This story is sponsored by Dental Clinic of Marshfield
By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
MARSHFIELD – It was all about the seniors on Senior Night on Monday at Marshfield Columbus Catholic High School.
Columbus Catholic seniors Mike Iwanski and Tyler Derfus each drilled five 3-pointers and scored 21 points apiece to lead the Dons to a 68-51 win over Greenwood in the teams’ Cloverbelt Conference Easts Division boys basketball finale.
Columbus came into the game with a chance to grab a share of the Cloverbelt East title, but first-place Augusta knocked of Colby 64-58 to clinch the conference championship for the first time.
Columbus (17-4, 15-3 Cloverbelt East) finishes second and will play in a Cloverbelt crossover game at 6 p.m. Saturday against Eau Claire Regis at Osseo-Fairchild.
Derfus and Iwanski each hit a pair of 3-pointers in the opening 2:40 to help the Dons build a quick 12-4 lead. They never trailed.
Iwanski was 4 of 7 from long range and scored 15 points in the first half, and Derfus nailed 3 of 6 3-pointers and had 13 points in the opening 16 minutes to help the Dons build a 36-29 halftime advantage.
Quick starts are nothing new for Columbus, which seems to get out to quick leads every time it touches on home floor. Coach Joe Konieczny said there are a couple of reasons for that.
“I thought a lot of the shots were good ones and in the discipline of our offense and that’s part of the reason we shot so well,” Konieczny said. “A lot of it is the intense atmosphere. This is a great place for high school basketball, and we’re lucky to have really good kids that take it serious and enjoy being with their teammates. You give all the credit to our kids. They are really focused on what they are doing.”
The Dons held Greenwood to just two baskets in the third quarter and opened up a 54-38 lead as they hit four more 3-pointers.
Columbus led by as many as 19 in the fourth. The Dons ended up 12 of 24 from 3-point range and 25 of 48 overall from the field. Shooting will play a key role for Columbus in the upcoming WIAA Division 5 playoffs. The third-seeded Dons host Rib Lake next Tuesday in a regional quarterfinal.
“If we shoot the ball we can be a tough out and if we don’t shoot it well we have to improve some little things to make ourselves difficult to beat,” Konieczny said. “Bottom line, I hope they enjoy what time they have left.”
Jeffrey Rachu led Greenwood (12-9, 11-7 Cloverbelt East) with 18 points.
Dons 68, Indians 51
Greenwood 14 15 9 13 – 51
Columbus 18 18 18 14 – 68
GREENWOOD (51): Westin Wuethrich 2-10 1-4 5, Jeffrey Rachu 8-14 0-0 18, Derek Sterland 0-0 0-0 0, Hayden Hinker 3-6 5-7 11, Ryan Ehlers 0-1 0-0 0, Dillon Serocki 0-0 0-0 0, Josh Harlander 3-14 0-0 8, Tyler Johnson 1-3 1-2 3, Josh Cook 2-4 2-3 6, Kyle Karlen 0-0 0-0 0, Nick Mavis 0-2 0-0 0. FG: 19-54. FT: 9-16. 3-pointers: 4-18 (Rachu 2-4, Harlander 2-6, Wuethrich 0-4, Johnson 0-2, Mavis 0-2). Rebounds: 29 (Harlander 10). Turnovers: 11. Fouls: 13. Fouled out: none. Record: 12-9, 11-7 Cloverbelt East.
COLUMBUS (68): Brandon Nikolai 1-6 0-0 2, Mike Iwanski 7-10 2-3 21, Jared Fleischmann 2-6 4-4 8, Derrick Green 1-2 0-0 3, Zach Strobel 3-3 0-0 6, Tyler Derfus 8-15 0-0 21, Alex Baierl 0-0 0-0 0, Alex Larson 0-0 0-0 0. D.J. Cleveland 2-3 0-0 4, Travis Wienke 0-0 0-0 0, Jacob Puent 1-3 0-0 2. FG: 25-48. FT: 6-7. 3-pointers: 12-24 (Iwanski 5-8, Derfus 5-10, Green 1-2, Nikolai 1-2, Fleischmann 0-2). Rebounds: 29 (Iwanski 6, Puent 6). Turnovers: 11. Fouls: 15. Fouled out: none. Record: 17-4, 15-3 Cloverbelt East.