This story is sponsored by: Chili Implement
By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
MARSHFIELD – For the second time in 16 days, the Marshfield and Stevens Point boys basketball teams met up in a battle of state-ranked opponents, and the rematch went much like the first time.
No. 6-ranked Marshfield stormed back from a double-digit first-half deficit with a dominating finish and prevailed 54-45 over the No. 5 Panthers on Tuesday night at Marshfield High School, clinching its third-straight Wisconsin Valley Conference championship.
Marshfield trailed by as much as 12 with 3½ minutes left in the first half, but never wavered. A 21-point advantage the rest of the way helps the Tigers, now a likely No. 1 seed in their sectional for the upcoming WIAA playoffs, improve to 20-2 overall and a perfect 10-0 in the Wisconsin Valley Conference.
“The first half they had a kid (Amon Konopacki) score 14 of their 27 and we just had to make sure that we kept him out of the paint and we did a better job of that,” Marshfield coach Chris Fischer said. “Defensively we weren’t very good in the first half and in the second half we were really good. And it always helps when the ball goes in the basket. If we didn’t turn it over, I thought we were getting good looks and they weren’t going in the first half, but we hit some big ones in the second half.”
Junior guard Landon Lee said the Tigers’ defensive effort was the difference.
“It really starts with defense,” Lee said. “We really had to lock down on defense and play as a team. On offense, we know our roles. We know who our shooters are, we know who handles the ball a lot, so it’s really nice to play with these guys and that’s how we stay in games like that.”
Much like the matchup at Stevens Point on Jan. 29, the Tigers found themselves behind early. Stevens Point used a 15-0 run over six-minute stretch of the first half to take a 25-13 lead.
The Tigers responded with an 8-0 run as Brant Freis and Landon Lee hit back-to-back 3-pointers and Stevens Point took a 27-21 lead into halftime.
Stevens Point maintained a sizeable lead over the first seven minutes of the second half, going ahead 37-30 after a basket by Grant Chandonais before the Tigers got hot.
Marshfield scored on five-straight possessions, which included 3-pointers from Freis, Brooks Hinson and Lee as the 13-1 run gave the Tigers a 43-38 lead with 6:24 to go. They would coast from there as Stevens Point made just three field goals over the final 10:50 of the game.
Lee finished with 18 points and four of the Tigers’ nine 3-pointers. Hinson added 16 in the win.
Amon Konopacki had 18 points for Stevens Point (19-3, 7-3 WVC).
“Our guys play so much and have been involved in so many late-game situations, they just continue to play,” Fischer said. “It’s a very enjoyable group to coach and I’m incredibly proud of what we’ve accomplished, not just winning basketball games but how our guys are becoming in the process. It’s a young group that is maturing every game.”
Marshfield will play its regular-season home finale Friday against Wausau West.
Tigers 54, Panthers 45
Stevens Point 27 18 – 45
Marshfield 21 33 – 54
STEVENS POINT (45): Amon Konopacki 8-11 1-2 18, Carter Combs 2-7 2-2 6, Noah Marschke 2-4 0-0 4, Grant Chandonais 4-8 1-4 9, Baraka Makalin 2-7 0-0 6, Jerrin Suehs 0-1 0-0 0, Nick Fox 1-2 0-0 2. FG: 19-40. FT: 4-8. 3-pointers: 3-13 (Makalin 2-3, Konopacki 1-2, Marschke 0-1, Fox 0-1, Suehs 0-1, Chandonais 0-2, Combs 0-3). Rebounds: 20 (Combs 4, Chandonais 4). Turnovers: 9. Fouls: 20. Fouled out: none. Record: 19-3, 7-3 Wisconsin Valley Conference.
MARSHFIELD (45): Chris Pohl 2-3 1-2 6, Joey Ketterer 0-2 0-0 0, Brooks Hinson 4-8 7-8 16, Brant Freis 2-5 1-2 7, Landon Lee 7-12 0-3 18, Valin Ramberg 2-3 0-0 5, Ethan Knecht 1-1 0-0 2. FG: 18-34. FT: 9-15. 3-pointers: 9-20 (Lee 4-7, Freis 2-5, Pohl 1-1, Ramberg 1-2, Hinson 1-3, Ketterer 0-2). Rebounds: 20 (Lee 5). Turnovers: 8. Fouls: 12. Fouled out: none. Record: 20-2, 10-0 Wisconsin Valley Conference.