<p><strong>E</strong>very so often, an unexpected hero can step in and completely alter the complexion of a game.</p>
<p>On Tuesday night, Columbus North freshman Lauren Barker was the one.</p>
<p>Barker, who played half of the junior varsity game earlier in the evening, came off the bench late in the second quarter and scored 17 points, including eight unanswered over the final 69 seconds of the half to give the visiting Bull Dogs some much-needed breathing room in what turned into a 50-33 victory over Greenwood.</p>
<p>“I knew the game was close, and I just always try to play my best for the team,” Barker said. “We always say feed the hot hand — whoever is shooting well that night, we just kind of keep feeding them until they miss. I was just glad to see some fall.”</p>
<p>The second quarter had been largely devoid of offense, with just six points scored between the two teams before Barker knocked down her first shot attempt, a 3-pointer with 1:09 left on the clock. She added another 19 seconds later off a Greenwood turnover and then put down a jumper from just inside the foul line with five seconds remaining.</p>
<p>Neither team had led by more than four points before Barker’s power surge, which sent Columbus North into the locker room with a 24-13 cushion.</p>
<p>A 3 from Ashley Buster started a 7-0 run that made it 26-20 midway through the third, the first of two times that the Woodmen got within six during the period. But on both occasions, Barker slowed Greenwood’s momentum with 3-pointers. The margin got down to six again at 32-26 with 6:04 remaining in the fourth, but 3s from Alexa McKinley and Barker helped the Bull Dogs stretch it out late.</p>
<p>Barker was the lone double-digit scorer on either team. McKinley added nine points, all in the fourth quarter, and Madison White eight for Columbus North (4-5). Brooklyn Stubblefield paced the Woodmen with nine points and Buster chipped in seven.</p>
<p>Kylah Lawson led all players with 11 rebounds for the Bull Dogs, including five at the offensive end.</p>
<p>The loss dropped Greenwood to 1-8 and continued the young team’s trend of hanging tough against strong competition before ultimately coming up short.</p>
<p>“We just didn’t execute on our side,” said Woodmen coach Justin Bennett, whose team led for a good chunk of the first quarter and were still within one possession until Barker turned the tide. “We usually hit a lot of 3s; tonight we didn’t shoot well. That was the challenge to them at halftime — what else can we we do to generate something, and usually it’s with our defense. Defensively, today, we just didn’t get after it as good as I thought we should have, and we didn’t translate any of that defense to offense.”</p>
