This story is sponsored by Forward Bank
By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
STEVENS POINT – The Marshfield boys basketball team’s dream of a reaching the state tournament was within reach, but after falling behind for the first time with just under six minutes left, the Tigers couldn’t muster a comeback.
Neenah used a 10-2 run to take its first lead and kept the Tigers at bay over the final minutes to win 52-48 in a hotly-contested WIAA Division 1 sectional final Saturday afternoon at Stevens Point Area Senior High.
Neenah (21-7) moves on to its third-straight WIAA State Boys Basketball Tournament next week in Madison, while Marshfield ends one of its best seasons in program history with a 25-3 record.
“The finalization of a season just hits you like a ton of bricks,” Marshfield coach Chris Fischer said. “When you start thinking about not having a practice on Monday, waking up tomorrow without a game to prepare for, it can be difficult.
“With our season, with our schedule and the results, we proved that we are one of the best teams in the state. We got to a final eight, almost to a final four, and were deserving of making it to the final four, deserving of winning this game, but Neenah was too. Neenah competed, played hard just like we did. I’m just sorry we don’t have one more game with these guys.”
Brooks Hinson scored the first five points of the game for Marshfield and the Tigers led the entire first half.
Back-to-back 3-pointers by Chris Pohl and Landon Lee extended Marshfield’s lead to 13-6. A few minutes later, Valin Ramberg sent down a dunk and hit a 3-pointer to put the Tigers up 19-11 before Neenah closed the gap a bit.
Five points from Charlie Wunderlich and a basket from Brady Corso brought Neenah to within 26-20 at halftime.
Marshfield went back up by eight after baskets from Hinson and Ethan Knecht, taking a 34-25 lead with 14 minutes to go.
Neenah chipped away, eventually tying the game on a Wunderlich basket with 6:25 left.
After Pohl scored for the Tigers, Corso decided to take over. Neenah’s senior guard, who has committed to NCAA Division III St. Leo (Fla.) and led the Rockets in scoring this year at 21.6 points per game, drilled a 3-pointer to give Neenah its first lead at the 5:50 mark.
After a miss from Marshfield, and an offensive rebound, Corso hit another from long range to put the Rockets up 45-41 with 4:53 remaining.
The Tigers twice cut the deficit back to two, but each time Corso scored for Neenah. A fastbreak layup by Corso made it 51-45 with 31 seconds left.
Hinson hit a 3-pointer for the Tigers, cut Corso made it a two-possession game with a free throw with 15 seconds remaining and Marshfield missed its final two shot attempts ending its season.
Corso finished with 24 points, including the Rockets’ final 13 points.
“Corso is a really good basketball player, he’s going to play at the next level for a reason,” Fischer said. “It’s tough to get the ball out of his hands. We were up eight or nine at one point and things were looking good, but they had a couple of offensive rebounds. We had a possession down two where we had the ball in our hands and it ended up a jump ball, where if we had the possession arrow we have a the ball with a chance to tie it.
“Our guys competed their tails off today and just came up a little short.”
Hinson had 16 points and Pohl 13 for Marshfield, which loses seniors Brant Freis, Noah Daniels and Maxx Oertel, but returns four starters and two key reserves as it hopes to make another run next year.
Neenah will play a Division 1 semifinal at the state tournament at the Kohl Center in Madison on Friday night. Seedings and matchups will be announced Sunday. Click here for the statewide sectional scoreboard
Rockets 52, Tigers 48
Neenah 20 32 – 52
Marshfield 26 22 – 48
NEENAH (52): Justin Janssen 1-4 0-1 3, Luke Jung 3-8 1-3 8, Nick Schultz 0-2 0-0 0, Brady Corso 10-14 1-2 24, Grant Dean 1-1 0-3 2, Cal Juckem 0-0 0-0 0, Charlie Wunderlich 6-11 0-0 13, Nathan Schraven 0-0 0-0 0, Ethan Hoelzel 0-0 2-2 2. FG: 21-40. FT: 4-11. 3-pointers: 6-15 (Corso 3-6, Jung 1-1, Wunderlich 1-2, Janssen 1-4, Schultz 0-2). Rebounds: 23 (Jung 5). Turnovers: 6. Fouls: 12. Fouled out: none. Record: 21-7.
MARSHFIELD (48): Chris Pohl 5-6 2-4 13, Joey Ketterer 0-0 0-0 0, Brooks Hinson 7-18 1-2 16, Brant Freis 0-1 0-0 0, Landon Lee 3-11 2-2 7, Valin Ramberg 3-5 0-1 7, Ethan Knecht 1-1 0-0 2. FG: 19-42. FT: 5-9. 3-pointers: 5-17 (Lee 2-8, Pohl 1-1, Ramberg 1-2, Hinson 1-6). Rebounds: 20 (Pohl 7). Turnovers: 6. Fouls: 12. Fouled out: none. Record: 25-3.