BROWNSTOWN
One team’s winning streak had to screech to a halt before Thanksgiving break.
Unfortunately for the hosts, it proved to be them.
Columbus East snapped the Brownstown Central girls basketball team’s four-game winning spree by recording a 62-38 victory Tuesday night at Brownstown.
Brownstown (5-2) opened the game on an 8-2 run, including the first six points of the game, led by four points by Payton Farmer by the 3:07 mark.
The Olympians (5-0) answered with a 7-0 streak, capped by a 3-pointer from Britney Ballard, to take their first lead at 10-8 with 48 ticks on the clock.
Baskets by Farmer and Ashley Schroer put the Braves back on top, as they led 12-11 after eight minutes of play.
East caught fire from the field in the second quarter, outscoring the Braves 19-9.
The teams stayed within three points the first six minutes until East mustered an 8-0 scoring streak to end the half.
In the rally, Whitley Rankin drained a 3-pointer, and Kaitlyn Dougherty hit a trey and got a runner in the lane to fall to give the Olympians a 30-21 edge at the break.
“I thought at the end of the second quarter when I took Kristen Stuckwisch out to save her from picking up her third foul, they went on a run,” Braves coach Karla Rieckers said. “If I could redo those two minutes, I think I would. If we ran the press-break the way we wanted to, we could break it. We just went into panic mode.
“They have size and have long arms,” she said. “I thought when we reversed the ball and looked up the side of the court, we got the looks we wanted. We just didn’t do it enough.”
East’s defensive press and size gave the Braves trouble out of intermission.
The Olympians went on a 9-0 run to open the second half, scoring three baskets on offensive putbacks. The Braves also had five turnovers in the span.
An and-one from Schroer stopped the Braves’ bleeding with 1:12 on the clock, cutting the deficit to 41-24.
East didn’t allow another field goal in the quarter with the Braves just managing two more points on free throws, as the Olympians led 45-26 after 24 minutes of play.
The Olympians outscored the Braves 7-2 to start the fourth quarter before a Tayler Garland 3-pointer brought the score to 52-31 at the midway point.
Leading by the double-digit margin, the Olympians were able to empty their bench and hold on for the win.
“For the first half, I thought we competed with them,” Rieckers said. “In the second half, I thought we were sluggish to start the third and let them dictate the game. We can’t do that. We need to come out and battle on every possession. I think we came out of it, but by that time, we had too big a hole to dig out of.”
Kristen Lyons led the Olympians with 17 points and 13 rebounds, and Rankin added 10.
Farmer and Schroer topped the Braves with nine points each.
The Olympians won the rebounding margin 32-17 and turnover difference 27-19.
“We knew East was very good,” Rieckers said. “They want to take a run at their sectional this year. They have size on the inside and shooters on the outside, and (coach) Danny (Brown) does a nice job with them.”
On Friday, Brownstown will play a Mid-Southern Conference game at Scottsburg.