Columbus North coach Brett White talks to his team before the start of their game against Franklin at the Sectional 14 semifinal Friday at Whiteland High School.
Rob Baker | For The Republic
WHITELAND — When Columbus North played Franklin in its season opener way back in November, the Bull Dogs stayed in the game for about a half before the Grizzly Cubs pulled away.
Friday night’s rematch in the Whiteland Sectional semifinals held no such drama. The Class 4A No. 8 Grizzly Cubs jumped out to a 21-2 lead and cruised from there to a 74-25 victory.
“I thought their pressure was pretty good, and we didn’t handle that pressure,” North coach Brett White said. “Obviously, we turned the ball over a lot there early on, and they got rolling, and we just were never able to recover.”
Franklin (22-3) advances to play Whiteland, a winner over Columbus East in Friday’s first semifinal, in tonight’s sectional final.
The Bull Dogs (11-13) committed 17 of their 27 turnovers in the first half, and the Grizzly Cubs led 38-14 at the break.
“We worked on their press, but it’s hard to replicate the pressure that they’re able to put on you,” White said. “Then after a couple turnovers, we started second-guessing ourselves a little bit, and it just led to more turnovers and it kind of snowballed and got away from us.”
Olivia Johnson scored nine points, and Avery Johnson added eight for North. Olivia Johnson, Paige Terry and Miley McClellan all grabbed six rebounds to lead the Bull Dogs to a 29-17 advantage on the boards.
North loses only two seniors — Olivia Johnson and Kaitlin White — from a team that began the season 8-2 before closing 3-11 against a considerably tougher back half of the schedule.
“I thought at times this year, we did some really good things,” Brett White said. “We faced a lot of adversity this year with injuries and illness. If nothing else, they gained some experience. Now, they’ve been in some of these situations, so when they see these situations again, hopefully they’ll be able to respond in a positive way.”
Franklin 74, Columbus North 25
Columbus North;2;12;6;5;—;25
Franklin;18;20;18;18;—;74
Columbus North (11-13): Ava Wilson 1 0-0 2, Olivia Johnson 3 2-2 9, Riley Sims 0 0-0 0, Audrey Nordman 0 0-0 0, Kaylie Harmon 1 0-0 3, Paige Terry 1 0-0 2, Kaitlin White 0 0-0 0, Miley McClellan 0 0-0 0, Avery Johnson 0 1-2 1, Emma Beaver 0 0-0 0. Totals: 8 7-10 25.
Franklin (22-3): Aubrey Runyon 2 0-3 4, Izzy Stillabower 0 0-0 0, Kennedy Urban 7 1-2 17, Addie Morris 0 0-0 0, Lauren Klem 1 0-0 3, Sophie Rinehold 1 0-0 3, Scarlett Kimbrell 1 1-3 4, Erica Buening 6 1-3 13, Emma Sappenfield 4 0-0 10, Mackensie Owens 1 0-0 3, Addi King 0 0-0 0, Brooklyn York 7 3-4 17. Totals: 30 6-15 74.
3-point goals: Columbus North 2 (O. Johnson, Harmon); Franklin 8 (Urban 2, Sappenfield 2, Klem, Rinehold, Kimbrell, Owens).
