A big giant season filled with blood, sweat and tears — and even a possible state championship — can come down to one single possession.
That is what the
Columbus North girls basketball team learned early on this season.
That lesson is quite possibly why the Bulldogs are one win away from a state 4A championship.
Columbus North lost a 64-60 game to Lawrence North on Nov. 29 and hasn't lost since, a span of three months and 24 games. The Bulldogs are 27-1 heading into Saturday's title game against
Homestead (Fort Wayne) (26-2) at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
"That setback reinforced to our players that every possession matters, and we have to treat each possession of each game with the importance it deserves," Columbus North coach Patrick McKee said. "We had a number of unforced turnovers in that game, and we have had far fewer of those since then, especially in our recent games."
For their more mindful and careful ways, the Bulldogs are the MaxPreps Indiana Team of the Week, presented by the Indiana National Guard.
They are No. 21 in the
MaxPreps Xcellent 25 national rankings and No. 18 in the MaxPreps national computer rankings. They average 68.9 points per game, shoot 48 percent from the field and 69 percent from the foul line.
McKee said numbers and skills and taking care of the ball are all vital. But what this team has is sisterhood.
"(He loves) How our players work together and regularly lift each other when needed," he said. "If someone makes an error, another player typically picks her up. We are a team, and our players really understand that."
It helps to have one of the nation's best players in
Ali Patberg.
The 5-foot-10 senior was selected as a McDonald's All-American and she's the state's No. 3 scorer at 25.7 per game. She also averages 8.8 rebounds, 6.1 assists and 3.2 steals per game.
Patberg is ranked the 14th best senior in the country by ESPN and she's headed to Notre Dame.
McKee said all of her basketball accolades pale in comparison to her character and personality. That's saying something, considering how talented she is.
"(Patberg) brings a special combination of size, speed, strength, skills, basketball IQ and coachability to the floor each time she plays," McKee said. "In 30-plus years of working with players at multiple levels, I have not seen anyone who works harder or smarter. Ali is a one-in-a-million person and a one-in-a-million player."
McKee has been around and he knows his stuff.
Since he took over in 2010-11, the Bulldogs are a combined 117-13. The school has a rich history with 16 section titles, five league titles and one regional title. But they are after an elusive first state title.
With a deep bench and other standout players like sophomore
Maliah Howard-Bass (9.4 ppg), junior
Paige Littrell (8.4 ppg) and senior
Sheyanne Street (6.1 ppg), they have a good shot.
As long as they take care of the ball. And keep doing what they've been doing.
"We have played excellent defense in our recent games," McKee said. "Our opponent in the state championship game, Homestead, is a terrific team with a tremendous offensive game.
"We must have another strong defensive game that makes things difficult for their team to get easy baskets. We know we will not shut them down entirely. They are too good. But hopefully we can make it difficult for them to get easy points, and we can do well enough with our offense to be able to prevail."
