By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
MARSHFIELD – The Marshfield Columbus Catholic girls basketball team never trailed in Thursday’s WIAA Division 4 regional semifinal at home, but for the final 5 minutes, Greenwood had the Dons on the ropes.
Columbus didn’t make a field goal in the fourth quarter, but made 8 of 11 free throws and held off punch after punch from the Indians to win 35-31 and advance to Saturday’s regional final against Owen-Withee at Marathon High School.
The Dons (15-8) took a 32-25 lead after a free throw by Nikki Karl with 5:14 remaining in the game but went on a scoreless drought that lasted nearly 5 minutes.
Greenwood’s Jana Herdrich hit a 3-pointer and Rachel Hendrich made a basket to cut Columbus’ lead to 32-30 with 4:30 to go, but the Indians couldn’t get over the hump, missing three shots from point-blank range that could have tied it.
A free throw by Jordan Ehlers made it a one-point game at the 1:57 mark as the Dons’ offensive struggles continued, but again Greenwood couldn’t take advantage, missing four more shots from close to the basket.
Finally, the Dons put the game away as Paige Albrecht made three of four free throws in the final 23 seconds and Greenwood continued to misfire on offense. In all, Greenwood missed its final nine shots from the floor after making its first four of the quarter.
“We said all along we’ve got to rely on defense. I thought our defense was great all year and I thought tonight it was especially tough,” Columbus coach Darin Green said. “Little lapses in rebounding, which we have to work on, but I thought we played a good game defensively.”
Columbus led 17-7 after a Karl hit a 3-pointer and another jumper with 2:35 left in the half. Greenwood closed with four straight points, including a basket by Kelsey Kirn at the buzzer, cutting the Dons’ lead to 19-13 at the break.
Albrecht, who scored 25 points in a regional quarterfinal win over Cornell on Tuesday, had only two points in the first half and knew the Dons would have to fight for everything they could get.
“They close out on you right away when you take a shot,” Albrecht said. “We didn’t take many 3s or any long shots. We had to go inside or penetrate, didn’t get much on fast-breaks either. We just had to take what they gave us.”
Columbus built its lead back to eight after a basket by Kayla Fleischmann made it 27-19 in the final minute of the third. Greenwood again beat the buzzer as Staci Suda scored in the final seconds, making it 27-21 heading into the fourth.
Columbus missed seven of 11 free-throw attempts in the first half but made 12 of 15 in the second as Albrecht accounted for 11 of 12 in the final two quarters.
The Dons split a pair of games with Owen-Withee (20-4) during the Cloverbelt Conference East Division season – winning 57-48 at home on Jan. 5 and losing 56-40 at Owen on Jan. 29.
Green said he is confident the Dons can hold their own against O-W, which has won 15 of its last 16 games.
“We beat them the first time here and the second time we didn’t play so well,” Green said. “We’ll play with them. I’m confident we can play with them. We need to take care of some things, we didn’t handle the ball against their press well. They played a box-and-one.
“He (O-W coach Al Guthman) had to show me everything they had in that game to beat us because he wanted to take second in the conference. I think I have an idea of what he’s going to do in the regional final. We’re ready.”
Dons 35, Indians 31
Greenwood 4 9 8 10 – 31
Columbus 8 11 8 8 – 35
GREENWOOD (31): Taylan Johnson 1-5 0-0 2, Kati Smith 0-3 0-0 0, Staci Suda 3-6 0-0 6, Rachel Herdrich 2-4 0-0 4, Kelsey Kirn 1-5 0-0 2, Jana Herdrich 3-5 0-0 7, Jordan Ehlers 2-13 2-4 6, Christin Haase 2-5 0-0 4, Allison Susa 0-0 0-0 0. FG: 14-46. FT: 2-5. 3-pointers: 1-3 (J. Herdrich 1-3). Rebounds: 27 (Ehlers 7). Turnovers: 10. Total fouls: 15. Fouled out: Johnson. Record: 14-9.
COLUMBUS (35): Deanna Kaiser 0-2 2-7 2, Abby Studinger 0-0 0-0 0, Elizabeth Manlick 1-4 0-0 2, Paige Albrecht 2-7 11-12 15, Olivia Larson 0-2 0-0 0, Nikki Karl 2-6 1-2 6, Taylor Weister 0-2 0-0 0, Megan Arneson 0-0 2-5 2, Kayla Fleischmann 4-8 0-0 8. FG: 9-31. FT: 16-26. 3-pointers: 1-7 (Karl 1-4, Albrecht 0-1, Larson 0-2). Rebounds: 27 (Arneson 6, Weister 5). Turnovers: 14. Total fouls: 11. Fouled out: none. Record: 15-8.
Video highlights of the Dons’ playoff win at allmarshfield.com
