This story is sponsored by Forward Financial Bank
By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
OWEN – The Marshfield Columbus Catholic boys basketball team played perhaps its best quarter of the season in the third quarter of Thursday’s Cloverbelt Conference East Division game at Owen-Withee High School.
The Dons followed that up with a rough one. Columbus made just 1 of 9 shots from the field and 3 of 7 free throws in the fourth quarter and it cost them in the end.
Albert Goerlitz made a short bank shot off an inbounds pass with 10 seconds left to give Owen-Withee a narrow 54-53 win over Columbus Catholic in a battle of Cloverbelt East leaders.
Albert Goerlitz finished with a game-high 29 points and 12 rebounds, and Josiah Goerlitz added 16 points and 14 rebounds for Owen-Withee.
Columbus Catholic drops out of a share of the lead in the conference, falling to 8-3 overall and 6-2 in the Cloverbelt East. Owen-Withee is now 8-1 and 6-1 in the conference and trails Spencer by one-half game for the conference lead. Spencer defeated Colby on Thursday to take over sole possession of first place at 7-1.
“In the third quarter, we had a lead and then went 3 of 7 from the line, so free throws are something we have to work on,” Columbus coach Joe Konieczny said. “The Goerlitz boys were incredible going to the glass and we didn’t do as good of a job as we needed to limit their second shots.
“They are a very good team. Both teams could probably fix some things, but it was a great high school basketball game and we just ended up on the short end of it.”
With center Jacob Puent and forward Derrick Green out for much of the first half with foul trouble, Owen-Withee had its way inside.
The Blackhawks had seven offensive rebounds that resulted in 11 second-chance points, nine of which came in the second quarter as they built a 25-21 at halftime.
Columbus came out firing in the third quarter.
Alex Baierl hit three 3-pointers and Jared Fleischmann had seven of his team-high 24 points in an 18-8 run during the first 5 minutes of the quarter to put the Dons on top 39-33.
Back-to-back 3-pointers from Bryce DeSmet gave Columbus a 45-35 lead and it led 47-41 after three quarters as it made 10 of 17 shots in the quarter. DeSmet finished with five 3-pointers and added 15 poitns for the Dons.
As hot as the Dons were in the third quarter, they were just as cold in the fourth.
Albert Goerlitz made two baskets in an 8-0 run to start the quarter for the Blackhawks and put them back on top 49-47.
Columbus made just one basket, a 3-pointer from Fleischmann, with 2:03 left in the game. The hoop put the Dons back up 53-52, but they didn’t score again.
Fleischmann missed a free throw – he was 2 of 5 from the line in the quarter – giving the ball back to Owen-Withee with 53 seconds left.
The Blackhawks were able to run the clock down and Columbus knocked a loose ball out of bounds with 11.4 seconds left. On the inbound play, Albert Goerlitz broke free on the right side, took the pass and banked in a shot to give O-W the 54-53 lead.
Columbus called timeout and Fleischmann drove inside but missed a runner and the loose ball resulted in a tie-up, with the possession arrow giving the ball to the Blackhawks with 0.9 seconds left. They were able to inbounds the ball and the buzzer sounded.
“I think we’ve gotten better the last two or three weeks and we’re healthy,” Konieczny said. “It’s exciting because we do have the pieces. We just need them to fit a little better as a coaching staff, I think we’ll be really good going forward. The last two games have been steps in the right direction. I hope it continues because this is a fun group to be around.”
Columbus hosts first-place Spencer on Tuesday. The game will be broadcast on WOSQ-FM 92.3 and wdlbwosq.com.
Blackhawks 54, Dons 53
Columbus Catholic 12 9 26 6 – 53
Owen-Withee 9 16 16 13 – 54
COLUMBUS CATHOLIC (53): Alex Baierl 3-6 0-0 9, Bryce DeSmet 5-9 0-0 15, Jared Fleischmann 10-23 3-6 24, Derrick Green 1-2 1-2 3, Sam Studinger 0-1 0-0 0, Christian Payant 0-5 0-0 0, Evan Nikolai 0-1 0-0 0, Jacob Puent 1-3 0-0 2. FG: 20-50. FT: 4-8. 3-pointers: 9-25 (DeSmet 5-7, Baierl 3-7, Fleischmann 1-7, Payant 0-3, Nikolai 0-1). Rebounds: 26 (Fleischmann 6). Turnovers: 8. Fouls: 12. Fouled out: none. Record: 8-3, 6-2 Cloverbelt Conference East Division.
OWEN-WITHEE (54): Kolton Kaduce 1-5 0-0 3, Austin Milliren 1-7 0-1 2, John Schmelzer 0-1 0-0 0, Bryce Niemi 0-0 0-0 0, Albert Goerlitz 13-22 2-2 29, Will Maki 1-2 0-0 2, Josiah Goerlitz 6-12 4-5 16, Lance Renderman 1-5 0-1 2. FG: 23-54. FT: 6-9. 3-pointers: 2-8 (Kaduce 1-4, A. Goerlitz 1-2, Milliren 0-2). Rebounds: 35 (J. Goerlitz 14, A. Goerlitz 12). Turnovers: 10. Fouls: 10. Fouled out: none. Record: 8-1, 6-1 Cloverbelt Conference East Division.