COLUMBUS - The Columbus girls and Huntley Project boys basketball team picked up District 4B wins in different fashion on Thursday night in Columbus in a night sandwiched around a varsity wrestling dual between the two schools.
Columbus; girls opened the evening by jumping all over Huntley Project in the first quarter, jumping out to a 16-3 lead. The Cougars applied constant full-court pressure in the first half, and by halftime the lead had swelled to 27-7.
The Cougars continued to smother the Red Devils in the second half en route to a 53-16 win.
Columbus had its hands full in the nightcap, but the Cougars hung around with unbeaten Huntley Project in the first half.
Huntley Project lead 10-1 midway through the first quarter, but Columbus rallied to cut the deficit to 16-12 by the first-quarter buzzer. Again the Red Devils built a lead in the second quarter, which was ignited by a Noah Bouchard fast-break dunk. Bouchard, though, was hit with a technical while running back on defense.
By halftime, Columbus trailed by just five, 26-21. Huntley Project kept with the theme, as it built another big lead in the third quarter only to see the Cougars cut back into it. A second-half lead of 20 shrunk to 10 at one point, but Huntley Project put it away late for a 58-41 win.
Huntley Project's girls will host Huntley Project on Friday, while the boys will travel to Lodge Grass. Both Columbus teams will travel to Roundup for Friday evening games.
