ST. LEON, Indiana – Columbus North has been a major nemesis for the girls basketball team at East Central.
The Trojans shook off the visiting Bull Dogs from one of the largest cities in the southern half of the Hoosier State, rallying to beat Columbus North (13-6) 38-29 in the championship game of their Class 4A, Section 14 in the IHSAA playoffs.
East Central, 19-4 overall, plays at Bedford North Lawrence (21-2) Feb. 13 in the regional tournament.
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“This is a really big deal for us,” senior guard Kyla Maxwell said. “I’ve never beaten North; our coach has never beaten North.”
The win set several milestones for the Trojans. They won their second straight title in one of the deepest and most competitive sectionals in the state, after going 28 years between titles.
EC head coach Kevin Moore got his first win over Columbus North in 15 tries. Maxwell broke the career wins record for any player in program history.
“When we came here 12 years ago, they were the bullseye,’ Moore said. “It took us a long time to get them. We respect them and their staff a whole lot."
“We’ve been talking about that all season long,” said sophomore Josie Trabel, EC’s leading scorer for the season (17.0 ppg.). “He puts in so much work for us, so much time. It’s an unbelievable feeling to get that win for him. When we all play together like this, and we have a lot of girls step up and make plays tonight, it’s an unbelievable feeling.”
EC rallied from six points down in the third quarter and from four down early in the fourth.
With the game tied at 27, EC took the lead for good when sophomore Laney Baker hit a three-pointer from the corner with 2:40 to go.
With 1:40 to go and EC leading 30-28, Trabel stole the ball in her backcourt, then while under heavy pressure, tried to pass it to a teammate at midcourt. An opponent caught the ball, but officials granted Moore a timeout as it happened. The Columbus North staff protested the timeout call, but to no avail, and EC retained possession.
North got the ball back and missed a three to take the lead. Trabel grabbed the rebound and was fouled. She made the first and missed the second, but she got another chance after a lane violation on North. She drained the second for a four-point lead, then made five more shots from the line the rest of the way. Trabel finished with a team-high 15 points.
EC trailed for most of the first three quarters in the defensive struggle, mainly because of the hot shooting of sophomore Lauren Barker, who had 18 of North’s 29 points.
Baker had 15 of North’s first 20 points, all on five 3-pointers. Her efforts, and a layup by senior Alexa McKinley coming off a steal by her, gave North a six-point lead at 23-17 late in the third. Barker was North’s second-leading scorer at 11.4 per game and had 42 3-pointers in 18 games.
“That kid can flat shoot it,” Moore said. “We talked about face-guarding, but when you do that, you take part of your help away. We just gambled a little bit and we did a good job of closing out on her release. She’s a really good player as a sophomore.”
Junior Hope Fox, EC’s second-leading scorer for the year (14.9 ppg.), started the comeback with two putback baskets to pull EC within two heading into the fourth, 23-21.
Moore said a trademark of his team has been slow starts offensively. In a recent game against Dixie Heights, one of Northern Kentucky’s top teams, the opponents played to a scoreless draw after one period in an eventual Dixie win.
Defense kept the Trojans in the game tonight with all to play for.
“It feels great,” Maxwell said. “It’s really hard to hold a team to 29 points, especially a team as athletic as them. It just shows that defense is going to win you championships. It’s all about communication with us. We talk early, talk loud. Everybody was linked up. We haven’t been linked up like that in recent games but we were tonight."
Maxwell, a senior guard, averages 6.5 points and four assists per game and recently notched her 200th career assist. She and post player Emma Ertel are the two starting seniors.
“(Maxwell) is never going to blow you away with the stat line, but she does the little things for our team,” Moore said. “She provides the leadership. She’s my coach on the floor and she accepts that responsibility. We’ve been through a lot together. For her to be a part of this and win the sectional on our home court is awesome.”
COLUMBUS NORTH (13-6): Barker 5 3 18, Lawson 2 0 4, McKinley 2 1 6, White 0 1 1. Totals: 9 5 29.
EAST CENTRAL (19-4): Baker 2 1 6, Fox 3 0 6, Tiemann 3 0 7, Trabel 4 7 15, Maxwell 1 0 2, McCory 1 0 2. Totals: 14 8 38.
3-pointers: EC 2 (Baker, Tiemann). CN 6 (Barker 5, McKinley).
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