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By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
MARSHFIELD – The Marshfield Columbus Catholic and Owen-Withee boys basketball teams met for the second time in 11 days, and for the second time the Dons came out victorious.
Emmitt Konieczny made seven 3-pointers, including two in overtime, as Columbus Catholic prevailed 57-53 in a must-win game for the Dons as far as the Cloverbelt Conference East Division championship chase goes.
Columbus Catholic improves to 12-6 overall and 7-2 in the Cloverbelt East, climbing to one-half game behind Owen-Withee (14-3, 8-2 Cloverbelt East). Colby stands atop the standings now after defeating Spencer on Tuesday at 9-1. Click here to view the Cloverbelt East boys basketball standings
“We shot the ball well, especially when we needed to, and we did a good job of keeping them away from the rim,” Columbus Catholic coach Joe Konieczny said. “They’re very big, very athletic and very physical and we did a good job of making sure we had two or three guys around them.”
Owen-Withee pulled out to a 22-13 lead after a 12-0 run sparked by back-to-back 3-pointers by Caleb Geldernick and Quinn Hatlestad.
The Dons then ripped off eight-straight points as Konieczny made three free throws after being fouled on a 3-point attempt, and Blake Jakobi drilled in a shot from long range.
Owen-Withee took a 26-23 lead into halftime and neither team was able to pull away.
Columbus took its first lead since early in the game after a 3-pointer by Konieczny and a basket by Cy Becker.
After Hatlestad countered with a 3-pointer, Columbus regained the lead with a 7-0 run.
The Blackhawks fought back, tying the game on another Hatlestad 3-pointer with 47 seconds left. Columbus Catholic ran down the clock and missed a shot at the buzzer to send the game to overtime.
In the extra periors, Owen-Withee scored the first three points before Konieczny hit back-to-back 3-pointers. Becker added a pair of free throws, and after a basket by Carter Klabon for Owen-Withee, Konieczny made one of two at the line and the Blackhawks missed twice before time ran out.
Konieczny finished with 27 points and 10 rebounds, and Jakobi had 14 points and six rebounds in the win for Columbus Catholic.
The Dons’ defense bottled up the middle with Owen-Withee’s top scorer Logan Amacher going just 6-for-21 shooting to score 13 points. Klabon led the way with 18 points, but he shot just 8 of 19 from the floor.
“When it came right down to it, we had to pick or poison,” coach Koneiczny said. “Do we want Amacher dunking on us or do we want them to take a 3. Our goal was to keep them away from the basket. We don’t have a guy that’s going to stop him one-on-one, so it has to be two or three and try to force an outside shot and get the rebound.”
Columbus Catholic will host Loyal on Friday before traveling to Colby for another must-win matchup on Thursday, Feb. 9. Owen-Withee will be at home against Spencer on Friday.
Dons 57, Blackhawks 53 (OT)
Owen-Withee 26 22 5 – 53
Columbus Catholic 23 25 9 – 57
OWEN-WITHEE (53): Elliot Ackerman 0-3 0-0 0, Quinn Hatlestad 3-9 0-0 9, Logan Amacher 6-21 1-5 13, Vincent Henke 1-1 0-0 2, Carter Klabon 8-19 0-0 18, Caleb Geldnernick 4-12 0-0 11. FG: 22-65. FT: 1-5. 3-pointers: 8-27 (Geldernick 3-5, Hatlestad 3-8, Klabon 2-11, Amacher 0-1, Ackerman 0-2). Rebounds: 40 (Amacher 14). Turnovers: 6. Fouls: 10. Fouled out: none. Record: 14-3, 8-2 Cloverbelt Conference East Division.
COLUMBUS CATHOLIC (57): Emmitt Konieczny 8-18 4-7 27, Mac Konieczny 0-1 0-0 0, Blake Jakobi 4-12 2-2 14, Grant Olson 1-3 0-0 2, Lucas Kreklau 3-6 0-0 6, Cy Becker 3-9 2-2 8, Alex Edwards 0-0 0-0 0, Cal Birkhauser 0-0 0-0 0. FG: 19-49. FT: 8-11. 3-pointers: 11-29 (E. Konieczny 7-13, Jakobi 4-10, M. Konieczny 0-1, Olson 0-2, Becker 0-3). Rebounds: 29 (E. Konieczny 10). Turnovers: 6. Fouls: 10. Fouled out: none. Record: 12-6, 7-2 Cloverbelt Conference East Division.