Tornadoes drain 12 3-pointers in 67-51 win

Columbian coach Morgan Harrigan said it best Tuesday night: "Sometimes you have a game plan, but then you have to rip it up and throw it out the window."That was the key for Columbian, who actually trailed 11-2 in the early minutes Tuesday to visiting Kenton, who came out on fire from long range in the opening quarter.So perhaps the defensive pressure wasn't going to the focus for the Tornadoes, but after splashing 12 3-pointers, the offense surely showed up and carried TC to a 67-51 victory."They hit some big shots and that's definitely not how we envisioned starting," Harrigan said. "The game plan was defensive pressure and energy, and you know what showed you for us tonight – our offense. We adjusted, called a timeout down 11-2 and decided we were a little bit embarrassed and we wanted to show up in our home gym and made some changes. People stepped up."After the initial Wildcats (4-9) surge in the first quarter as Brylee Bostelman tallied eight early points and after the timeout, TC senior Marissa Allen provided a spark off the bench with the first 3-pointer of the night and then drained another as TC tied things at 11 after one stop.Kenton then took a 15-11 lead to start the second, but then Kenzie Felske drilled a triple to start the barrage from beyond the arc as TC splashed three more in the second, including the final six points of the half on a trey from Madi Shriver and Lexi Beaston, giving TC a 25-22 edge at the break. "We're working hard to score as we lost our leading scorer, who scored 25 points per game to an ACL injury, so we're kind of working and figuring out how to score," Wildcats coach Jay Bostelman said. "Obviously Brylee had a pretty good game scoring (24 points) … you know, first punch was us, but we knew they would make a run, it was only a matter of time because they have a couple of great shooters. "It just got out of hand there a little. They got on good streaks from the outside between Allen and Beaston, so defensively we tried to adjust a little bit, but we kind of ran out of gas. We played a little faster pace than we'd like to play at this point, but they played hard, we fought."Allen hit all four of her 3-point attempts in the first half to help carry the Tornadoes to a lead. "As a team being able to connect on 12 of 27 3s was great for us," Harrigan said. "When someone hits a shot, it opens things up for other players and gives them the confidence. It was great for Marissa to come in tonight and she's bought-in to her new role for us, that's really bringing a spark and some instant offense, but she was able to hold her own and as of late I've really appreciated her buy-in and what she's been able to do."Kenton certainly did hang around for a little bit in the second half, but there was a different energy to the Tornadoes and it started quickly with a 6-0 spurt right out of the half as Mia Zeis converted a three-point play and then Madi Shriver drilled a 3. Later in the third, Beaston got going with consecutive triples and then Allen finished off the third with her final one of the game as TC led 48-38 heading to the fourth.TC then really pulled away at the beginning of the final period with a 13-4 run to gain a 59-42 advantage with 3:29 to play."We threw away our game plan at halftime like coach said and we bought-in to what we could do really well, which was half-court defense," Beaston said. "It wasn't the best tonight, but our offense did a good job picking us up."I think our chemistry is stronger than ever. We're working really well together, but there are things we can improve on, being our defense for sure. But our offense is flowing well, so I think as long as we keep sharing the ball, keep lifting each other up, we should have a good last half of the season."Beaston paced the Tornadoes with 18 points, while Allen added 15 and Zeis ended with nine.The Tornadoes ended last season at 13-10 overall and at this point of the season, improved to 10-4 after the win Tuesday night. However, there are some chances for a signature win down the stretch as the Tornadoes get another shot at league foes – Perkins, Bellevue and Norwalk."We will have a short memory on how we played defense here tonight, but remember that shooting and build on that confidence and we're looking forward to welcoming Perkins into our house." Columbian 67, Kenton 51Kenton (4-9): Emori Criner 2-0-4; Jazilynn Long 1-1-3; Lyla Gammon 1-0-2; Kaiden Gammon 6-2-15; Brylee Bostelman 5-11-24; Kaylee Barlow 0-0-0; Ally Rhinehart 1-0-2; Taryn Miller 0-1-1. Totals: 16-15-51.Columbian (10-4): Madi Shriver 2-0-6; Mia Zeis 4-1-9; Marissa Allen 5-0-15; Caroline Newlove 0-1-1; Kenzie Felske 2-2-7; Aysiah Haubert 0-0-0; Lexi Beaston 7-0-18; Chloe Heyman 1-1-3; Tyanna Zeigler 1-2-4; Maddy Richie 2-0-4; Reegan Hurt 0-0-0. Totals: 24-7-67.Kenton&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;11&emsp;&emsp;11&emsp;&emsp;16&emsp;&emsp;13&emsp;&emsp;– 51Columbian&emsp;&emsp;11&emsp;&emsp;14&emsp;&emsp;17&emsp;&emsp;19&emsp;&emsp;– 673-point goals: Kenton 4 (Bostelman 3, K. Gammon); TC 12 (Allen 5, Beaston 4, Shriver 2, Felske)Foul shots: Kenton 16-17; TC 7-22Turnovers: Kenton 21; TC 11