This story is sponsored by Forward Financial Bank
By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
MARSHFIELD – The Marshfield Columbus Catholic boys basketball team took punch after punch from Rib Lake throughout the game and survived, holding on to a 54-51 nonconference victory in the season opener for both teams Tuesday night at Columbus Catholic High School.
Jared Fleischmann scored 19 points and Alex Larson added 17 for the Dons.
“I think we made some mistakes that we can’t afford to make down the stretch,” Columbus Catholic coach Joe Konieczny said. “Rib Lake’s much improved, they’ve got a lot of guys back from last year. They had three or four kids that knocked down open shots and we didn’t close out. I give them a lot of credit for giving us a tight one tonight and there are some things we definitely have to get better at.”
Columbus couldn’t have started out any better, making its first six shots. Larson scored 11 of the Dons’ first 17 points, hitting three 3-pointers in the first 4:20 of the game, as Columbus built a 17-9 lead.
As hot as the Dons were, they cooled off just as fast. Columbus didn’t score for the final 3:17 of the first quarter, but held a 17-13 lead at the end of one.
Rib Lake closed two within a point at 21-20 after a 3-pointer by Quentin Edelburg and a basket by Jared Hovde.
The Dons staved off the run and led 31-24 at halftime.
Rib Lake started the third quarter with a 6-0 run capped by a three-point play by Hovde but never could take over the lead.
Fleischmann scored four points in a 7-4 run that helped the Dons regain a 40-35 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
Rib Lake kept it close throughout the fourth and pulled even at 49-49 with 2:10 to go, but the Dons quickly regained the lead on a basket by Alex Baierl.
The Dons missed three of four free-throw attempts in the final 50 seconds, but Rib Lake couldn’t capitalize and never got closer than two points of the lead.
Fleischmann made one of two from the line with 3.2 seconds left and a half-court shot by Hovde at the buzzer missed, icing the victory for Columbus.
“When you do make mistakes and survive, it’s nice,” Konieczny said. “If you can learn from it and get a win, it’s definitely a bonus.
“We have a lot of guys to replace. We are nine or 10 deep, but guys have to step in and fill some pretty big shoes. Hopefully, by the end of the season, we’re going to be a tough team to knock out of the playoffs.”
Columbus Catholic hosts Greenwood in its Cloverbelt Conference East Division opener Friday. The game will be broadcast on WOSQ-FM 92.3 and on wdlbwosq.com.
Dons 54, Redmen 51
Rib Lake 13 11 11 16 – 51
Columbus 17 14 9 14 – 54
RIB LAKE (51): Quentin Edelburg 4-6 1-2 11, Jordan Cardey 2-8 1-2 6, Jeff Borman 0-2 0-0 0, Joe Frombach 3-6 0-0 7, Landon Hintz 0-2 0-0 0, Trey Olson 2-5 0-0 5, Jared Hovde 3-6 1-2 7, Colter Weinke 2-4 0-1 4, Jordan Blomberg 5-8 1-4 11. FG: 21-47. FT: 4-11. 3-pointers: 5-15 (Edelburg 2-3, Cardey 1-4, Frombach 1-2, Olson 1-1). Rebounds: 32 (Blomberg 10). Turnovers: 16. Fouls: 16. Fouled out: Frombach. Record: 0-1.
COLUMBUS (54): Alex Baierl 1-3 0-2 2, Bryce DeSmet 1-2 1-2 3, Jared Fleischmann 7-14 1-2 19, Derrick Green 3-10 0-1 6, Sam Studinger 0-1 0-0 0, Christian Payant 0-0 0-0 0, Alex Larson 7-15 0-0 17, Jacob Puent 3-8 0-0 6, Travis Wienke 0-0 1-2 1. FG: 22-53. FT: 3-9. 3-pointers: 7-24 (Fleischmann 4-8, Larson 3-9, Baierl 0-2, Green 0-3, DeSmet 0-1, Studinger 0-1). Rebounds: 27 (Puent 6, DeSmet 5). Turnovers: 13. Fouls: 14. Fouled out: Puent. Record: 1-0.