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By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
MARSHFIELD – Spencer was beating Marshfield Columbus Catholic at its own game early, running up and down the court and scoring at will, but a 13-2 run in the second quarter got the Dons back in the game and Columbus ran away in the second half to a 58-47 Cloverbelt Conference East Division boys basketball victory Tuesday night at Columbus Catholic High School.
The win was a must for the Dons (13-3, 11-2 Cloverbelt East), who keep pace in the conference one game behind first-place Augusta. Columbus plays at Augusta on Tuesday.
Spencer raced out to a 15-9 lead after the first quarter. Sam Cattanach scored three quick baskets and had seven of the Rockets’ first nine points.
Steven Gilboy added a basket and two free throws and Jordan Buss scored four points in the opening quarter as Spencer was able to beat Columbus’ pressure defense for some easy hoops.
The Rockets continued their good play in the second quarter, scoring seven of the first nine points to take a 22-11 lead. However, Spencer scored only one basket during the final 4:50 and Columbus was able to climb back in the game.
“They did a really nice job preparing for our press,” Columbus coach Joe Konieczny said. “They got three or four easy layups to start the game. Once we got down 20-9, I think our man-to-man really was effective. It was a really nice effort the last two and a half quarters. I thought both teams played really hard and it was a good game.”
Back-to-back 3-pointers by Brandon Nikolai and Mike Iwanski sparked an 11-2 run by the Dons that ended with a hoop by Tyler Derfus with 35 seconds to go in the half and cut Spencer’s lead to 24-22 at the half.
“We knew we could get over the top on their press,” Spencer coach Randy Reckner said. “They made a couple of adjustments on it and took the top away, and early foul trouble really didn’t help us much. They made their run right before halftime and that kind of set us back a little.”
There were three ties and a couple of lead changes in the third quarter before Columbus pulled away.
The Dons used a 14-2 run over a 6-minute stretch that ended with a pair of baskets by Jacob Puent and Derfus in the first 2 minutes of the fourth quarter as Columbus built a 45-33 lead.
Spencer got as close as eight after a three-point play by Gilboy, who had 22 points to lead the Rockets, with 1:05 left, but Spencer missed its final three shots and three of four free throws down the stretch as Columbus beat Spencer for the 10th straight time.
“We’ve won a lot of close games against them and I think some of it’s luck to be honest,” Konieczny said. “We made some free throws, we made some layups and some loose balls go your way, but our kids seemed to do a pretty decent job defensively holding them to one shot when they were bigger. I think that was a key.”
Spencer falls to 7-8 and 5-8 in the Cloverbelt East, and with seven games remaining in the regular season it’s time for the Rockets to start to play more consistently, Reckner said.
“I look at our time and we’re a good team,” Reckner said. “We lost a lot of close games, a lot of last-second shots. If we can find a way to win those close games here in the end … Our conference is good, we know it’s good. You’re in a battle every night. I’m happy with my kids right now. They’ve made a lot of adjustments. If we can find a way to finish games, we’ll be there in the playoffs. I think we can be very successful here at the end yet.”
Spencer hosts Granton on Friday.
Dons 58, Rockets 47
Spencer 15 9 11 12 – 47
Columbus 9 13 19 17 – 58
SPENCER (47): Jeremiah Cattanach 3-7 1-3 8, Cody Esser 0-3 0-0 0, Jordan Buss 3-7 0-0 6, Sam Cattanach 4-6 3-8 11, Joe Meyers 0-8 0-0 0, Collin Cowell 0-0 0-0 0, Steven Gilboy 9-17 3-3 22, Adam Skrzeczkoski 0-1 0-0 0, Matt Mlsna 0-0 0-0 0. FG: 19-49. FT: 7-14. 3-pointers: 2-12 (J. Cattanach 1-3, Gilboy 1-3, Buss 0-2, Meyers 0-4). Rebounds: 28 (Gilboy 5, Meyers 5). Turnovers: 16. Fouls: 18. Fouled out: none. Record: 7-8, 5-8 Cloverbelt East.
COLUMBUS (58): Brandon Nikolai 3-3 5-6 12, Mike Iwanski 3-7 2-3 11, Jared Fleischmann 2-4 5-6 10, Derrick Green 1-4 0-0 2, Zach Strobel 0-0 0-0 0, Tyler Derfus 3-12 0-0 7, D.J. Cleveland 2-2 1-2 5, Jacob Puent 4-6 3-3 11. FG: 18-38. FT: 16-20. 3-pointers: 6-20 (Iwanski 3-7, Nikolai 1-1, Fleischmann 1-3, Derfus 1-9). Rebounds: 27 (Iwanski 9). Turnovers: 17. Fouls: 11. Fouled out: none. Record: 13-3, 11-2 Cloverbelt East.