BOYS' BASKETBALL: Silver Creek drops first game of season
Dec. 3—SELLERSBURG — The Silver Creek Dragons looked to continue their perfect start to the season Friday night, but Luke Harmon and the Columbus North Bull Dogs had other plans.
Harmon rarely missed while tallying 16 first half points for visiting Columbus North, as the Bull Dogs never trailed en route to an 85-51win over Silver Creek.
Silver Creek(2-1) struggled to handle the full court press from Columbus North (2-2), as the Bull Dogs turned turnovers into points while building an early lead.
The Dragons trailed 5-0 to start the game before Kaden Oliver buried a trey to get Silver Creek on the board.
Sophomore center Walker Hoffman tied the score with a power move in the lane on the next Silver Creek possession, drawing a foul in the process after finishing his shot through contact.
But Columbus North quickly recaptured the lead. Harmon was able to draw a foul and hit his shot, converting the free throw to give the Bull Dogs an 8-5 lead.
Ty Ferguson drained a 3-pointer on the next Bull Dogs possession to stretch the lead to 11-5. Silver Creek then responded with a trey from freshman Kason Daeger.
Harmon knocked down back-to-back shots from behind the arc, with Oliver hitting a trey in-between Columbus North scores to make it 17-11.
A Nate Davidson free throw cut the Bull Dogs' lead to 17-12 with 1:36 to play in the first quarter, but Columbus North then shut the door on Silver Creek's chances of winning the game.
Columbus North went on 22-3 run after Davidson's free throw, forcing turnovers and beating the Dragons on the offensive glass for put backs.
Cameron Wheeler hit two free throws to end the devastating Bull Dogs' run, but Silver Creek trailed 36-16 with 4:17 to play in the first half.
Wheeler knocked down another pair of free throws to take away some of the Columbus North momentum. Kyle Roberts followed it up with his own 5-0 run for the Dragons. He made a tough layup inside before knocking down a baseline jump shot to cut the lead to 38-23.
But Columbus North responded with five points to squash the brief Silver Creek rally.
Oliver drained a long jump shot near the left corner and Daeger hit a late free throw to make it 43-26 at halftime.
Hoffman snagged an offensive rebound and scored early in the second half for Silver Creek, and Wheeler added two nice scores in the lane, but the deficit was too much to overcome. Columbus North increased its lead to 24, taking a 65-41 advantage at the end of the third quarter, and cruised to the road win.
Oliver led Silver Creek with 10 points, followed by Wheeler(8), Roberts(7) and Hoffman(6).
Harmon led all scorers with 19 for Columbus North. Ferguson added 16 for the Bull Dogs.
Columbus North vs. Silver Creek
1 2 3 4
CN 26 17 22 20 85
SC 14 12 15 10 51
