Columbia City started last week at 3-0 and was ranked 9th in the IBCA top 20. Now, the Eagles are 5-0 and ranked 5th. They are Summit City Sports’ girls’ basketball Team of the Week.
The week started with a 14-point against Snider on Tuesday. The Panthers came into that game at 5-0 and ranked third in the IBCA poll. But the Eagles held them to a season-low 40 points. Defense was a point of emphasis for Columbia City going into that game.
“I thought our kids defended really well. [Snider has] a great team that’s high-powered, high-powered offense with Jordyn Poole and Nae Nae Donahue. [Ciara] Sims … she was averaging 20 points a game approximately,” head coach Amy Shearer said. “They have a lot of kids that can score the basketball. So we, all week, tried to focus on prepping defensively on how to slow those kids down, and limit them.”
“We played in front of our whole community. Everyone was there. And it was so exciting. We played really well together,” forward Molly Baker said.
The following Saturday, Columbia City got a road win against Valparaiso. The Vikings were sectional champions last year. Going into Saturday, they were 3-1 and ranked 16th in the IBCA pool. They were coming off a two-point loss to Hammond Central. But the Eagles beat them 61-46, which is the lowest total the Vikings have scored this year.
“They have a long team. They’re very tall, very long, very athletic,” Shearer said. “We really focused on ball-control in that game, taking care of the basketball, trying to limit tips that their defense was going to cause based on their height, and really tried to get out and run the ball on them.”
“It just goes to prove our team chemistry,” guard Addie Baxter said. “We play really well together. And even though it’s a different type of team, they’re still super duper aggressive and play great defense, so it was good.”
Defense is a strength of Columbia City’s. The Eagles held their first three opponents under 35 points. And not only did they hold Snider and Valparaiso to season-low point totals. But they also forced them to turn the ball over. They had 11 steals and four blocked shots against Snider (Addie Baxter had four steals and three blocks). Then they came up with 13 steals against Valparaiso (Baxter had seven, Kyndra Sheets had three). Molly Baker also blocked three shots against the Vikings.
“It really makes a difference, especially in these big games that we have coming up on Saturday. We play Hamilton Southeastern [at Brownsburg], and our defense is really going to make or break our game,” Baxter said.
“Our kids like to defend, and they know that if they’re going to play and stay on the court, then they’re going to have to defend and rebound,” Shearer said. “That’s a big mainstay in our basketball program. I thought our defense was really really good against Snider, limiting how many quality shots some of their big scorers had.”
Several different players have contributed to Columbia City’s success this past week. Addie Baxter scored 14 points against Snider and also had eight rebounds and four assists. She also came up with 15 points, 10 boards and five assists against Valparaiso. Molly Baker led the scoring against Valparaiso with 16 points and seven boards. Kyndra Sheets also scored 11 agains the Vikings. Tessa Tonkel added 10 points against Snider. She and Faith Frey hit two threes a piece in that game.
“It’s so hard to beat teams with super duper great chemistry, but also teams with more than just one player,” Baxter said. “We have a lot of great players on our team that contribute.”
The Eagles’ next game is tonight at Goshen. The Redhawks are 3-2 and are coming off a win against Westview. They are led in scoring by Kyra Hill, who is averaging 13.8 points per game.
“They’re a really good team. They have a lot of good players. They have a couple post players,” Baker said. “We’re just excited. We’re hoping to get the win.”
