Columbus North’s Kaylie Harmon passes the ball during the annual crosstown rivalry game against Columbus East Dec. 14, 2023, at Columbus North.
The Republic file photo
Coming off its first losing season in 19 years, Columbus North girls basketball is looking for a bounce-back in 2024-25.
The Bull Dogs took some big steps toward that with their performance during the June period in which teams and practice and play games.
“We were pleased with what we were able to accomplish this June,” North coach Brett White said. “We changed some things offensively and defensively. We’re still pretty young, so we just wanted to build on some things we wanted to change from last year. We’re doing some different things with our lack of size, trying to spread the floor and push the ball a little bit more, being a little bit more intentional with that.”
The Bull Dogs played two separate nights at Triton Central and one at Hauser and spent one day playing three games at Indiana University. They also played two games in the Charlie Hughes Shootout and three in the Ball State Shootout.
North capped the summer season by going 7-2 and finishing second in the Indiana Wesleyan Team Camp.
“We had a good three days,” White said. “We made some progress throughout June, and that was a nice way to wrap things up.”
Columbus North’s Miley McClellan brings the ball down the court against Martinsville Nov. 10, 2023, at Columbus North.
The Republic file photo
The Bull Dogs lost only two players from a team that went 11-13 last winter and have several players back who started some games, led by incoming sophomores Kaylie Harmon and Avery Johnson and incoming junior Miley McClellan. Incoming senior Sydney Johnson and incoming junior Kenna Conrad also started at times and were varsity regulars, along with incoming senior Paige Terry and incoming sophomore Ava Wilson.
North also welcomes back incoming senior Hadassah Hurt, who started eight games last year before sustaining a season-ending ACL injury. Incoming senior Emma Beaver and incoming sophomore Riley Sims dressed varsity last season while playing mostly JV.
Incoming juniors Natalie Rohm, Audrey Nordman and Allison Kolhouse, who were JV players last winter, played some with the varsity this summer. Incoming freshman Addy Dean also played saw some action with the varsity in June.
“We have a lot of returnees back, so we feel good about the experience that we have,” White said. “We feel like most of those players have put time in and made improvements, so we’re excited about where we’re headed.”
