For The Tribune

COLUMBUS

The Seymour girls basketball team pulled out a pair of two-point wins last week, but Tuesday night, the Owls had no such fortune.

Class 4A No. 17 Columbus North led from start to finish in posting a 68-46 victory, avenging a loss at Seymour from last season.

“We know we’re really struggling right now on the defensive end,” Seymour coach Jason Longmeier said. “We’re trying to get some things figured out there, and I thought defensively, we just made some mistakes.”

The Bull Dogs (7-2) jumped out to an early 15-5 lead. The Owls (6-5) came back to cut it to 17-11 at the end of the first quarter on a buzzer-beater by Makenna Fee.

North then opened the second quarter with an 11-2 run and stretched the lead to 34-17 at halftime.

“I thought we gave some easy shots up early on and allowed them to get some space between us,” Longmeier said. “Especially with our youth and inexperience, it’s a hard team to fall behind and then be expected to come back. I never felt like we got into any type of offensive rhythm in the first half.”

Seymour scored the first four points of the second half on a pair of free throws by Ashton Chase and a basket by Fee. But then the Bull Dogs scored eight in a row to break the game open.

Fee led the Owls with 18 points and eight rebounds, while Maddie Roark added 17 points. North outrebounded Seymour 27-22.

“I thought there were some stretches where we really took care of the ball,” Longmeier said. “I thought for the last couple games, our offense has executed a lot better. I thought we rebounded for the most part with them, and they’re a very good rebounding team. We’re getting better.”