This story is sponsored by Dental Clinic of Marshfield
By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
MARSHFIELD – Greenwood started the game on a 20-4 run and held a double-digit lead the rest of the way, blowing past Marshfield Columbus Catholic 67-49 in the Cloverbelt Conference East Division boys basketball opener for both teams on Friday night at Columbus Catholic High School.
Greenwood used a full-court pressure defense to force the Dons (1-1 overall) into nine turnovers and 10 missed shots on 13 attempts in the first quarter to open up a 23-6 lead.
Columbus Catholic, which made seven 3-pointers and shot 41 percent in its season-opening win over Rib Lake on Tuesday, ended up just 2 of 13 from 3-point range and shot only 34 percent overall in the loss to the Indians (1-0 overall and in Cloverbelt East).
“We didn’t handle their pressure,” Columbus coach Joe Konieczny said. “They were running the run-and-jump, and dribble-drive on offense … those are actually things we used to do a pretty good job of … give them a lot of credit, they did them well and were more physical than us. Once the momentum went in their favor, we may have panicked a little offensively and it definitely got away from us.”
Columbus missed five of its first six shots and turned the ball over four times in the first 3 minutes and Greenwood grabbed an 11-2 lead.
Tyler Johnson scored five of his 12 points in a 9-0 run later in the quarter as the Indians went up 23-6.
Columbus closed to within 12 once in the second quarter and again in the third quarter following an 8-0 run, but couldn’t get closer than that.
After Jared Fleischmann hit a pair of baskets to cut the Dons’ deficit to 39-27 with 3:50 to go in the third, Johnson drilled a 3-pointer to spark a 7-0 run in retaliation, and Greenwood eventually built its lead to as much as 22 in the fourth quarter.
“They have a nice team with athletes and we just could never get past that 10 or 12-point barrier,” Konieczny said.
Westin Wuethrich scored 18 points and pulled down 15 rebounds, and Josh Cook had 11 points and eight rebounds to lead Greenwood.
Fleischmann had 16 points and Jacob Puent scored 11 points and grabbed 16 rebounds for the Dons.
Columbus plays at Owen-Withee on Tuesday and will play Pittsville and Wisconsin Rapids Assumption next weekend in the Cranberry Classic at Assumption as the Dons open the season with a busy schedule.
“I think we need to do a much better job of rebounding and communicating defensively and offensively,” Konieczny said. “It’s just not passionate enough right now. We have a tendency to shut our mouths in tough situations and if we can communicate, stay positive and focus on the possession right in front of us, we’ll be pretty good.”
Indians 67, Dons 49
Greenwood 23 11 15 18 – 67
Columbus 6 12 14 17 – 49
GREENWOOD (67): Westin Wuethrich 6-9 5-8 18, Tyler Rachu 3-11 1-4 8, James Hlavac 0-0 0-0 0, No. 5 2-7 3-7 7, Dillon Serocki 0-1 3-6 3, No. 25 2-6 0-0 6, Tyler Johnson 5-18 0-0 12, Josh Cook 3-5 5-6 11, Kyle Karlen 1-2 0-0 2. FG: 22-59. FT: 17-31. 3-pointers: 6-17 (Johnson 2-8, No. 25 2-2, Rachu 1-5, Wuethrich 1-2). Rebounds: 40 (Wuethrich 15, Cook 8). Turnovers: 15. Fouls: 20. Record: 1-0 overall and Cloverbelt East.
COLUMBUS (49): Alex Baierl 2-4 2-2 7, Bryce DeSmet 3-8 1-3 7, Jared Fleischmann 7-16 1-2 16, Derrick Green 3-11 0-1 6, Sam Stundinger 0-0 0-0 0, Christian Payant 0-0 0-0 0, Alex Larson 1-6 0-0 2, Jacob Puent 5-13 1-4 11, Travis Wienke 0-2 0-1 0. FG: 21-61. FT: 5-13. 3-pointers: 2-13 (Fleischmann 1-5, Baierl 1-2, Larson 0-4, Green 0-1, DeSmet 0-1). Rebounds: 39 (Puent 16, Green 8). Turnovers: 17. Fouls: 23. Fouled out: Larson. Record: 1-1, 0-1 Cloverbelt East.