Dons (11-12) move on to regional semifinal at Tri-County

By Paul Lecker

Sports Reporter

MARSHFIELD — Marshfield Columbus Catholic started the game on a 13-0 run and held off a couple of charges from Pittsville to win 58-39 in a WIAA Division 5 girls basketball regional quarterfinal on Tuesday night at Columbus Catholic High School.

The sixth-seeded Dons outrebounded the Panthers 56-28 and had 19 second-chance points in the victory.

Columbus Catholic (11-12) moves on to a Division 5 regional semifinal at No. 3 seed Tri-County (20-3) on Friday at 7 p.m. Tri-County ousted Greenwood from the playoffs, winning 65-61, on Tuesday.

“Hustling, rebounding, everything was put together,” Columbus Catholic coach Rhonda Keding said of the win.

Columbus came out running in the game’s first 2 ½ minutes, scoring seven of the opening 13 points on fast breaks. Abby Baierl added a 3-pointer and a layup to put the Dons up 13-0 in the blink of an eye.

Pittsville climbed back in it, led by senior guard Jenna Hughes, who hit three 3-pointers in a span of two minutes to cut the Dons’ lead to 14-10.

That would be as close as the Panthers (3-19) would get as the Dons used a 10-3 run to go up by 12. A 3-pointer from Baylie Neider helped the Dons take a 34-25 lead into halftime.

After Columbus pushed its lead to 46-31 on a rebound and basket by Jessica Trad, the Panthers put up one last charge as they scored six points in 38 seconds to make it a nine-point game. Columbus called a timeout after a layup by Hughes at the 8:14 mark.

“I said, ‘Who wants it more? Right now it looks like they do,’” Keding said. “We came out with a better attitude, and they didn’t want to give up that lead.”

The Dons showed how much they did indeed want it, going on a 12-0 run during the next 7:52, a streak Pittsville would end with a basket with just 22 seconds remaining in the game.

Pittsville missed nine shot attempts and turned the ball over three times during that time.

Marissa Immerfall finished with 13 points and 15 rebounds, Baierl added 10 points and 14 rebounds, and Neider also scored 10 for the Dons.

Hughes finished with 17 points for Pittsville, but only two came after halftime.

“We had to shut down Hughes for them, and in the second half we went to face-guarding her, and it worked,” Keding said. “All of the girls we put on her did a great job.

“We are just going to have to play our game (Friday) and be ready.”

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

Dons 58, Panthers 39

Pittsville 25 14 – 39

Columbus Catholic 34 24 – 58

PITTSVILLE (39): Kacey Soetebier 0-0 0-0 0, Miranda Ortner 2-10 0-0 4, Jenna Hughes 5-16 3-4 17, Rebecca Sturgis 0-0 0-0 0, Sara Minor 1-4 0-0 2, Marie Simonet 4-13 1-2 9, Amanda Piotrowski 3-11 0-0 7, Ana Klein 0-1 0-3 0, Amanda Ortner 0-0 0-0 0. FG: 15-55. FT: 4-9. 3-pointers: 5-16 (Hughes 4-11, Piotrowski 1-3, Simonet 0-1, Minor 0-1). Rebounds: 28 (Simonet 8). Turnovers: 12. Fouls: 11. Fouled out: none. Record: 3-19.

COLUMBUS CATHOLIC (58): Morgan Albrecht 2-5 0-0 6, Hailey Roehl 0-0 0-0 0, Baylie Neider 3-9 3-4 10, Maren Seefluth 0-4 0-0 0, Kendra Baierl 2-3 1-2 5, Jessica Trad 4-17 0-0 8, Abby Baierl 4-15 0-0 10, Katie Hall 0-0 0-0 0, Natalie Pospyhalla 2-6 2-2 6, Zoe Stratman 0-0 0-0 0, Sierra Litwatis 0-1 0-0 0, Marissa Immerfall 6-11 1-3 13. FG: 23-71. FT: 7-11. 3-pointers: 5-21 (A. Baierl 2-7, Albrecht 2-5, Neider 1-2, Pospyhalla 0-2, Trad 0-5). Rebounds: 56 (Immerfall 15, A. Baierl 14). Turnovers: 14. Fouls: 9. Fouled out: none. Record: 11-12.