WRBI was in St. Leon Thursday for girls high school basketball as East Central entertained Columbus East. Although the final margin was nine points, the game lived up to its billing. In the end, it was the Olympians over the Trojans 55-46.
Sparked by a 13-nothing run, East Central jumped out to a 20-11 advantage in the first quarter before leading 20-15 at the stop. EC’s Hope Fox put in nine points and Josie Trabel contributed six at the start.
A half-dozen points by the Olympian’s Leah Bachmann and a stiffening defense got Columbus East to within one by halftime, 26-25.
The third quarter was practically a mirror of the second except, this time, it was Harley Gant for the Os who amassed nine points in the frame. She propelled the visitors to a 37-31 advantage with a quarter to go.
Dating back to the end of the third and running through the early fourth, Columbus East went on a 13-1 run to go up 45-32. It really looked as if the Olympians were going to run away with the contest, but East Central battled back.
Spurred by their defense, the Trojans ran off 10 straight points to get back within a single possession, 45-42. Six of those points came on consecutive triples by Makenzie Vignale.
However, EC could never get over the hump. And Koryn Greiwe put the game away at the line for the Olympians. The guard hit eight straight free throws down the stretch plus a key field goal to give Columbus East the nine-point victory, 55-46.
The win by the Olympians snapped a four-game losing streak to the Trojans. Greiwe led all scorers with 18 points, Gant followed with 16 and Saige Stahl netted 10.
For East Central, Trabel scored 16 points and grabbed six rebounds while Fox finished with nine points and team-bests with eighth boards, five assists and five steals.
We thank coaches Kevin Moore of East Central and Danny Brown of Columbus East for their information, Columbus East AD Pete Huse for his assistance and East Central AD Don Stonefield for the accommodations and hospitality.