This story is sponsored by: American Family Insurance – Randy LeMoine Agency, LLC
By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
MARSHFIELD – The Marshfield Columbus Catholic girls basketball team finds itself in the thick of the Cloverbelt Conference East Division title chase and faced a big test in Neillsville on Thursday night on its home court.
A quick, swarming Neillsville defense wreaked havoc on the Dons throughout the game and pushed the Warriors to a convincing 53-36 victory at Columbus Catholic High School.
With the victory, Neillsville remains one-half game behind conference-leader Colby in the Cloverbelt East standings, improving to 8-1 overall and 6-1 in conference play. Columbus drops to 8-3 and 5-2 in the Cloverbelt East.
Columbus did not score for the first 9 minutes of the game, fell behind 8-0, and never recovered.
The Dons stayed in it with some solid defense of their own, contesting everything Neillsville put up, but it just wasn’t enough.
Samantha Cappadora scored six-straight points, and Alli Schoengarth and Emily Voigt hit 3-pointers to help the Warriors build a 26-13 lead by halftime.
Aside from Marissa Immerfall scoring on three possessions in a row late in the first half, and one stint midway through the second half, the Dons were never able to get their offense rolling.
Columbus shot just 28 percent (12 of 43) overall and had stretches of 6 and 4½ minutes in the second half without making a field goal. As a result and due to numerous offensive rebounds, Neillsville held a 47-26 advantage on the boards. The Warriors also forced 28 turnovers, 19 in the first half.
Bella Opelt scored 18 points, Cappadora added 11 points and nine rebounds, and Lauren Mesar had eight points and 11 rebounds for the Warriors.
Morgan Albrecht was the only Columbus player to score in double figures, finishing with 13 points.
Columbus plays at Colby on Tuesday. The Dons handed Colby its only conference loss back in November.
Warriors 53, Dons 36
Neillsville 26 27 – 53
Columbus Catholic 13 23 – 36
NEILLSVILLE (53): Katie Kunze 0-1 0-0 0, Jaden Barth 0-1 0-0 0, Vanessa Zickert 0-0 0-0 0, Bella Opelt 7-9 4-7 18, Alli Schoengarth 4-9 1-2 10, Emily Voigt 1-4 0-0 3, Makayla Knuth 0-5 0-0 0, Kelly Barth 0-4 1-2 1, Kaelyn Krultz 0-0 0-0 0, Samantha Cappadora 4-8 3-4 11, Olivia Hanson 1-2 0-0 2, Parker Millard 0-5 0-0 0, Lauren Mesar 3-10 2-3 8, Maggie McDonald 0-0 0-0 0. FG: 20-58. FT: 11-18. 3-pointers: 2-14 (Schoengarth 1-4, Voigt 1-2, Knuth 0-5, K. Barth 0-3). Rebounds: 46 (Mesar 11, K. Barth 10, Cappadora 9). Turnovers: 22. Fouls: 17. Fouled out: Hanson. Record: 8-1, 6-1 Cloverbelt Conference East Division.
COLUMBUS CATHOLIC (36): Annika Brown 1-3 0-0 2, Morgan Albrecht 4-12 3-4 13, Hailey Roehl 1-8 1-2 3, Maren Seefluth 2-3 0-1 4, Addison Baierl 3-6 1-2 8, Katie Hall 0-0 1-2 1, Zoe Stratman 0-3 0-2 0, Annie Baierl 0-0 0-0 0, Marissa Immerfall 1-8 3-4 5. FG: 12-43. FT: 9-17. 3-pointers: 3-14 (Albrecht 2-9, Ad. Baierl 1-3, Immerfall 0-1, Roehl 0-1). Rebounds: 27 (Immerfall 7). Turnovers: 28. Fouls: 18. Fouled out: none. Record: 8-3, 6-2 Cloverbelt Conference East Division.