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LA CROSSE – The Marshfield Columbus Catholic boys basketball team is heading to state.
A barrage of 3-pointers and two clutch free throws at the end helped the Dons hold off Cashton 80-77 in a WIAA Division 5 sectional final Saturday afternoon at La Crosse Logan High School.
Columbus Catholic (27-2) advances to its fourth WIAA state tournament and will play in a Division 5 semifinal at 9 a.m. Friday against Solon Springs (27-2) at the Kohl Center in Madison. Solon Springs was ranked No. 1 and Columbus No. 2 in the final Wissports.net Division 5 state coaches poll prior to the start of the postseason. The Dons previously played at state in 2003, 2017 and 2019, finishing as the runner-up five years ago.
Columbus finished 14-for-30 from 3-point range, five coming in the final eight minutes, as it held off run after run from the Eagles (25-4).
“I could not be more excited for our players and for our school,” Columbus Catholic coach Joe Konieczny said. “They are an incredibly unselfish group of young men. To see them make it to the Kohl Center is a dream come true.”
Mac Konieczny and Blake Jakobi hit 3-pointers to give the Dons a 37-30 late in the first half. Columbus took a 43-38 into halftime.
Cashton cut the deficit to one at 51-50 before a 4-0 run for the Dons, a theme that would be recurring the rest of the way.
Every time Columbus would make a run, Cashton would return the favor, then the Dons would surge ahead again.
Emmitt Konieczny hit three of his five 3-pointers in a 3½-minute stretch to give the Dons their biggest lead at 72-62 with 5:50 to go. Konieczny finished with a team-high 26 points.
Cashton responded with a 10-0 run to tie the game at 2:42 before it was Charlie Moore’s turn to get hot.
Moore hit back-to-back 3-pointers to put the Dons back up by six, only to see Cashton come back again, cutting it 78-77 with 1:15 left.
That would be all for the Eagles. Despite Columbus missing two front end of bonus free throw situations, Cashton was unable to cash in. Emmitt Konieczny made two free throws with 10 seconds left and Cashton missed a 3-pointer in the final seconds to seal the win for the Dons.
Moore and Jakobi each added 16 points for the Dons.
Brett Hemmersbach led Cashton with 24 points.
Dons 80, Eagles 77
Columbus Catholic 43 37 – 80
Cashton 38 39 – 77
COLUMBUS CATHOLIC (80): Emmitt Konieczny 9-16 3-5 26, Mac Konieczny 3-3 0-0 9, Lucas Kreklau 3-5 0-0 6, Charlie Moore 6-13 0-0 16, Blake Jakobi 7-11 1-2 16, Cy Becker 2-5 2-3 7. FG: 30-53. FT: 6-10. 3-pointers: 14-30 (E. Konieczny 5-10, Moore 4-11, M. Konieczny 3-3, Becker 1-2, Jakobi 1-2, Kreklau 0-1). Rebounds: 24 (Becker 7). Record: 27-2.
CASHTON (77): Noah Hemmersbach 16, Jake Wall 4, Ben Grandall 0, Brady Hemmersbach 18, Edgar Arriola 4, Brett Hemmersback 24, Connor Butzler 11. Record: 25-4.