MarshfieldAreaSports.com
SPENCER – Spencer fell behind early and never recovered, losing the Cloverbelt Conference East-West crossover third-place game to Thorp 53-36 on Thursday night at Spencer High School.
Conner Olejniczak scored 16 points for Thorp, leading all scorers. Ben Bonitz had 10 points for the Rockets.
Thorp took a 13-8 lead after the first quarter and outscored Spencer in every quarter on its way to the victory.
The difference was 3-point shooting. Thorp made 7 of 20 3-pointers and was 21 of 40 overall from the field. Spencer was 0-for-7 from long range and was just 12 of 29 from the field.
The Rockets wrap up the regular season with a 15-7 record and host Cloverbelt East rival Colby in a WIAA Division 3 regional quarterfinal on Tuesday. Thorp (16-6) hosts Chetek.
The West Division swept the third- through eighth-place games against East Division teams, with all of the wins coming on the road. Granton was the only East team to win a crossover Thursday, winning the ninth-place game over Cadott 61-60 for its first win of the season. The first- and second-place games will be Saturday at Neillsville.
Cardinals 53, Rockets 36
Thorp 13 15 14 11 – 53
Spencer 8 12 11 5 – 36
THORP (53): Conner Olejniczak 7-12 0-0 16, Jace Kobylarczyk 3-12 0-0 9, Nathan Koltis 2-3 3-3 8, Vullnet Maksuti 4-4 0-0 8, Jared Lewan 2-4 0-0 5, Andy Turenne 1-1 0-0 2, Brandon Lewan 1-1 0-0 2, Jordan Shiltz 1-1 0-0 2, Drew Ginter 0-2 1-2 1, Caleb Ginter 0-0 0-0 0, J.T. Eichman 0-0 0-0 0. FG: 21-40. FT: 4-5. 3-pointers: 7-20 (Kobylarczyk 3-10, Olejniczak 2-5, Koltis 1-1, Lewan 1-3, D. Ginter 0-1). Rebounds: 23 (Koltis, Maksuti, D. Ginter 5). Turnovers: 8. Total fouls: 16. Fouled out: Koltis. Record: 16-6.
SPENCER (36): Ben Bonitz 4-4 2-4 10, Bryan Brodziski 3-7 3-6 9, Justin Cowell 3-4 1-3 7, Wyatt Phillips 1-3 4-4 6, Steve Gilboy 1-5 0-0 2, Tyler Kolstad 0-4 2-2 2, Josh Weier 0-2 0-0 0, Phil Ivacic 0-0 0-0 0, Luke Kromanaker 0-0 0-0 0, Jordan Buss 0-0 0-0 0, Hunter Reckner 0-0 0-0 0. FG: 12-29. FT: 12-19. 3-pointers: 0-7 (Kolstad 0-3, Weier 0-2, Phillips 0-1, Gilboy 0-1). Rebounds: 14 (Brodziski 5). Turnovers: 13. Total fouls: 11. Fouled out: none. Record: 15-7.
