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By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
MARSHFIELD – The Marshfield Columbus girls basketball team was down by 16 points early in the third quarter and it looked inevitable the Dons would lose for the fourth time in their last five games.
All of a sudden, however, the Dons figured something out.
Columbus used a relentless full-court trapping defense to force 18 second-half turnovers and found a way to prevail, beating Colby 51-48 in a Cloverbelt Conference East Division game Thursday at Columbus Catholic High School.
A basket by Sarah Gamillo on Colby’s first possession of the third quarter gave the Hornets a 30-14 lead, but the Dons didn’t quit. They forced turnovers on eight of the Hornets’ next 10 possessions, sparking the beginning of a 23-4 run that pushed Columbus into the lead at 37-34 with 6:49 to go in the fourth quarter.
“We really pick it up on defense, when we do that we play hard,” said Columbus senior Nikki Karl, who had 12 points and six rebounds, including three 3-pointers. “Every night at practice we practice really intent on that, and focus on our press a lot.”
The lead changed hands four times in the next four minutes. Kayla Fleischmann made two free throws to put the Dons up 44-43, and after a free throw by Colby’s Corrine Meacham, Fleischmann hit one of two from the line to give Columbus a 45-44 lead with 2:54 left.
The Dons went up by five after baskets by Deanna Kaiser and Fleischmann, but Colby wouldn’t go away either.
Chelsea Rahm and Gamillo each scored to bring the Hornets to within one before a key play ensued. After a pair of missed free throws by Paige Albrecht, the Hornets missed, Kaiser rebounded and threw a pass down court to Karl, who put in a layup with 12 seconds left. Colby had a chance to tie it, but Emilie Morrow’s 3-pointer in the final seconds missed, giving Columbus the win.
“We knew that we were a better team than that and we knew we had to put it together and play more as a team,” said Albrecht, who led the Dons with 13 points. “It (the comeback) was really more just pushing it down the floor and looking more to the inside. We knew we could outhustle them.”
Columbus was able to find a way to win despite shooting just 29 percent from the field (16-for-55) and 52 percent from the free-throw line (13-for-25), and committing 22 fouls and 15 turnovers. Defensively, the Dons forced 23 turnovers and Colby didn’t help itself from the free-throw line either, making only 14 of 24.
“We knew they only had one main ballhandler,” Albrecht said. “Once we took that away and put the pressure on them, they dribble with their heads down, we could just pick off the passes from there.”
The win improves Columbus’ record to 9-5 overall and 7-3 in the Cloverbelt East, keeping its hold on fourth place in the conference.
“We’ve got to play for four quarters before we can stop that skid,” Columbus coach Darin Green said, referring to the Dons’ mediocre 3-4 record in their last seven games. “We’ll take the win, but we’ve got to play four quarters. We have some good teams coming up.”
Gamillo scored 13 of the Hornets’ 15 points in the first quarter and finished with 24 points and 12 rebounds. Meacham added 16 points and seven rebounds for Colby.
Megan Arneson added 10 points on 4 of 7 shooting for Columbus.
The Dons play at third-place Spencer on Tuesday.
Dons 51, Hornets 48
Colby 15 13 6 14 – 48
Columbus 4 10 15 22 – 51
COLBY (48): Kelsey Lynn 0-3 2-3 2, Mollie Duginski 0-3 0-1 0, Emilie Morrow 0-2 0-0 0, Chelsea Rahm 2-3 2-4 6, Taylor Lynn 0-6 0-1 0, Sarah Gamillo 9-18 6-10 24, Corrine Meacham 6-11 4-5 16. FG: 17-43. FT: 14-24. 3-pointers: 0-3 (K. Lynn 0-1, Duginski 0-1, Morrow 0-1). Rebounds: 31 (Gamillo 12, Meacham 7). Total fouls: 20. Fouled out: Duginski. Turnovers: 23. Record: 4-10, 2-8 Cloverbelt East.
COLUMBUS (51): Deanna Kaiser 1-2 0-0 2, Abby Studinger 0-1 0-0 0, Elizabeth Manlick 0-3 2-2 2, Paige Albrecht 3-14 5-11 13, Olivia Larson 2-5 0-0 5, Nikki Karl 4-14 1-5 12, Taylor Weister 0-1 0-0 0, Angie Seubert 0-2 0-0 0, Megan Arneson 4-7 2-2 10, Kayla Fleischmann 2-6 3-4 7. FG: 16-55. FT: 13-25. 3-pointers: 6-19 (Karl 3-9, Albrecht 2-6, Larson 1-2, Weister 0-1, Kaiser 0-1). Rebounds: 34 (Arneson 6, Albrecht 6, Karl 6, Kaiser 5). Total fouls: 22. Fouled out: none. Turnovers: 15. Record: 9-5, 7-3 Cloverbelt East.
Paul Lecker can be reached by e-mail at paul@marshfieldareasports.com.
See video highlights of the game at allmarshfield.com
