By Hub City Times staff

MARSHFIELD – After trailing by one at halftime, the Columbus Dons boys basketball team used a 47-31 second half run to pull away and beat the Pacelli Cardinals Dec. 10 at Columbus Catholic High School in Marshfield.

The Dons held off a relentless attack for Columbus Head Coach Joe Konieczny.

“They play very hard”, Konieczny said after the game. “They have a really good player in (Weston) Peplinski that we had to really focus on. He causes a lot of problems for you defensively, just because he can shoot it. We noticed in their first two games and tonight once they get down a little bit he really starts to assert himself. Took a few deep ones. He made a couple. Banked the one in. But, he’s relentless in trying to score and keep his team in the lead. Hats off to him, and to their whole team really.

“They jumped on us 10-2, and I thought we responded a little better after that. Early in the game we just didn’t seem to be communicating. I think the atmosphere is something we have to adjust to. Here at Columbus especially, we’re not used to the gym being quiet with limited fans. You really have to create your own energy, and I thought that early in the game we didn’t do a really good job of creating our own energy. Once we got down 10-2 and into the second half, it was much better.”

Columbus was led by Eden Jacobson with 27 points, including 19 in the second half.

“He ran the floor really well, and I thought he finished really well”, Konieczny said of his senior center. “Sometimes on post-ups, sometimes in transition, I thought our other players did a really good job finding him making cuts to the basket, and when he finishes and makes his free throws, he can have nights like that. I’m very, very proud of him. A big part of it is just having him on the floor. Our first game he was in foul trouble, and tonight he played a really good defensive game. A tough matchup at times with their size, but didn’t get in foul trouble and stayed on the floor, and it’s obviously a very big factor for us.”

Sophomore Grant Olson added 15 for the Dons. Freshman Emmitt Konieczny scored 11, including eight in the first half. Junior Sam Wilczek had 10.

Peplinski led Pacelli with 25, including 4-for-8 from the foul line. Charles Kulick added 18 for the Cardinals, who dropped to 1-2 with the loss. The Dons improved to 2-0 with the victory, after winning their season opener at Owen-Withee, 69-56, on Dec. 4.