Columbus Dons overwhelm Gilman boys

GILMAN BOYS BASKETBALL

The Gilman Pirates found themselves overmatched on Dec. 21 in a 93-24 loss at Columbus Catholic, the second-ranked team in the state, according to last week’s WisSports.net coaches poll.

The Dons remained undefeated, boosting their record to 7-0 overall and 3-0 in the Eastern Cloverbelt Conference. They trail 5-0 Neillsville in league play. Those teams won’t meet for the first time until Jan. 13.

The Pirates struggled with turnovers early on, which led to several layups for the Dons, and Columbus Catholic also shot well from 3-point range. The Dons scored the game’s first 25 points and led 65-14 at halftime.

Dalton Wisocky broke the shutout for Gilman with a long 3-pointer from the left wing and had seven of Gilman’s first-half points, adding a score in the lane and mid-range turnaround jumper. Caleb Marion added a putback and a late score off an assist from Zack Marion.

Caleb Marion wound up leading Gilman in scoring with eight points.

Sam Wilczek led the early surge by Columbus, by scoring 11 of the team’s first 21 points. He finished with 13 points. Charlie Moore led Columbus Catholic with 15 points on five 3-point makes, three in the first half and two in the second. His final 3 pushed the lead to 60 at 79-19 midway through the second half.

Cole Noreen had 12 points for the Dons, while Sammy Neville and Lucas Kreklau finished with 11 apiece.

The Dons sank 10 3-pointers in the game and made 17 of 20 free throws.

Joey Syryczuk scored four points for Gilman with a bucket in each half, Grady Kroeplin scored four second-half points and Zack Marion added a first-half free throw.

The Pirates, now 0-5 in the conference and 0-6 overall, will play a non-conference game at Birchwood today, Thursday, before resuming conference play Tuesday at home against a solid Owen-Withee squad at 7:15 p.m. The boys will play the second game of a non-conference varsity doubleheader at Cornell on Jan. 6.