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By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
MARSHFIELD – The Marshfield Columbus Catholic boys basketball team suffered its first loss Tuesday, and came out slow in its return to the court on Thursday night against Loyal, but once it got going, there was no stopping the Dons.
Trailing by three points early, Columbus used its quickness to get to the rim time and time again, to make 17 of its final 21 shot attempts in the first half, build a double-digit lead, and cruise to a 78-55 victory at Columbus Catholic High School.
Loyal led 10-7 after a 3-pointer by Trevyn Wilke 3 minutes into the game.
Columbus made just three of its first 10 shots, but turned the tables with a dominating run to close the half.
The Dons scored on 19 of the next 21 possessions, turning that deficit into a 46-25 lead by halftime.
“We beat a team tonight that has some weapons, and it was nice to battle back after a loss,” Columbus Catholic coach Joe Konieczny said.
Columbus (11-1, 7-0 Cloverbelt Conference East Division) normally relies on a strong outside shooting game and trapping defense to tackle its opponents. The Dons made just 1 of 9 3-pointers and the trap yielded few turnovers, so they had to find another way to win and that came in the form of point guard Noah Taylor’s penetration.
Taylor made 13 of 21 shot attempts, with the majority of his makes on lay-ins as he shot into the lane time after time.
If it wasn’t Taylor, it was forwards Bryce Fuerlinger, Ethan Meece and Jarred Mandel getting to the hoop.
Taylor finished with 26 points, Mandel had 17 points, Meece chipped in 14, and Fuerlinger had 12 points and 15 rebounds in the victory.
“We tried to focus a lot on getting Bryce a touch,” Konieczny said. “Mandel, Meece and Taylor were attacking the rim relentlessly. Sometimes Mandel was too unselfish. He passed a lot shots up tonight that we may want him to take in a close game. So we talked after the game that he needs to be more of a scorer, Taylor needs to distribute more, and we need to start building some habits that are going to be effective come playoff time.”
Loyal (3-8, 3-4 Cloverbelt East) had one last run in them as junior guard Kole Bogdonovich had three 3-pointers and 11 of his team-high 19 points in a 13-1 run that closed the Dons’ lead to 60-47 with 8:14 to go.
Following a timeout by Columbus, Loyal made only three more baskets the remainder of the game and the Dons used a 14-0 run to finish off the victory
“I thought we played well in the first half, and in the second half I thought there was a stretch where we got a little complacent and little bit selfish offensively at times,” Konieczny said. “For the most part we built good habits, but when we got a larger lead, some bad habits started to be created and that’s something we need to work on.”
Both teams return to action Tuesday. Columbus will play at Neillsville in a battle of Cloverbelt East unbeatens, while Loyal hosts Owen-Withee.
Dons 78, Greyhounds 55
Loyal 25 30 – 55
Columbus Catholic 46 32 – 78
LOYAL (55): Kole Bogdonovich 6-14 2-4 19, Trevyn Wilke 3-10 3-4 11, Brody Miller 0-0 0-0 0, Matthew Szymanski 0-0 0-0 0, Daymian Baird 0-0 0-0 0, Quinn Brussow 4-13 0-0 8, Skylar Ruggles 3-6 0-0 8, Charles Larson 0-2 0-1 0, Zach Zimmerman 3-6 3-4 9. FG: 19-51. FT: 8-13. 3-pointers: 9-23 (Bogdonovich 5-12, Ruggles 2-2, Wilke 2-6, Brussow 0-3). Rebounds: 18 (Larson 4, Zimmerman 4). Turnovers: 10. Fouls: 14. Fouled out: none. Record: 3-8, 3-4 Cloverbelt Conference East Division.
COLUMBUS CATHOLIC (78): Noah Taylor 13-21 0-1 26, Will Boyer 0-0 0-0 0, Jadon Nienast 0-1 0-0 0, Tom Nystrom 1-1 0-0 3, Bryce Fuerlinger 5-9 2-4 12, Zach Olson 1-1 0-0 2, Eden Jacobson 0-0 0-0 0, Ethan Meece 5-14 4-5 14, Kellen Heinzen 2-2 0-0 4, Jarred Mandel 5-10 7-9 17, Wyatt Drexler 0-0 0-0 0, Carlos Hackel 0-0 0-0 0, Gage Stratman 0-0 0-0 0. FG: 32-59. FT: 13-19. 3-pointers: 1-9 (Nystrom 1-1, Taylor 0-2, Meece 0-2, Meece 0-4). Rebounds: 44 (Fuerlinger 15). Turnovers: 13. Fouls: 14. Fouled out: none. Record: 11-1, 7-0 Cloverbelt Conference East Division.