This story is sponsored by Dental Clinic of Marshfield
By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
MARSHFIELD – The Marshfield Columbus Catholic boys basketball team wasted little time settling who would win Tuesday’s Cloverbelt Conference East Division opener.
The Dons used their sharp shooting and relentless defense to score the first 21 points of the game and cruised to a 41-26 victory over Loyal at the Columbus Catholic High School Gym.
Tyler Derfus made four 3-pointers in the first quarter and Mike Iwanski added another early in the second to push the Dons to a 21-0 lead just 9:08 into the game.
The quick start was a good thing for Columbus because the game turned uneven the rest of the way as both squads were plagued by turnovers, poor shooting and sloppy play.
“We didn’t take good care of the basketball once we got a big lead, which was frustrating,” Columbus coach Joe Konieczny said.
After the initial push by the Dons, Loyal outscored Columbus 26-20 over the final 22 minutes.
Still, the Dons are off to a 3-1 start and a win in their Cloverbelt East opener has them rolling in the right direction.
“Give Loyal credit,” Konieczny said. “I thought when (Mason) Froeba went down (with an ankle injury in the first half), the entire game kind of lost its intensity. He’s a really nice player and it’s unfortunate to see him miss the second half.
“We did do some things well in the first quarter and a half. We shot the ball well, I just think our intensity possession to possession could have been better.”
Loyal ended the first half with a 6-0 run, but the Dons made back that with a 9-1 advantage to start the third quarter.
Derfus scored five points, including another 3-pointer, and Zach Strobel added another hoop to put the Dons up 32-8 midway through the third quarter. Derfus finished with a game-high 18 points on 6 of 10 shooting.
Columbus turned the ball over 16 times in the second half and was held to four points in the fourth quarter, but the outcome of the game was never in doubt as the Dons led by 21 as late as four minutes into the fourth quarter.
Columbus is off until hosting Neillsville on Dec. 8. The game scheduled at Colby on Friday has been postponed until Jan. 9.
Dons 41, Greyhounds 26
Loyal 0 7 6 13 – 26
Columbus 16 7 14 4 – 41
LOYAL (26): Mason Froeba 0-4 0-0 0, Gage Robertson 0-2 0-0 0, Kale Englebretson 0-1 0-0 0, Ben Anderson 0-1 0-0 0, Logan Fulwiler 2-4 0-4 4, Alex Schuette 0-2 0-0 0, Jake Luttropp 0-2 1-2 1, Cale Cuddie 7-15 1-4 16, Tyler Meyer 2-3 1-1 5. FG: 11-34. FT: 3-11. 3-pointers: 1-6 (Cuddie 1-3, Froeba 0-2, Robertson 0-1). Rebounds: 17 (Cuddie 3, Meyer 3). Turnovers: 19. Fouls: 12. Fouled out: none. Record: 1-1, 0-1 Cloverbelt Conference East Division.
COLUMBUS (41): Brandon Nikolai 0-3 0-2 0, Mike Iwanski 3-11 0-0 7, Jared Fleischmann 2-3 0-0 4, Derrick Green 1-1 0-0 2, Zach Strobel 1-1 0-1 2, Tyler Derfus 6-10 1-2 18, Alex Baierl 0-0 0-0 0, Bryce DeSmet 0-0 0-0 0, Alex Larson 0-2 0-0 0, DJ Cleveland 0-0 0-0 0, Travis Wienke 0-0 0-0 0, Jacob Puent 2-3 4-4 8. FG: 15-34. FT: 5-9. 3-pointers: 6-16 (Derfus 5-8, Iwanski 1-6, Larson 0-1, Nikolai 0-1). Rebounds: 26 (Derfus 6, Iwanski 5). Turnovers: 22. Fouls: 14. Fouled out: none. Record: 3-1, 1-0 Cloverbelt East.