Girls basketball: Columbia beats Lorain for fifth straight victory

COLUMBIA — Only two weeks ago, Columbia was languishing with a 3-4 record and had lost two straight games by a combined 57 points. After Monday's 56-52 victory over Lorain, however, the Raiders are 8-4 and have won five in a row. "We've had so many injuries," said Columbia coach Faith Williams. "We had three starters out and one limited, so having two starters coming back is huge for us." One of those starters who has returned for the Raiders is sophomore Natalie Miller, who scored 15 points, second only to Alyssa Goebel, who finished with 24. It was only Miller's second game of the season, but she has already provided a huge boost for Columbia. "It's very intense," Miller said. "I'm very excited to be back. It kills me watching from the bench. It's amazing to see the progress we've had, and two players coming back may not seem like a lot, but it helps everyone have more energy." The other returning starter Miller is referring to is Bella Herhuth, who also played her second game since returning Monday and finished third on the team with nine points, five of them coming in the fourth quarter to help the Raiders finish off the win. Columbia led for much of the second half before Lorain took the lead midway through the fourth, but the Raiders responded and were able to take back control in the final minutes. "We were panicking," Miller said. "We threw it away a lot because we were trying to get the ball down the court quickly. Once we realized we needed to go to the ball and pass, instead of trying to dribble through everyone, it started to work better." All five of Herhuth's fourth-quarter points, and 14 of the Raiders' 16 in the period, came at the free throw line, as fouls and free throws dominated the final eight minutes. The quarter began with Lorain picking up five fouls in the first 85 seconds to send Columbia into the bonus quickly, but the Raiders soon started to pick up fouls of their own, and by the end of the game, the two teams had combined to commit 19 fouls and shoot 29 free throws in only eight minutes of play. Just as the free throws became a theme in the final period, they proved to be Lorain's downfall in two different ways. First, the Titans shot just 7-of-26 from the line, which rendered them unable to take advantage of their dominance on the offensive boards, while the Raiders shot 18-of-30, including 14-of-22 in the fourth. "We missed almost 20 free throws," said Lorain coach Brian Lynch. "That's the game. You can complain about the refs all year long and point out how awful you may or may not have thought they performed, but at the end of the day, if you hit half of those free throws, you win the game." After Lorain took the fourth-quarter lead, it was Columbia's free throws that swung the game back in its favor and ended up costing Lorain the win. "I do like our tenacity," Lynch said. "There's a lot of fight in the girls. They truly believe that no game is out of reach, but it's hard when three of your main players foul out, and it hurts when there's those ticky-tack fouls that we don't get. But at the end of the day, the free throws were pretty even, so if we hit our free throws, that's the game." Columbia 56, Lorain 52 LORAIN (52): Jaila Kirksey 1-3-5, Sanai Romero 1-0-2, Raven Christian 1-1-3, Bella Pinkney 5-1-12, Teagan Villegas 1-1-4, Janaeshia Washington 0-0-0, Ava Miller 6-0-13, Xynique McGee 1-0-2, Brajhia Phillips 5-1-11. Totals 21-7-52. COLUMBIA (56): Alyssa Goebel 9-5-24, Natalie Miller 5-4-15, Allison Boardman 2-3-7, Bernadette Beach 0-0-0, Karlie Arcuri 0-0-0, Lexi Miller 0-1-1, Kenzie Shackelton 0-0-0, Bella Herhuth 2-5-9, Abby Elgin 0-0-0. Totals 18-18-56. Lorain 10 14 14 14 — 52 Columbia 10 17 13 16 — 56 Three point field goals: Lorain (Pinkney, Villegas, Miller), Columbia (Goebel, Miller). Field goals: Lorain 21-72 (29.2 percent), Columbia 18-58 (31 percent). Free throws: Lorain 7-26 (26.9 percent), Columbia 18-30 (60 percent). Rebounds: Lorain 51, Columbia 46. Turnovers: Lorain 29, Columbia 32. Team fouls: Lorain 25, Columbia 20. Junior varsity: Columbia, 25-23