HOUSTON — The Columbus High School boy's basketball team defeated Onalaska High School at Houston ISD’s Delmar Fieldhouse March 4 by a final score of 84-62. The Cardinals controlled this game from start to finish with their productive offense and their ability to hold Onalaska to a minimum with their scoring ability. "The boys knew how important this game was," said Columbus head coach Troy Bohac. “We were proud that we made history, being 43-42 years since we made the state semis, but the boys wanted it, they were hungry, and they started off wanting it right from the get go. It obviously showed, so nothing but proud of these boys and how they kept on battling. The bench, our fans, our community, I'm proud of everybody." Cardinals senior guard Grayson Rigdon had another monster game with 45 points. "Really just limit the turnovers," Rigdon said on what his team is going to have to do in order to take the state championship. “Play our ball, stop forcing things, and play good defense." Columbus took an 18-7 lead after a free throw and layup from Rigdon to make it 18-7 at the 2:15 mark in the first quarter. Columbus kept their lead at a similar spot about a minute later as senior point guard Camdon Pitchford drove the length of the court and made a layup, resulting in a 22-12 lead for the Cardinals at the end of the first quarter.
Columbus really extended their advantage in the second quarter as Rigdon made a layup about midway through the quarter to make it 38-21, then Pitchford followed it with a three before two layups in the final minute put it at 45-29 going into halftime. Rigdon had a huge quarter in the third making two layups in a row to start, which led to back-to-back threes from Rigdon and a free throw with about four and a half minutes to play to surge to a 68-52 lead at the end of the third quarter. The Cardinals continued to hit shots to start the fourth quarter and kept their big lead by running out the clock in the final minutes en route to a 8462 win.
