Columbus North’s Lauren Barker, right, is guarded by Franklin’s Erica Buening as she sets up to shoot during a basketball game at Columbus North High School in Columbus, Ind., Saturday, Nov. 6, 2021.
The Republic file photo
Columbus North girls basketball is hoping to make a big leap this season, but the road in doing so won’t be easy.
There are many questions facing the Bull Dogs, and how they answer those questions will go a long way in determining how the season will go.
North coach Brett White is in his second year at the helm after a 14-9 campaign last year. He will have his hands full with a tough opening two-games with Hamilton Southeastern in tonight’s season opener at home and at last year’s Class 4A runner-up, Franklin, on Saturday.
“We don’t want to get caught up in the wins and losses and totals,” White said. “We’re trying to compete and trying to win every night out, but at the same time, we know that it’s a process. We know that our goal is still what is going to happen at the end of the year. We’re trying to build to that each day in practice and through each game. We don’t have an easy schedule by any means, especially here at the beginning, but we’re good enough to compete with those teams or else we wouldn’t put them on the schedule.”
Columbus North’s Emma Long, left, attempts to dribble past Roncalli’s Taylor Turk during a basketball game at Columbus North High School in Columbus, Ind., Thursday, Jan. 27, 2022.
The Republic file photo
The Bull Dogs will be led by their trio of backcourt seniors in Lauren Barker, Emma Long and Kayla Jones. Barker led North with 12.8 points and 2.9 steals a game last year, while Long added 4.4 points and a team-high 2.1 assists and Jones averaged 5.3 points, 3.9 rebounds and 2.3 steals.
Columbus North’s Kayla Jones brings the ball up the court during a basketball game against Jennings County at Columbus North High School in Columbus, Ind., Thursday, Jan. 6, 2022.
The Republic file photo
“Those three seniors will be the backbone of our team and who we’re going to lean on for not only basketball stuff but leadership stuff, as well, on and off the court,” White said. “We’ll really have to depend upon those three.”
North lost the bulk of its inside presence offensively and defensively following the losses of Kylah Lawson and Andrea Justis. The only returnee over 6-feet on the roster is 6-3 sophomore Kennedy Horn, who was injured most of last season and averaged 2.9 points and 3.0 rebounds in nine games.
Junior Kathryn Wilson (2.5 ppg, 3.2 rpg) was a part-time starter last year. Other players that saw some varsity minutes last year are sophomore Hadassah Hurt and juniors Olivia Johnson and Elise Preston. Junior Kaitlin White also could see action once she returns following a foot injury from volleyball season. Freshman Miley McClellan could see some minutes, as well.
“What we lack in size, we can make up for in length. We have the 5-10 and 5-11 players that are pretty lengthy where we can cause some havoc out on the perimeter where they can’t dump it inside and take advantage of that lack of size inside,” Brett White said. “We make people speed up a little bit and not get the ball where they want to get the ball, and then hopefully, we can eliminate some of the easy post plays.”
One thing that Brett White worked on with his team during the offseason is shooting. Last year, the Bull Dogs were only 28% from behind the arc and 63% from the free-throw line.
Brett White is hoping not to rely on the outside shooting and wants to have a balanced attack on offense both outside and inside.
“We have good shooters. It’s just a matter of becoming confident shooters and being consistent with our shooting,” he said. “We also have options inside, as well. If we can get some things easy inside, that’s going to make it easier to make those perimeter shots because they won’t be pressured as much if we can score some stuff inside, as well.”
During the offseason, the sectional assignments were rearranged and North moved into a sectional that includes three top-10 teams from a year ago in Columbus East, East Central and Franklin.
For Brett White, it’s about becoming a better, more experienced basketball team when the calendar turns to February.
“It’s going to be a matter of getting experience because we do have some junior playing, but they really don’t have a ton of varsity experience, so it’s going to be about getting them that varsity experience,” he said. “Next, it’ll be about the confidence level. When we play with confidence, we are a good basketball team. When we start second guessing ourselves, that’s when we have trouble… We’re looking to make improvements and hope to make progress, and as we get experience, I think you’ll see that we’ll be a better basketball team at the end of the year than we probably are at the beginning.”
The 2022-23 Columbus North girls basketball schedule:
Today;Hamilton Southeastern;7:30 p.m.
Saturday;at Franklin;2:30 p.m.
Nov. 11;at Martinsville;7:30 p.m.
Nov. 15;Southport;7:30p.m.
Nov. 18;New Albany;7:30 p.m.
Nov. 22;Franklin Central;7:30p.m.
Nov.26;at Lawrence North;1:30 p.m.
Dec. 3;at Terre Haute South;2:30 p.m.
Dec. 8;East Central;7:30 p.m.
Dec.13;at Seymour;7:30 p.m.
Dec. 15;at Columbus East;7:30p.m.
Dec. 20;at Jennings County;6 p.m.
Dec. 22;at Carmel;2:30 p.m.
Dec. 28;vs. TBA, at Jeffersonville;TBA
Dec. 29;Terre Haute North;2:30 p.m.
Jan. 7;at Bloomington South;2:30 p.m.
Jan. 12;Center Grove;7:30 p.m.
Jan. 14;Lawrenceburg;1:30 p.m.
Jan. 18;Silver Creek;7:30 p.m.
Jan. 20;Bloomington North;7:30 p.m.
Jan. 25;Rushville;7:30 p.m.
Jan. 26;at Roncalli;7:30 p.m.
