By Paul Lecker

Sports Reporter

GILMAN — The Spencer boys basketball team ended its brief two-game losing streak and clinched at least a share of the Cloverbelt Conference East Division championship with a 62-32 victory on Tuesday night at Gilman High School.

Spencer led 22-7 after one quarter and 35-14 by halftime on its way to the 30-point victory.

Spencer improves to 16-3 overall and 13-1 in the Cloverbelt East. The Rockets hold a two-game lead in the conference standings over Columbus Catholic and Neillsville with two games remaining. The title is Spencer’s first since sharing the Marawood Conference South Division title in 2006-07.

Spencer plays at Colby on Friday and hosts Columbus Catholic on Monday to wrap up its conference schedule.

Nate Mercier scored 18 points, Bobby Pilz added 12 points, and Miles Weber had seven points and 10 rebounds for Spencer.

James Copenhaver topped Gilman (3-15, 2-13 Cloverbelt East) with 12 points.

(Hub City Times Sports Reporter Paul Lecker is also the publisher of MarshfieldAreaSports.com.)

Rockets 62, Pirates 32

Spencer 22 13 15 12 – 62

Gilman 7 7 8 10 – 32

SPENCER (62): Nate Mercier 6-10 3-3 18, Bobby Pilz 5-8 2-2 12, Miles Weber 3-6 1-2 7, Mitch Susa 2-5 1-2 7, Ryan Busse 3-8 0-0 6, Jonathan Tomke 2-2 0-0 4, Calvin Lenz 2-5 0-0 4, Aaron Pankratz 1-1 0-0 2, Jake Meyers 1-3 0-0 2, Noah Zastrow 0-2 0-0 0, Jack Burnett 0-1 0-0 0, Jack Bezlyk 0-0 0-00, Dakota Andreae 0-0 0-0 0. FG: 25-51. FT: 7-9. 3-pointers: 5-15 (Mercier 3-6, Susa 2-5, Zastrow 0-2, Pilz 0-2). Rebounds: 27 (Weber 10). Assists: 19 (Susa 4, Mercier 4). Fouls: 6. Fouled out: none. Record: 16-3, 13-1 Cloverbelt Conference East Division.

GILMAN (32): James Copenhaver 4-15 1-1 12, Emmit Sherfield 5-10 0-0 10, Colton Schmitt 2-3 0-2 4, Zach Sonnentag 1-4 0-0 3, Chanse Rosemeyer 1-6 0-0 3, Sromek 0-0 0-0 0, Ethan Aldinger 0-0 0-0 0, Travis Lato 0-3 0-0 0, Phil Wenzel 0-0 0-0 0, Elliot Wininger 0-0 0-0 0, Logan Anderson 0-0 0-0 0, Landen Tischer 0-1 0-0 0, Lane Webster 0-0 0-0 0, Cassidy Ogle 0-0 0-0 0, Tucker Schmuckal 0-0 0-0 0. FG: 13-42. FT: 1-3. 3-pointers: 5-10 (Copenhaver 3-6, Sonnentag 1-2, Rosemeyer 1-1, Sherfield 0-1). Rebounds: 27. Fouls: 9. Fouled out: none. Record: 3-15, 2-13 Cloverbelt Conference East Division.