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NEILLSVILLE – Neillsville held Columbus Catholic to nine points in the first half and cruised to a 52-33 victory in a Cloverbelt Conference East Division girls basketball game Monday at Neillsville High School.
The game was the conference finale for both teams.
Neillsville (18-3, 13-3 Cloverbelt East) rolled out to a 22-9 lead by halftime and put the game away in the second half despite making just 8 of 23 free throws.
Addison Baierl had 10 points to lead the Dons, who fall to 11-9 overall and finish the Cloverbelt East season with an 8-8 record and a fifth-place finish.
Lauren Messar led a balanced scoring attack for Neillsville with 14 points.
Columbus Catholic will play in a Cloverbelt crossover game on the road Thursday. An opponent will be announced Tuesday.
The Dons will open WIAA playoff action with a Division 5 regional quarterfinal at home against Wisconsin Valley Lutheran at 7 p.m. Feb. 20.
Warriors 52, Dons 33
Columbus Catholic 9 24 – 33
Neillsville 22 30 – 52
COLUMBUS CATHOLIC (33): Annie Baierl 0 2-2 2, Annika Brown 1 0-0 2, Morgan Albrecht 2 0-1 6, Maren Seefluth 1 0-0 2, Addison Baierl 3 2-2 10, Katie Hall 1 0-0 2, Zoe Stratman 1 0-0 2, Marissa Immerfall 3 1-2 7. FG: 12. FT: 5-7. 3-pointers: 4 (Ad. Baierl 2, Albrecht 2). Fouls: 19. Fouled out: Brown. Record: 11-9, 8-8 Cloverbelt Conference East Division.
NEILLSVILLE (52): Bella Opelt 3 1-2 7, Alli Schoengarth 3 1-7 7, Emily Voight 1 0-0 2, Makayla Knuth 1 0-0 3, Kelly Barth 3 0-1 7, Kaelyn Krultz 0 0-2 0, Maggie McDonald 0 0-2 0, Samantha Cappadora 4 0-2 8, Olivia Hanson 0 0-0 0, Vanessa Zickert 0 0-0 0, Parker Millard 1 2-2 4, Lauren Messar 5 4-6 14, Craig 0 0-0 0. FG: 21. FT: 8-23. 3-pointers: 2 (Barth 1, Knuth 1). Fouls: 10. Fouled out: none. Record: 18-3, 13-3 Cloverbelt Conference East Division.