This story is sponsored by: Chili Implement
By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
MARSHFIELD – The Marshfield Columbus Catholic boys basketball team slapped a full-court zone press on Spencer from the start, built a double-digit lead in the opening four minutes, and rolled to a 68-38 win in the Cloverbelt Conference East Division opener for both teams on Thursday night at Columbus Catholic High School.
The Dons forced four-straight turnovers and scored following each, using a 9-0 run to take control early. Back-to-back 3-pointers from Blake Jakobi and Cy Becker gave Columbus Catholic a 17-6 lead 4:02 into the game and the Dons were never threatened.
Nathan Nemitz scored 10 points in a 14-0 run midway through the first half to bump the Dons’ lead to 36-11, and the team closed the half with five-straight points, all by Lucas Kreklau, to make it 43-17 by halftime.
The Dons (4-0 overall) led by as much as 33 in the second half as Spencer (1-3 overall) was never able to get its offense going consistently.
Kreklau, who had finished with a game-high 19 points, scored seven in an 8-0 run that made it 57-24, and the Dons settled for the 30-point win as they played mostly reserves over the final nine minutes.
Sam Bezlyk led the Rockets with 13 points and 10 rebounds.
Both teams return to action Tuesday with Cloverbelt East games as Columbus Catholic will play at Neillsville and Spencer will host Loyal.
Dons 68, Rockets 38
Spencer 17 21 – 38
Columbus Catholic 43 25 – 68
SPENCER (38): Weston Nieman 1-5 0-0 3, Drake Johnson 0-3 1-2 1, Austin Lalicata 1-2 0-0 3, Noah Anderson 0-3 1-2 1, Davide Chemello 4-11 0-0 9, Reed Knecht 0-0 0-0 0, Sam Bezlyk 4-18 1-2 13, Mathers McHone 1-3 0-0 3, Breckin Miller 2-6 1-4 5, Logan Ehlert 0-1 0-0 0, Carter Luepke 0-0 0-0 0. FG: 13-52. FT: 4-10. 3-pointers: 8-29 (Bezlyk 4-13, McHone 1-2, Lalicata 1-2, Nieman 1-4, Chemello 1-6, Miller 0-1, Johnson 0-1). Rebounds: 35 (Bezlyk 10). Turnovers: 22. Fouls: 10. Fouled out: none. Record: 1-3, 0-1 Cloverbelt Conference East Division.
COLUMBUS CATHOLIC (68): Mac Konieczny 2-7 0-0 6, Cal Birkhauser 0-1 0-0 0, Nathan Nemitz 4-4 1-2 11, Alex Edwards 1-4 0-0 3, Lucas Kreklau 8-11 3-5 19, Charlie Moore 0-10 1-2 1, Blake Jakobi 5-10 0-0 13, Kaleb Hilgemann 0-3 0-0 0, Sam Dums 0-1 1-2 1, Cy Becker 3-5 0-0 7, Kohle Hilgemann 2-5 0-0 4, Cole Wallace 1-2 0-0 3, Ben Weiland 0-1 0-0 0. FG: 26-64. FT: 6-11. 3-pointers: 10-32 (Jakobi 3-7, Nemitz 2-2, Konieczny 2-5, Wallace 1-2, Edwards 1-2, Becker 1-3, Moore 0-8, Kreklau 0-1, Birkhauser 0-1, Weiland 0-1). Rebounds: 44 (Kreklau 8). Turnovers: 13. Fouls: 14. Fouled out: none. Record: 4-0, 1-0 Cloverbelt Conference East Division.