By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
MARSHFIELD – It was Senior Night at the Columbus Catholic High School on Monday and one senior in particular made sure the Dons were a winner.
Paige Albrecht scored a career-high 27 points and made four free throws in the final 1:11 to lift the Columbus girls basketball team to a 66-61 win over Augusta in the Dons’ final Cloverbelt Conference East Division game of the season.
With the win, Columbus finishes the Cloverbelt season in sole possession of third place with an 11-5 record. The Dons, 13-7 overall, finish their regular season with a Cloverbelt East-West crossover game Friday at either Eau Claire Regis or Fall Creek.
Albrecht hit 10 of 16 shots from the floor and was 6 of 9 from the free-throw line, scoring the majority of her baskets with lay-ups in transition.
“Knowing when to attack the basket and pull up and shoot,” Albrecht said has been the key to her success this season. “Mostly I get my points on transition, beating people back down the floor and finishing at the end.”
Columbus trailed 29-21 at halftime as Augusta (4-17, 3-13) closed the second quarter with an 8-0 run. The Dons made just 9 of 29 field-goal attempts and 3 of 7 free throws in the first half.
Columbus’ fortunes turned in the second half thanks to continued pressure defense that wore down the Beavers and led to numerous easy baskets on fast breaks.
“Most of our offense comes after good defense,” Albrecht said. “Transition, beating people down the floor and putting up a shot before they get set in their defense.”
An 8-0 run brought Columbus to within one at 33-32 midway through the third quarter. After Augusta went up 36-31 on a basket by Allie Nelson, who finished with 26 points, Columbus ripped off an 11-0 run to take the lead for good.
Three-point plays by Kayla Fleischmann, Albrecht and Elizabeth Manlick sparked the run.
“I thought late in the third quarter Augusta was beat and early in the fourth they were just dying,” Columbus coach Darin Green said. “They reached a little bit, we got some better looks and beat them down the floor for some lay-ups. That’s what we’ve got to try to do.”
Columbus continued its hot shooting in the fourth quarter and finished off a 45-point second-half outburst by making 14 of 28 shots from the floor and 15 of 23 shots from the free-throw line, and finished with a season-high 66 points.
“I was proud of how we played offensively,” Green said. “We haven’t scored 66 in forever. It felt nice and is good for them.”
Fleischmann added 13 points and Nikki Karl and Manlick each had nine for the Dons.
Dons 66, Beavers 61
Augusta 15 14 9 23 – 61
Columbus 12 9 24 21 – 66
AUGUSTA (61): Amy Schick 2-5 4-6 8, Jessica Casetta 0-1 0-0 0, Caitlin Henke 0-1 1-2 1, Allie Nelson 11-21 4-8 26, Melissa Erdman 5-8 0-0 8, Chanel Ludwig 4-7 0-2 8, Molly Rosentreter 1-5 0-0 2, Amanda Schneider 1-3 0-0 2, McKenzie Mulhern 1-1 2-2 4. FG: 25-52. FT: 11-19. 3-pointers: 0-2 (Casetta 0-1, Nelson 0-1). Rebounds: 32 (Nelson, Erdman 7). Turnovers: 22. Total fouls: 24. Fouled out: Ludwig. Record: 4-17, 3-13 Cloverbelt East.
COLUMBUS (66): Deanna Kaiser 1-9 2-6 4, Abby Studinger 0-2 0-0 0, Elizabeth Manlick 3-4 3-3 9, Paige Albrecht 10-16 6-9 27, Olivia Larson 1-3 0-0 2, Lindsey Brandt 0-1 0-0 0, Nikki Karl 3-6 2-4 9, Taylor Weister 0-2 2-4 2, Angie Seubert 0-0 0-0 0, Megan Arneson 0-3 0-0 0, Kayla Fleischmann 5-11 3-4 13. FG: 23-57. FT: 18-30. 3-pointers: 2-5 (Albrecht 1-2, Karl 1-2, Larson 0-1). Rebounds: 30 (Kaiser 5). Turnovers: 18. Total fouls: 21. Fouled out: none. Record: 13-7, 11-5 Cloverbelt East.
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