Columbus Catholic pulls away in second half to win opener
COLUMBUS CATHOLIC 57, RIB LAKE 21
An eight-point first half was actually enough for the Rib Lake girls basketball team to stay within striking distance of Columbus Catholic in Tuesday’s nonconference season opener.
The guests from Marshfield, however, did not keep things that way in the second half and pulled away for a 57-21 win over the young Rib Lake squad.
With just two players that logged signifi cant varsity minutes a year ago back and a roster full of sophomores, Tuesday’s opener was the first varsity experience for several of the Redmen who stepped onto the court.
As one would expect, the introduction wasn’t the smoothest, but it was certainly valuable ahead of Rib Lake’s Marawood North opener set for tonight, Thursday, at 6:30 p.m. in Rib Lake against Chequamegon, who opened Tuesday with a 53-50 non-conference win at Mellen.
Hampered a bit by two first-half fouls, Columbus Catholic’s second-team All-Eastern Cloverbelt Conference standout of a year ago, Addison Baierl, broke out in the second half Tuesday by scoring 16 of her 20 points after the break. She hit a trio of 3-pointers in the half as Columbus Catholic outscored Rib Lake 36-13 in the final 18 minutes. Holly Dean and Kelsey Moore also hit 3-pointers in the half to help put the game away. Dean finished with nine points and Moore had seven.
Rib Lake made just three shots from the field in the first half, but wasn’t out of it at the half, trailing 21-8.
Senior Mackenzie Weinzatl had two of those first-half buckets and finished the game with a team-high eight points. Sophomore Lauren Pelnis hit a first-half 3-pointer and scored twice more in the second half to finish with seven points.
Senior Savana Radtke scored four points and sophomore newcomer to the sport, Tia Bube, added a secondhalf bucket.
Rib Lake made eight of 25 total field goal attempts (25%) and four of seven free throws. Radtke had a nice night on the boards, pulling down 10 rebounds and adding an assist. Weinzatl and sophomore Molly Heiser had four rebounds apiece and Pelnis had three. Pelnis added two steals and a blocked shot.
Sophomore Reagan Reinhardt had two rebounds in her first varsity start, while junior Nellie Hopkins had two rebounds and an assist in her first varsity start.
Not surprisingly, the Redmen had some turnover troubles in their opening outing, coughing up the basketball 29 times, limiting their shot attempts and adding to Columbus Catholic’s scoring chances.
Following tonight’s game with the Screaming Eagles, Rib Lake heads to defending Marawood North champion Prentice on Tuesday before hosting Marathon in a Marawood crossover on Dec. 2. Both games tip at 7:15 p.m.
