Rib Lake unable to keep pace with Dons, Cardinals

RIB LAKE BOYS BASKETBALL

The Rib Lake Redmen stayed close for a half Tuesday, but 29.6% shooting from the field didn’t cut it against Columbus Catholic, one of the top Division 5 teams in the state, who used a big second half to pull away for a 73-38 non-conference win.

The Dons, ranked fifth in Division 5 this week by the Associated Press and sixth in the WisSports.net coaches poll, only led the now 4-14 Redmen 26-20 at halftime. But Columbus got warmed up in the second half and wound up 13 for 29 from 3-point range and shot 48.3% overall from the field to secure the comfortable margin of victory.

The Dons, who were coming off a 61-60 double-overtime win over Neillsville the previous night in a firstplace battle in the Eastern Cloverbelt Conference, improved to 16-3.

According to Rib Lake head coach Todd Henderson, a tough stretch of about two and a half minutes that included a handful of turnovers led to a quick 16 points for the Dons and turned the game in their favor for good. Rib Lake turned it over 21 times in the game, while the Dons coughed the ball up just eight times.

The Redmen got seven points apiece from Sam Gumz, Jackson Blomberg and Michael Borchardt. Borchardt also led the team in rebounds with seven. Rib Lake had a 36-28 edge in that department. Gumz had six boards, while Trey Klemann, Logan Blomberg and Jordan Yanko had four each.

Tanner Vlach had five points, Yanko and Klemann scored four each and Logan Blomberg and Andrew Wudi each had a basket. Jackson Blomberg and Borchardt had two assists apiece.

Emmitt Konieczny hit four of seven 3-point shots and led the Dons with 15 points. Lucas Kreklau scored 13 points and had five rebounds. Blake Jakobi scored 12 points and Sam Wilczek scored 11, including three 3s. With its 13 long balls, Columbus outscored Rib Lake 39-9 from the 3-point line.

Things don’t get any easier Friday for the Redmen. They’ll host the Stratford Tigers at 7:15 p.m. in their final Marawood Conference crossover of the season. The Tigers are ranked 10th in this week’s Division 4 Associated Press poll, are 17-2 overall and sit in second place in the Marawood South at 11-2, a game behind Marathon.

Rib Lake travels to Tomahawk Tuesday for a nonconference date with the Hatchets.

Newman 77, Rib Lake 50

The Newman Catholic Cardinals weren’t overly accurate from 3-point range Friday, making 12 of 37 attempts, but nine of those makes came in the first half which allowed them to build a 20-point lead 12 minutes into the game and coast to a 77-50 win over Rib Lake in a Marawood Conference crossover. Isaac Seidel hit four of those 3s for Newman and scored 20 points, while Mason Prey did more of his damage inside, though he hit two triples as well, while scoring a game-high 21 points. Rib Lake got 10 points apiece from Jackson Blomberg, Vlach and Borchardt and nine from Logan Blomberg, but that wasn’t nearly enough to keep pace in this one.

Prey and Seidel hit 3s in a game-opening 8-0 run, but Jackson Blomberg scored the next seven points, including a 3, to get Rib Lake within 8-7. But back-to-back 3s from Jackson Pfender and Owen Sullivan started a 19-0 run that quickly put the game out of reach. Newman led by as many as 25 in the half before settling for a 44-22 halftime lead.

Borchardt scored the first three points of the second half, but that was the only time Newman’s lead dipped below 20 in the last 18 minutes. The margin got as high as 36 at 74-38 on a 3-pointer from Pfender, before Borchardt hit a long ball and Vlach hit two of them down the stretch for the Redmen.

Gumz, Klemann and Yanko scored three points apiece for the Redmen, while Wudi added a first-half bucket off a Borchardt assist. Logan Blomberg had eight rebounds, Borchardt had seven and Klemann grabbed five. Newman outrebounded Rib Lake 41-28. Borchardt and Logan Blomberg had three assists apiece. Logan Blomberg had two steals and two blocked shots.