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ADAMS – The No. 1 seed Marshfield Columbus Catholic boys basketball team held off No. 2 Royall 57-54 to win a WIAA Division 5 sectional semifinal Thursday night at Adams-Friendship High School.
Columbus Catholic (26-2) will take on Cashton (25-3) in a Division 5 sectional final on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. at La Crosse Logan High School. The winner advances to the state tournament next week in Madison. Cashton, a No. 2 seed in the bottom half of the sectional bracket, downed No. 1 seed Potosi 69-46 on Thursday.
Columbus Catholic is seeking its fourth state tournament appearance and its first since 2019. Cashton has never qualified for state.
Blake Jakobi hit a 3-pointer with 6:20 to go in the first half to give the Dons a 15-6 lead as both offenses struggled to get much going early.
Emmitt Konieczny made a basket with four seconds to go before halftime to give Columbus a five-point lead, only to see Royall hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer and the Dons took a 22-20 lead into halftime.
The game was tight throughout the second half, with Royall taking its first lead at the 14:08 mark at 25-24.
The Panthers eventually went ahead by as many as six with 11 minutes to go before Columbus chipped away.
Back-to-back 3-pointers from Cy Becker and Lucas Kreklau gave the Dons a 46-44 lead with 3:20 to go, but Royall quickly responded with a 3-pointer of its own to go back on top by one.
Kreklau then converted a three-point play with 2:23 left to put the Dons up for good at 48-47. He finished with 15 points.
Jakobi, who scored a game-high 23 points, hit six-straight free throws over the final two minutes, and despite another 3 from Royall, the Dons were able to hold on, forcing a turnover as time expired to win by three.
Dons 57, Panthers 54
Royall 20 34 – 54
Columbus Catholic 22 35 – 57
ROYALL (54): Savon Wainwright 4 0-0 11, Jacob Ceizyk 0 0-0 0, Ben Crneckly 4 2-4 14, Trey Wildes 1 1-1 3, Karter Olson 0 0-0 0, Tucker Wildes 1 0-2 2, Ty Wildes 4 0-0 10, Carter Uppena 3 2-4 8, Landon Lipke 3 0-2 6. FG: 20. FT: 5-13. 3-pointers: 9 (Crneckly 4, Wainwright 3, Ty Wildes 2). Record: 25-3.
COLUMBUS CATHOLIC (57): Emmitt Konieczny 6 0-0 13, Mac Konieczny 0 0-0 0, Lucas Kreklau 6 2-3 15, Charlie Moore 0 0-2 0, Blake Jakobi 5 11-13 23, Sam Dums 0 0-0 0, Cy Becker 2 0-0 6. FG: 19. FT: 13-18. 3-pointers: 6 (Jakobi 2, Becker 2, E. Konieczny 1, Kreklau 1). Record: 26-2.