Hornets bounce Warriors, fall to Dons at home

By Nathaniel Underwood

The Colby boys basketball team faced off against the top of the Cloverbelt-East over the past week, taking on the Neillsville Warriors and the Columbus Catholic Dons. While the Hornets fell to the first-place Columbus squad, they evened the season series against the Warriors by defeating them Tuesday evening.

Neillsville, 76-72

Adrian Lopez scored 24 points, Joseph Streveler added 20, and the Hornets staved off another second period rally from the Neillsville Warriors in their 76-72 win over their Cloverbelt rivals at home.

A plethora of three-point shots helped put Colby ahead and clutch free throw shooting down the stretch kept them there in a matchup between two of the conference’s top teams. The Warriors mounted a furious comeback, scoring 16 points in the game’s final two minutes, reminiscent of their double- digit rally in the two teams’ first meeting, but the Hornets managed to hold on this time to come out with the win.

Lopez scored on a blow by layup while the Hornets were working on running down the clock and Streveler connected on five of six free throws to do just enough to preserve the 13-point lead they had established at the two minute mark.

Though Colby finished with 76 points, questions over how much offense they would be able to produce that evening were prominent in the game’s opening sequence. The Hornets were held scoreless over the first five minutes of the game, with Neillsville’s tough man-to-man defense leaving them little room to operate in the paint.

Colby’s defense kept them in the game, only giving up six points during that same stretch and the Hornets turned to their outside shooting. Miguel Morillon got the home team on the board with a three-point shot and Lopez tied the game with his own on Colby’s next possession.

Twenty-one of the Hornets’ first 24 points were courtesy of the three and Reed Fleischmann’s second basket gave Colby a 24-14 advantage.

The Hornets never trailed again, connecting on 12 three-point shots over the course of the contest. Neillsville certainly came close on a number of occasions, however, and none were more threatening than when the Warriors’ Braylon Boyer hit a three to make it a two point game with sixteen seconds left. Streveler’s free throw shooting at the end of the game was enough to keep the Warriors at bay, however, and Colby was able to come out with the win.

On top of Lopez’s and Streveler’s 20-plus point games, Morillon had 11 points, Polivka put up nine, Fleischmann contributed eight and Landon Steinman and Tucker Hayes had two points each.

Columbus Catholic, 77-61

Colby managed to keep pace with the Cloverbelt- leading Dons over the first half, but the first-ranked team in Division 5 managed to pull away in the second period to take double- digit victory over the Hornets.

A basket from Tucker Hayes put the Hornets up 24-23 in the first period and Colby went toe-to-toe with the Dons over the first 18 minutes of the contest. However, a lack of offense in the final minutes of the half allowed the Dons to go on a 10-3 run to finish the period, giving them 32-26 lead heading into the locker rooms.

Eight straight points for Columbus partway through the second period game them a 45-32 advantage and while a threes from Reed Fleischmann and Miguel Morillon another basket from Hayes cut that lead down to back down to six, that was all the closer the Hornets would be able to get. A 12-4 run for the Dons allowed them to regain a double- digit advantage and come out with the win.

Joseph Streveler led all scorers with 25 points, Fleischmann ended with 11, and Morillon had nine. Adrian Lopez finished the game with seven points, Jaxon Polivka had five and Hayes came away with four.

PUTTING UP POINTS - Reed Fleischmann, left, knocks down a key three while Jaxon Polvika, right, drives in to the basket against Neillsville.

STAFF PHOTO/NATHANIEL UNDERWOOD