For the Daily Journal
COLUMBUS
A quick start was all the Columbus North girls basketball team needed against Franklin.
The Bull Dogs’ impressive first quarter helped them to a 61-41 nonconference win against the Grizzly Cubs on Tuesday night.
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The teams are heading in opposite directions of late. Columbus North (14-4) won its third straight game and appears to be bouncing back nicely after two tough tournament losses in late December.
Franklin, meanwhile, still is looking for its first win of 2018 after dropping its fourth straight.
It was just a matter of the Bull Dogs being too tall, too deep, too talented and too much for the Grizzly Cubs.
Columbus North took control immediately, racing out to a 26-9 first quarter lead, augmented by 11 Franklin turnovers in the frame.
From there, it was the simple process of the team maintaining not only its lead but its discipline.
The Bull Dogs didn’t commit a turnover until the second quarter, and they had only 10 giveaways in the game.
“North is a big, strong, physical team,” Franklin coach Josh Sabol said. “When you have young guards like we do, they will give you problems. They really bothered us tonight.”
One guard in particular was causing all kinds of problems for the Cubs, and that was sophomore Annie Anderson.
“Annie really played a great game,” Columbus North coach Pat McKee said.
Anderson had 17 points and was key in disrupting the Franklin offense.
Anderson said the Bull Dogs’ quick start was the deciding factor.
“We came out with intensity and rotated really well,” she said. “We have to keep that up the rest of the season.”
That intensity also came from the bench, as junior Nadia Lomax had a game-high 18 points. Senior Liz Tynan added 17 for the Bull Dogs.
Franklin (7-11), which hosts Perry Meridian on Thursday, was led by senior Maya Elliott’s 10 points and nine rebounds.
