By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
MARATHON – The Marshfield Columbus Catholic girls basketball team made run after run at Owen-Withee during Saturday’s WIAA Division 4 regional final, but could never quite get over the hump.
Owen-Withee jumped out to a 10-point lead in the first quarter and the Dons never got closer than four the rest of the way as the Blackhawks (21-4) won 60-46 to move on to next week’s sectional and will play Prentice at Spooner on Friday night.
The Dons (15-9) couldn’t overcome their shooting woes as they made just 13 of 43 field goals and 17 of 30 free throws. On the flip side, O-W was more efficient. Overall, the Blackhawks were just 14 of 36, but they made five of seven 3-point attempts and were 17 of 19 from the free-throw line, including a perfect 12 of 12 in the fourth quarter.
“The girls worked hard,” Columbus coach Darin Green said. “I told them to leave everything on the floor and they did that. It was scrappy, it was physical. We were all over the place and so were they. They just got to some loose balls and hit some bigger shots.”
Seven straight points by Alyssa Gordon gave O-W a 17-8 lead in the first quarter and the Blackhawks stayed comfortably ahead until Columbus made its first run.
Paige Albrecht and Elizabeth Manlick each made one of two free throws and Deanna Kaiser hit a pair from the line to get the Dons to within 23-19 with 1:34 left in the first half.
In what would become a recurring theme, the Blackhawks responded. Aleyna Goerlitz and Amy Junk scored in the final 20 seconds of the half to push O-W’s lead to 27-19 at the break.
A Kaite Pogodzinski 3-pointer pushed the Blackhawks’ lead to 32-21 in the third before the Dons made one final push.
Albrecht and Kayla Fleischmann scored and Albrecht added a free throw to cut it to 32-26, but again the Blackhawks responded as Junk, who finished with a game-high 16 points, hit back-to-back 3-pointers to push the lead to 12. Columbus never got closer than 10 the rest of the way.
O-W senior Britt Zoellick made all 10 of her free-throw attempts in the fourth quarter to put it away. She finished with 15 points.
“We’d battle and make it 5 or 3 (point deficit) and they’d hit a couple 3s in a row and it would be back to 10,” Green said. “I give them credit. We knew they could shoot like that and play like that.”
The Dons lose six seniors, five of which saw major playing time this season. Albrecht, Fleischmann and Nikki Karl were the Dons’ top scorers and will be tough to replace.
“We’ve got to rebuild. The players that are leaving – the girls are going to have to work hard over the summer,” Green said. “We lose a lot of outside shooting, we lose an big inside post presence. We’re going to have to be a more pressing, scrappy, all-over-the-floor type of thing, and not let the other team get inside.”
Blackhawks 60, Dons 46
Owen-Withee 17 10 13 20 – 60
Columbus 10 9 9 18 – 46
OWEN-WITHEE (60): Brittany Bredlau 0-0 0-0 0, Katie Beck 0-0 0-0 0, Rachel Wells 0-0 0-0, Jessica Bergerson 1-2 0-0 2, Britt Zoellick 2-3 10-10 15, Kirstie Shakal 0-0 0-0 0, Emily Heggemeier 3-10 2-3 8, Kyle Shakal 0-0 0-0 0, Alyssa Gordon 4-7 0-0 9, Aleyna Goerlitz 1-2 1-2 3, Krysara Mueller 0-0 0-0 0, Jenna Kerstner 0-0 0-0 0, Amy Junk 6-16 2-2 16, Katie Pogodzinski 2-3 2-2 7. FG: 14-36. FT: 17-19. 3-pointers: 5-7 (Junk 2-4, Pogodzinski 1-1, Gordon 1-1, Zoelick 1-1). Rebounds: 27 (Pogodzinski 7, Junk 6, Gordon 6). Turnovers:21. Total fouls: 21. Fouled out: Gordon. Record: 21-4.
COLUMBUS (46): Deanna Kaiser 0-3 3-4 3, Abby Studinger 0-2 0-1 0, Elizabeth Manlick 1-3 4-6 6, Paige Albrecht 3-10 4-10 10, Olivia Larson 2-3 0-0 6, Lindsey Brandt 0-0 0-0 0, Nikki Karl 2-8 5-5 10, Taylor Weister 0-0 0-2 0, Kristina Altmann-Drinka 0-1 0-0 0, Angie Seubert 0-1 0-0 0, Megan Arneson 1-5 0-0 2, Kayla Fleischmann 4-7 1-2 9. FG: 13-43. FT: 17-30. 3-pointers: 3-12 (Larson 2-3, Karl 1-7, Albrecht 0-2). Rebounds: 20 (Albrecht 5). Turnovers: 18. Total fouls: 20. Fouled out: none. Record: 15-9.
