This story is sponsored by: Chips Hamburgers of Marshfield and Wisconsin Rapids
By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
MARSHFIELD – In a pivotal Cloverbelt Conference East Division boys basketball game Thursday night at Columbus Catholic High School, the host Dons saw an early 17-point lead evaporate.
Neillsville took a two-point lead 1:45 into the second half and Columbus Catholic collectively said, “Enough of that.”
Cy Becker drilled a 3-pointer to give the lead back to the Dons just 15 seconds later and sparked a dominating finish as Columbus Catholic rolled to a 73-49 victory.
With the win, Columbus Catholic’s eighth in a row, the Dons are now 16-1 overall and a perfect 9-0 in the Cloverbelt East, opening up a two-game lead in the conference standings over Neillsville (10-7, 7-2 Cloverbelt East) with seven games remaining.
After seeing their big early lead go away, the Dons outscored Neillsville 41-16 over the final 16 minutes to snatch the win.
“We shot the ball so well early, and we got shots early in the possession against their zone, and then when they went man, we weren’t patient and didn’t share the ball for a while,” Columbus Catholic coach Joe Konieczny said. “I thought once they (went ahead) and again later when they cut it three, we were much more disciplined in our screening and spacing, and passing up good shots for great ones.”
The Dons ran out to a 17-2 lead as Neillsville missed on eight of its first nine shots. Emmitt Konieczny hit three 3-pointers, and Becker and Blake Jakobi added long balls as Columbus Catholic seemingly took control of the game.
Columbus Catholic’s lead ballooned to 25-8 before its offense dried up and Neillsville was able to take advantage.
A 3-pointer by Cameron Kennedy started an 11-0 run for Neillsville to cut the Dons’ lead to four. Two free throws from Emmitt Konieczny put Columbus on top 31-25 at halftime.
Neillsville used that momentum to take its only lead of the game as 3-pointers from Andrew Hoeser and Braylon Boyer put the Warriors on top 33-31.
That seemingly didn’t sit well with the Dons, who buckled down and dominated from that point forward.
Two more 3-pointers from Becker and Charlie Moore ended a 17-5 run, and after the teams exchanged baskets, the Dons finished the final 7½ minutes with a 23-9 advantage as Emmitt Konieczny hit two more 3-pointers. He finished 7-for-15 from 3-point range and scored a game-high 25 points. Jakobi added 16 and Becker 14 in the win.
Neillsville shot only 32 percent from the field (16-for-50), 9-for-19 at the free throw line and turned the ball over 20 times, all of which came up to bite them in the end. Ashten Schlutz had 12 points and Kennedy added 11 for the Warriors.
“These seniors have a sense that this is it, it’s coming to an end, and it’s important to me that they are enjoying every minute of it,” Joe Konieczny said about his team that starts five seniors and has nine on the roster. “They deserve it, they are a very special group.”
Both teams return to action Tuesday with Cloverbelt East games on the road as Columbus Catholic travels to Owen-Withee and Neillsville plays at Loyal.
Dons 73, Warriors 49
Neillsville 25 24 – 49
Columbus Catholic 31 42 – 73
NEILLSVILLE (49): Wesley Switz 1-1 0-0 3, Cameron Kennedy 3-8 3-7 11, Braylon Boyer 2-6 0-0 5, Andrew Hoeser 4-9 0-0 10, Micah Zoschke 0-0 0-0 0, Bryce Erickson 2-7 2-6 6, Ashten Schultz 3-14 4-6 12, Max Kreitlow 0-2 0-0 0, Jace Pekol 0-0 0-0 0, Sam Hayes 1-3 0-0 2. FG: 16-50. FT: 9-19. 3-pointers: 8-23 (Schultz 2-4, Kennedy 2-5, Hoeser 2-6, Swita 1-1, Boyer 1-5, Erickson 0-1, Kreitlow 0-1). Rebounds: 44 (Erickson 9, Hoeser 9). Turnovers: 20. Fouls: 18. Fouled out: none. Record: 10-7, 7-2 Cloverbelt Conference East Division.
COLUMBUS CATHOLIC (73): Emmitt Konieczny 8-18 2-2 25, Mac Konieczny 1-4 2-6 5, Cal Birkhauser 0-0 0-0 0, Nathan Nemitz 0-0 0-0 0, Alex Edwards 0-1 0-0 0, Lucas Kreklau 1-1 2-2 4, Charlie Moore 2-8 0-0 5, Blake Jakobi 5-13 4-4 16, Sam Duns 1-1 0-0 2, Cy Becker 5-10 1-2 14, Kohle Hilgemann 1-1 0-0 2. FG: 24-57. FT: 11-16. 3-pointers: 14-38 (E. Konieczny 7-15, Becker 3-5, Jakobi 2-8, M. Konieczny 1-3, Moore 1-6, Edwards 0-1). Rebounds: 23 (Jakobi 5, Becker 5). Turnovers: 7. Fouls: 16. Fouled out: none. Record: 16-1, 9-0 Cloverbelt Conference East Division.