This story is sponsored by: Valley Communities Credit Union
By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
COLBY – For one of the few times this season, the Marshfield Columbus Catholic boys basketball team met its match in intensity, quickness and talent on Monday against Colby.
The Hornets used a 13-5 run over the first 3 minutes of the second quarter to build a lead they would never relinquish and knocked the Dons from the ranks of the unbeaten in the Cloverbelt Conference East Division with an 83-73 victory at Colby High School.
Columbus saw its nine-game winning streak end and it falls to 9-2 overall and 7-1 in the conference. The Dons fall into a three-way tie for first place in the Cloverbelt East with Greenwood and Augusta. Colby stands at 7-1 and 6-1 in the conference. The Dons play at Greenwood and Colby hosts Augusta on Thursday.
Mike Iwanski scored 26 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for the Dons. Tyler Derfus added 17 ppints and D.J. Cleveland had 11 points and seven rebounds off the bench.
Sophomore Hunter Busse came off Colby’s bench to score a game-high 28 points, and Aaron Koerner added 15 points and 10 rebounds for the Hornets.
The Dons were unusually chilly shooting, making just 20 of 53 shots from the field and only 5 of 28 from 3-point range. Colby shot 52 percent (32 of 63), but the Dons hung in the game by making 27 of 37 free throws as the Hornets committed 27 fouls.
After taking a 19-16 lead after one quarter, Colby surged to an 11-point lead with the 13-5 run as the Dons made just one of their first nine shots from the field in the quarter.
Columbus closed to within three after 3-pointers by Brandon Nikolai and Iwanski, but Colby maintained its lead and led 40-36 after a wild first half that saw 22 turnovers and 20 fouls.
Colby started the third quarter strong as well, scoring the first seven points to open its lead back up to 11.
Columbus trailed by as much as 14 late in the quarter before Iwanski’s rebound and basket in the final seconds made it 61-49 heading into the fourth.
A wild sequence of events got the Dons back in the game just over 2 minutes into the fourth.
Colby center Alex Jorgenson was called for his fifth foul on a scrum under the basket and then picked up a technical foul arguing the call. Jacob Puent made two free throws on the foul, Iwanski made two more for the technical and Colby was called for another foul and Nikolai added two more from the line to close the Hornets’ lead to 63-55 with 5:50 remaining.
Columbus made five of its next six from the line and Iwanski hit another 3-pointer to cut Colby’s lead to 72-68 with 3:14 to go, but the Dons couldn’t get any closer.
Andrew Kaiser hit a 3-pointer and made a basket off an offensive rebound, and Busse made two free throws to close a 7-0 run and expand Colby’s lead to 79-68. Columbus made only one of its final five shots during the final 3 minutes.
Hornets 83, Dons 73
Columbus 16 20 13 24 – 73
Colby 19 21 21 22 – 83
COLUMBUS (73): Brandon Nikolai 2-8 5-9 10, Mike Iwanski 6-17 12-13 26, Jared Fleischmann 1-3 0-1 2, Derrick Green 0-1 2-2 2, Tyler Derfus 7-14 1-3 17, Alex Larson 0-2 1-2 1, D.J. Cleveland 3-4 4-5 11, Jacob Puent 1-4 2-2 4. FG: 20-53. FT:27-37. 3-pointers: 5-28 (Iwanski 2-12, Derfus 2-8, Nikolai 1-4, Fleischmann 0-2, Larson 0-2). Rebounds: 25 (Iwanski 10). Turnovers: 18. Fouls: 17. Fouled out: Fleischmann. Record: 9-2, 7-1 Cloverbelt East.
COLBY (83): Michael Knetter 2-6 2-2 7, Tyler Meyer 0-4 0-0 0, Andrew Kaiser 4-8 0-0 9, Aaron Koerner 7-9 1-4 15, Colten Duvall 4-6 1-4 9, Hunter Busse 10-18 2-2 28, Matt Langreck 0-1 2-2 2, Tyler Robida 0-0 1-2 1, Alex Jorgenson 5-11 2-2 12. FG: 32-63. FT: 11-18. 3-pointers: 8-20 (Busse 6-11, Kaiser 1-3, Knetter 1-4, Langreck 0-1, Meyer 0-1). Rebounds: 45 (Koerner 10, Knetter 8). Turnovers: 19. Fouls: 27. Technical foul: Jorgenson. Fouled out: Jorgenson, Duvall, Knetter. Record: 7-1, 6-1 Cloverbelt East.