Columbus East’s Caroline Frost hits a free throw against Silver Creek at Columbus East High School in Columbus, Ind., Tuesday, Jan. 23, 2024
Nicholas Shaw | For The Republic
It was senior night for the Columbus East girls basketball team, but unfortunately, visiting Silver Creek ruined the festivities.
The Olympians hung in with the Class 4A No. 13 Dragons, but a quick spurt and late free throws late helped Silver Creek escape with a 50-44 girls basketball win Tuesday night at The Orange Pit.
East led for much of the contest, but it was a 7-0 burst by the Dragons to pull ahead in the lead for good. Silver Creek also hit four straight free throws in the closing seconds to seal the win.
“We wanted to compete. That was my goal coming into it. Obviously, you always want to win, but we wanted to compete, and I venture to say Silver Creek was a 20- to-25 point favorite tonight,” East coach Kaitlyn Phillips said. “Right when we came out at the opening jump, it was either going to go our way really well or not our way at all. The emotions of the crowd were going to favor us, or they weren’t. It definitely played into our role really well.”
Tuesday marked the final home game for Olympian seniors Jenna Guse, Madelyn Poe, Caroline Frost, Messiah Trapp, Victoria Cuhadar and Savanna Sullivan.
“I have been coaching for a long time, and I’ve never been with a closer group of kids than I’ve had with these six. I tell them all the time how much I love them and how special they’ve been this year,” Phillips said. “I do wish that things could have gone a little bit differently for them. They did get the short end of the stick in having a new program and losing some games that we shouldn’t just from the growing pains of a new coach, but they have been phenomenal leaders for this program. A year from now, we are going to be wishing that we had their leadership still, and as a basketball coach, a lot of these kids are kids I’d love to have for two or three years.”
The emotions of senior night played a huge factor in the first half. The Olympians (5-16) used their 3-point shooting in the opening quarter to go ahead 17-16. East had its biggest lead of the game at 27-21 in the second quarter, but Silver Creek (17-4) came back to finish the half on a 5-0 run to trail 27-26 at the break.
The Olympians led 34-33 in the closing seconds of the third quarter, but a basket by Lydia Wright at the buzzer gave the Dragons a 35-34 lead heading into the fourth.
Frost led East with a game-high 20 points, including three 3-point baskets. Jazmyn Robey led Silver Creek with a team-high 16 points off the bench.
“We have much more confidence when the ball goes into the basket,” Phillips said. “Caroline was on fire from the outside, and for us to feel that confidence of the ball going into the basket, it changes everything about basketball.”
The Olympians have one last matchup before sectional play when they visit Cathedral on Thursday in the regular season finale. East then will have a week off as they drew the bye in the sectional before taking on either East Central or host Whiteland in the semifinals on Feb. 2.
Silver Creek 50, Columbus East 44
Silver Creek;16;10;9;15;—;50
Columbus East;17;10;7;10;—;44
Silver Creek (17-4): Schoen 6 0-0 15, Renn 5 0-2 11, Wright 4 0-0 8, Robey 5 4-4 16. Totals: 20 4-6 50.
Columbus East (5-16): Kenzie Cheek 0 0-0 0, Jenna Guse 2 0-2 5, Victoria Cuhadar 2 0-0 5, Kimberly Carothers 0 0-0 0, Messiah Trapp 3 1-1 7, Caroline Frost 7 3-5 20, Madelyn Poe 2 0-0 5. Totals: 17 4-8 44.
3-point goals: Silver Creek 6 (Schoen 3, Robey, Renn); Columbus East 6 (Frost 3, Guse, Cuhadar, Poe).
