MarshfieldAreaSports.com
SPENCER – Neillsville used a nine-point second-quarter advantage to surge ahead of Spencer and the Warriors held on from there, beating the Rockets 51-41 in a Cloverbelt Conference East Division boys basketball game Friday night at Spencer High School.
The loss, combined with Marshfield Columbus Catholic’s 70-49 win over Greenwood, clinches the Cloverbelt East title for the Dons. Spencer (14-6) finishes its conference season at 13-3 and would end up in a tie for second place with Neillsville should the Warriors beat Augusta at home on Monday.
Tyler Ehlen scored 18 points and had five steals, and both Cain Trunkel and Paul Retzlaff scored nine points and grabbed nine rebounds for the Warriors (15-5, 12-3 Cloverbelt East).
Neillsville led 11-8 after the first quarter and pushed the lead to 32-20 by halftime to take control.
Bryan Brodziski scored 12 points and grabbed eight rebounds to lead Spencer, which shot just 32 percent (16 of 50) from the field. Neillsville, on the other hand, shot 45 percent (20 of 44).
Spencer finishes its regular season with a nonconference game at home against Abbotsford on Tuesday and will play in the Cloverbelt East-West crossover game either as a third-place team at home Thursday or a second-place team at Neillsville on Feb. 27.
Warriors 51, Rockets 41
Neillsville 11 21 4 15 – 51
Spencer 8 12 7 14 – 41
NEILLSVILLE (51): Tyler Ehlen 7-12 4-6 18, Cain Trunkel 4-9 0-0 9, Paul Retzlaff 4-9 1-3 9, Sterling Backaus 2-5 2-2 8, Mitchell Erickson 3-6 0-0 7, Ryan Naughton 0-1 0-0 0, Logan Grap 0-2 0-0 0, Dan Opelt 0-0 0-0 0. FG: 20-44. FT: 7-11. 3-pointers: 4-12 (Backaus 2-4, Erickson 1-2, Trunkel 1-3, Ehlen 0-3). Rebounds: 26 (Trunkel 9, Retzlaff 9). Turnovers: 13. Total fouls: 13. Fouled out: none. Record: 15-5, 12-3 Cloverbelt East.
SPENCER (41): Bryan Brodziski 4-15 4-4 12, Tyler Kolstad 3-6 0-0 8, Steve Gilboy 2-6 1-2 6, Wyatt Phillips 3-12 0-0 6, Justin Cowell 2-3 0-0 4, Josh Weier 1-3 0-0 3, Ben Bonitz 1-4 0-3 2, Phil Ivacic 0-1 0-0 0. FG: 16-50. FT: 5-9. 3-pointers: 4-13 (Kolstad 2-4, Gilboy 1-3, Weier 1-1, Ivacic 0-1, Brodziski 0-2, Phillips 0-2). Rebounds: 26 (Brodziski 8). Turnovers: 15. Total fouls: 14. Fouled out: Brodziski. Record: 14-6, 13-3 Cloverbelt East.
