Dons, Greyhounds keep Pirates winless in conference play
GILMAN BOYS BASKETBALL
Looking to solidify its spot atop the Eastern Cloverbelt Conference, Columbus Catholic quickly set the tone by jumping out to a 22-2 lead in the first six minutes and then cruising from there to a 69-31 win at Gilman Monday night.
The Dons won their sixth straight game and have surged past Greenwood and Neillsville in the past week to grab sole possession of first place in the conference. After beating Loyal Tuesday, the Dons are 12-1 in league play and 17-4 overall with one game remaining tonight, Thursday, at Spencer. Neillsville is a game behind the Dons at 11-2 in league play. The Warriors host 10-3 Greenwood tonight.
Gilman fell to 0-13 in the conference and 1-14 overall heading into their regular- season finale tonight, Thursday, at home against Owen-Withee.
The Dons moved the ball well offensively and got some points off Pirate turnovers too in jumping ahead so quickly. Freshman Charlie Moore hit three 3-pointers in each half and led all scorers with 20 points, while freshman forward Lucas Kreklau scored 11 of his 17 points in the first half for the Dons. Cole Noreen scored eight of his 10 points in the half as well. Columbus led 39-13 at the half.
The Dons outscored Gilman 30-18 in the second half.
Andrew Hecker went five for five from the free throw line, knocked down a couple of 3s and finished with 17 points to lead the Pirates. Dalton Wisocky and Zack Marion scored four points each and Branden Ustianowski, Isaac Wininger and Caleb Marion each hit a bucket in the loss.
Gilman drew the sixth seed in its seven-team WIAA Division 5 regional bracket and will open tournament play at third-seeded New Auburn (11-5) Tuesday at 7 p.m. The winner will likely face second- seeded Owen-Withee in a regional semifinal Feb. 19. The Blackhawks host seventh-seeded Cornell in their opener Tuesday.
Loyal 70, Gilman 24
After two encouraging outings against Spencer and Colby, Gilman hit a bump in the road Friday when they found no offensive rhythm and were thumped by host Loyal 70-24.
The Greyhounds actually sputtered for a bit as well and allowed Gilman to hang around through the first 10 minutes. Hecker scored five early points and Wininger added two buckets off a Ustianowski assist and a nice drive to the rim to give the Pirates a 9-7 lead.
But 3-pointers by Kaiden Hagen, Deagen Sandelier, Kaden Olson and Hagen again busted Gilman’s zone and shot Loyal to a 19-9 lead. The Pirates did not make a shot from the field in the last 11 minutes of the half and found themselves down 39-11 at halftime.
The field-goal drought went four minutes into the second half before Hecker finally scored to make it 50-14. But before long, Loyal pushed the lead past the 40-point mark behind two 3s from Olson and another from Hagen and put the running clock into effect for the final nine minutes.
Hecker led Gilman with 16 points, Wininger had four and Ustianowski and Caleb Marion added two apiece.
Hagen led Loyal with 17 points, Daymian Baird scored 11 and Sendelier hit double figures with 10.
