Colby challenges Dons
The Hornets welcomed the Columbus Catholic Dons to Colby onTuesday. It was a game Colby was eager to play, with the Dons ranked second in the state in D-5.
Columbus was as good as advertised, and, the Dons’ guards can shoot. The Dons dropped 15 threes on Colby, including nine in the first half.
Colby’s offense struggled throughout the first half. A Richard Streveler bucket with five seconds on the clock made it a 44-32 game at the break. The Hornets vowed to play better in the second half, and exploded out of the gates.
“We knew we were a better team than them,” Mateo Lopez said. “They’re a fast team, but we knew we just had to come out firing and play aggressive on defense, and that’s what we did. We got some steals and pushed the ball.”
The Hornets certainly put on a show, with Lopez, Rue and Streveler spinning and snaking through the lane. Counting Streveler’s bucket in the first half, Colby put on a 16-0 run through the first five minutes. Kaden Wiese’s three gave Colby their only lead of the game at 46-44.
But every time Colby threatened, the Dons had the answer, and their threes continued to fall. Charlie Moore hit four triples in the second half to finish with 22 points, and Emmitt Konieczny led the Dons with a game high 24, 12 of which came from Down Town.
Colby kept the Dons in their sights, and went on a 9-2 run to make it 70-70 with less than five minutes to play, but back to back threes, and Colby trailed 7670 with 2:37 to play.
“We didn’t shoot very many threes and tried to keep it in the post.” Lopez said. “They came back and just hit threes and that’s how they pulled away.”
Streveler led Colby with 17 points. Caden Healy scored 16, Brody Decker had 12 and Mateo Lopez finished with 10 points.
Tevin Rue added eight, Wiese scored six points and Tucker Meyer chipped in with three points.
Colby will travel to Owen-Withee this Friday, but is looking forward to the rematch with Columbus next Tuesday.
“We’re gonna do it, that’s all I gotta say about that,” Lopez said. “We’re going to come out firing.”
