Dons drop to 8-4

By Paul Lecker

Sports Reporter

NEILLSVILLE — The Marshfield Columbus Catholic girls basketball team had undefeated Neillsville on the ropes, but a big second-half advantage pushed the Warriors to a 45-26 victory in a Cloverbelt Conference East Division game Tuesday at Neillsville High School.

The Dons pulled out to a 12-3 lead early and held Neillsville to 4 of 27 shooting in the first half. However, the Warriors were able to take a 19-18 lead by halftime and owned the second half.

Neillsville outscored Columbus 26-8 in the second half to pull away and improve to 9-0 overall and 8-0 in the Cloverbelt East. Columbus drops to 8-4 and 5-3 in the conference.

“Shots weren’t falling for us, and we weren’t getting the rebounds to put back up,” Columbus Catholic coach Rhonda Keding said. “We let Neillsville drive one-on-one to the basket and wouldn’t stop the penetration.”

Kayla Lis topped Neillsville with 12 points and nine rebounds.

Morgan Albrecht had six points for the Dons.

Columbus Catholic hosts Colby on Friday.

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

Warriors 45, Dons 26

Columbus Catholic 18 8 – 26

Neillsville 19 26 – 45

COLUMBUS CATHOLIC (26): Morgan Albrecht 2-9 0-0 6, Hailey Roehl 0-4 0-2 0, Baylie Neider 2-6 0-2 5, Maren Seefluth 2-4 0-0 4, Kendra Baierl 1-2 0-0 2, McKenzie Hansen 0-0 0-0 0, Katie Hall 0-1 0-0 0, Natalie Pospyhalla 2-8 0-0 4, Zoe Stratman 0-0 0-0 0, Marissa Immerfall 2-10 1-2 5. FG: 11-44. FT: 1-6. 3-pointers: 3-9 (Albrecht 2-4, Neider 1-1, Pospyhalla 0-4). Rebounds: 24 (Neider 6). Turnovers: 19. Fouls: 20. Fouled out: none. Record: 8-4, 5-3 Cloverbelt Conference East Division.

NEILLSVILLE (45): Mindy Schoengarth 2-7 0-1 5, Morgan Hauge 2-8 4-4 9, Kayla Lis 3-12 3-6 12, Kelly Barth 0-1 0-0 0, Ashlee Diestler 2-8 0-0 6, Sam Cappodora 2-6 1-2 5, Lexi Opelt 3-5 0-1 6, Michelle Kyle 0-1 0-0 0, Lauren Mesar 0-5 2-4 2, Grace King 0-1 0-0 0. FG: 14-54. FT: 10-18. 3-pointers: 7-8 (Lis 3-3, Diestler 2-3, Hauge 1-1, Schoengarth 1-1). Rebounds: 28 (Lis 9). Turnovers: 14. Fouls: 11. Fouled out: none. Record: 9-0, 8-0 Cloverbelt East.