Norwell and Columbia City face off for ticket to State Championship
Hat Tip Katelynn Farley
North Arena was full of explosive energy on Saturday night as Norwell High School and Columbia City High School battled to the bitter end to earn a ticket to the girls’ state championship basketball game. In the end, it was the Lady Knights that earned the Semi-State win and will move on to play at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on Saturday, March 1.
The road to get there was hard-fought for both teams, with Norwell first facing Delta High School in the morning session and earning an impressive 74-44 win. Columbia City then came in for the noon game and dominated the Highland Trojans to earn a 74-37 win.
Norwell and Columbia City faced each other earlier in the season, with Columbia City walking away with a 74-67 win during the December game. Upon the Semi-State Championship matchup, Columbia City also had a slightly better record, going 23-4 against Norwell’s 21- 6.
Columbia City was the first to get on the board, but Norwell quickly answered - and that seemed to be the theme for the majority of the game, with the teams staying neck-and-neck. Both teams fought tooth and nail for every single shot.
By the end of the first quarter, Norwell was up 19-10. By the end of the half, Norwell had continued their lead, with the score sitting at 32-19.
In the third quarter, Norwell started to run away with the game, getting up to a 17-point surplus by the end of the third quarter. However, that didn’t mean that Columbia City gave up. Fighting to close the gap against Norwell, the Eagles managed to bring their deficit to just seven points with less than a minute left to go in the game. Norwell closed out the night with a score of 61-53.
Head Coach Eric Thornton pointed out that, compared to last year’s road to State, this year was a more difficult championship bracket to get through. But he credited the team’s success to how well the kids believe in themselves and how they focus on what’s important.
“They’re able to learn what they needed to learn and what they can control,” Thornton said. “The other stuff, when you have to step up in a game like this…I thought we’ve seen this in the last five weeks that this team has really been on a roll and their confidence sky-rocketed … they came out and took it today. The tougher team was going to win and I think this team has really matured and I think they’ve become a very tough team.”
According to the IHSAA website, Norwell will next face the undefeated Greensburg Pirates on Saturday, March 1, at 6 p.m.
More photos of all three Semi-State basketball games will be located at
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