This story is sponsored by: Sternweis & Sons
By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
MARSHFIELD – Marshfield Columbus Catholic came out sizzling, scoring the game’s first 12 points.
Auburndale coach Chad Weinfurter said he was unfazed and put trust in his experienced squad to pull it together.
In just three minutes the Eagles pulled to within a point and five minutes after that, they took the lead and never trailed again as they wore out Columbus and won the nonconference boys basketball battle 58-43 on Monday night at Columbus Catholic High School.
Columbus Catholic, the top-ranked team in the first Wissports.net Division 5 state coaches poll, made five of its first six shots, which included 3-pointers from Emmitt Konieczny and Grant Olson, and jumped out to a 12-0 lead four minutes in.
Blake Raab came in off the bench and drilled a 3-pointer for Auburndale, which started a 13-2 run to that included a pair of 3s from Lucas Yeske, and the Eagles were back in the game.
“The same thing happened in practice yesterday,” Coach Weinfurter said. “We stopped practice, kind of recalibrated. That’s why I didn’t call a timeout. I felt like I was going to let it go a bit. Lucas got us going and suddenly it was 12-3, 12-6…I have a veteran group. I just explained to them, ‘We’re starting slow, it’s a long game, we’re OK.’ These guys, I trust a lot. I trust that they were going to calm down and make plays, and they did.”
After 3-pointers from Charlie Moore and Konieczny, Auburndale ripped off 10-straight points from five different players. A rebound and basket by Yeske gave the Eagles a 26-20 lead with 3:46 to go before halftime.
Auburndale, ranked sixth in the Division 4 poll, led 32-28 at the break and were able to use its effective 2-3 zone to wear down the Dons’ shooters.
Columbus shot just 5-for-23 overall and 1-for-13 from 3-point range in the second half, never getting closer than five.
Back-to-back 3-pointers from Caden Weinfurter and Alex Willfahrt, and two hoops from Mason White Eagle inside capped a 10-2 run to put the game away with about four minutes to go.
Yeske finished with 16 points on the strength of four 3-pointers, Willfahrt had 13, and White Eagle and Weinfurter each had 10 for the Eagles.
Lucas Kreklau was the bright spot for Columbus Catholic, scoring 18 points on 8 of 14 shooting. The rest of the Dons were just 8-for-33.
“The defense tonight, man. Columbus is averaging 73 points a game against not poor teams either, so I was really happy with that,” Chad Weinfurter said. “I thought our 2-3 zone did a nice job on their shooters. Sometimes you think it’s the opposite, that with a 2-3 you get a lot of 3-point shots, we kind of extended it to cover their shooters a little better and eliminate their penetration. And, we finally started rebounding and that kind of put it away.”
Both teams are now 3-1 and will play later this week. Columbus Catholic hosts Chippewa Falls McDonell for another tough nonconference matchup on Thursday, while Auburndale is off until Friday when it is at home against Phillips for a Marawood Conference crossover game.
Eagles 58, Dons 43
Auburndale 32 26 – 58
Columbus Catholic 28 15 – 43
AUBURNDALE (58): Blake Raab 1-2 0-0 3, Aden Cherney 0-0 0-0 0, Trayton Weber 0-0 0-0 0, Mason Meissner 0-0 0-0 0, Lucas Yeske 6-11 0-0 16, Kaden Anderson 0-3 0-0 0, Alex Willfahrt 4-12 3-5 13, Evan Scholl 2-5 0-0 6, Mason White Eagle 4-7 2-4 10, Ian Brown 0-0 0-0 0, Mason Rachu 0-0 0-0 0, Caden Weinfurter 4-8 0-0 10. FG: 21-48. FT: 5-9. 3-pointers: 11-22 (Yeske 4-6, Willfahrt 2-4, Weinfurter 2-4, Scholl 2-5, Raab 1-2, Anderson 0-1). Rebounds: 27 (Weinfurter 5, Willfahrt 5). Turnovers: 7. Fouls: 10. Fouled out: none. Record: 3-1.
COLUMBUS CATHOLIC (43): Emmitt Konieczny 3-9 0-0 9, Nathan Nemitz 0-0 0-0 0, Alex Edwards 0-0 0-0 0, Charlie Moore 2-7 0-0 6, Blake Jakobi 1-9 2-2 5, Grant Olson 2-6 0-0 5, Lucas Kreklau 8-14 2-2 18, Cy Becker 0-2 0-1 0. FG: 16-47. FT: 4-5. 3-pointers: 7-27 (Konieczny 3-9, Moore 2-7, Olson 1-2, Jakobi 1-8, Kreklau 0-1). Rebounds: 24 (Kreklau 5). Turnovers: 11. Fouls: 11. Fouled out: none. Record: 3-1.