Basketball Recap: Whiteland Takes a Loss

Whiteland was the 82-79 winner over Columbus North when they last played one another back in January of 2024, but their luck changed this time around. The Whiteland Warriors were just a bucket shy of victory on Saturday and fell 65-64 to the Columbus North Bull Dogs. While losing is never fun, the Warriors can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Indiana basketball rankings (they are ranked 113th, while the Bull Dogs are ranked 29th).

Loss or not, Whiteland got some senior leadership from Gavin Stubbe and Ethan Edwards. Stubbe went 7 for 11 on his way to 21 points along with five rebounds and five steals, while Edwards went 6 of 11 en route to 24 points and three steals. Those five steals set a new season-high mark for Stubbe. Another player making a difference was Kyle Edwards, who posted eight points.

Even though they lost, Whiteland was working as a unit and finished the game with 15 assists. The team's really been improving in that area: they've now improved their assist total in four consecutive contests.

Columbus North got their victory on the backs of several key players, but it was Austin Perry out in front who went 7 for 12 en route to 18 points and seven assists. The team also got some help courtesy of Caleb Ferguson, who went 7 of 13 on his way to 18 points in addition to six assists and six boards.

Whiteland has been struggling recently as they've lost four of their last five games, which put a noticeable dent in their 7-10 record this season. As for Columbus North, their win was their third straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 12-3.

Whiteland will head out to take on Indian Creek at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday. Whiteland has been getting the ball to fall more lately as they've increased their point totals each of their last four games. As for Columbus North, they will look to defend their home court on Thursday against Connersville at 7:00 p.m. Columbus North is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 59.6 points per game this season.