In every phase of the game, the Seymour girls basketball team came ready to play with last year’s Class 4A state runners-up visiting the Lloyd E. Scott Gymnasium.

Seymour (9-3) drained nine 3-pointers, sank just under 50 percent of all of their shots and had 14 assists in a 57-44 win against No. 10 Columbus North on Tuesday.

However, despite the offensive dominance against the Bull Dogs (6-3), it was the defense that Owls coach Jason Longmeier admired most from the team.

“We hit a lot of big shots tonight, but I feel like we won this game on the defensive end,” Longmeier said. “We did a great job of taking away what they wanted — getting to the basket. We shared the ball and played team basketball.”

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Owls sophomore Ashton Chase hit six of seven shots, all 3-pointers, while sinking four free throws for 22 points to lead the Owls.

The Owls ignited from behind the arc in the first half, drilling four 3-pointers on seven attempts.

The Owls scored 13-straight points from the 5:42 to 1:45-mark anchored by treys from Lauren James, Sarah Benefiel and Ashton Chase to lead 13-4.

North’s Imani Guy hit a pair of free throw to stop the run before a three from Jenna Borger concluded the quarter with the Owls leading 16-9.

SHS went on a 6-0 scoring string midway through the second quarter to lead 23-11 with 2:50 on the clock.

The Bull Dogs answered by scoring seven straight which started with a 3-pointer from Ashlyn Huffman.

Griffin sank two shots from the line to give the Owls and 25-18 advantage at intermission.

At half, the Owls had outrebounded the Bull Dogs 14-6.

The Bull Dogs brought the score to 28-24 following a basket from Tessa Lomax and free throws from Maliah Howard-Bass with 6:21 in the third quarter.

Chase then caught fire, hitting back-to-back 3-pointer and hitting free throws for eight-straight points as they Owls lead 39-27 at the 1:58-mark.

“Not one of those did she think about shooting when she caught it,” Longmeier said. “I don’t know that any of her shots hit the rim. We knew that we needed that to get a win.”

After three, the Owls held a 41-29 advantage.

The closest the Bull Dogs wouldn’t trail by fewer than double-digits in points the remainder of the game.

A 3-pointer by North’s Jenna Borger and free throw from Lomax cut the Owls’ lead to 10 with 2:21 in the game

In the final 1:50 of the period, the Owls hit eight free throws to seal the game.

Patberg topped the Bull Dogs’ scoring with 11 points.

Outside of Chase’s 22 points, James scored 14 and Griffin added 11.

On the boards, the Owls won the rebounding battle 23-20. Fee had eight rebounds and Griffin grabbed seven.

SHS committed 12 turnovers to North’s 10 giveaways.

Longmeier said it was a signature win for the Owls.

“We’ve played well all year, we’ve just struggled against the teams we’re supposed to handle,” he said. “We need to take that intensity on the road for us. This was a big win against a really good team.”