes some time, and I’m happy with our guys, every one of them.”
Shelbyville 59, Columbus East 53
Shelbyville;17;16;14;12;—;59
Columbus East;10;12;19;12;—;53
Columbus East (3-6): Mason Reeves 1 2-2 4, Jackson Fischvogt 1 2-2 5, Daniel Coriden 2 0-0 5, Ethan Bumbalough 1 0-0 2, Anthony Cowan 0 0-0 0, Keaton Lawson 8 3-3 20, Alex Duncan 4 1-2 9, Carter Patterson 4 0-2 8. Totals: 21 8-11 53.
3-point goals: Columbus East 3 (Lawson, Fischvogt, Coriden).
