This story is sponsored by Norm E Lane Farm
By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
Click to hear the complete interview with Marauders coach Ron Wilczek
MARSHFIELD – Every time the University of Wisconsin-Marshfield/Wood County men’s basketball team came back, Gogebic (Mich.) Community College had an answer.
The Marauders trailed nearly the entire game and cut big deficits down to one on three occassions in the second half but couldn’t get over the hump as Gogebic finally pulled away at the end for a 92-83 win over UW-Marshfield in the championship game of the Marshfield Classic.
Trevor Gorman made two free throws with 13:25 to go in the first half to put the Marauders up 14-12 – their final lead of the game.
Jeff Borseth made consecutive 3-pointers to help the Samsons on a 10-0 run to open up an 11-point lead before Marshfield made the first of its many comebacks.
Trailing 40-31, Marshfield scored the final six points of the half – four from Jake Scheppler, who had a game-high 33 points – to bring the Samsons lead down to 40-37 at the break.
“They shot the ball so well and some of them they got free and others they were closely guarded and just made plays,” UW-Marshfield coach Ron Wilczek said. “They’re a good team. We’ve played them three times and all three times they’ve played so well. It was fun.”
Gorman, who finished with 19 points, hit two straight 3-pointers for the Marauders (5-9) but they couldn’t grab the lead as Gogebic responded to each with 3-pointers of its own. Borseth, who had seven 3-pointers in the game and scored 25 points, hit one, and Anthony Laplant added another to make it 52-48.
Later in the half, Laplant hit another 3 to open up a 60-53 lead.
Marshfield cut it to 60-59 on a 3-pointer by Isaac Dahlke, but Gogebic again opened up a big lead with a 9-2 run.
From there, the Marauders couldn’t get closer than three over the final 7 minutes.
Laplant finished with 29 points as Gogebic made 35 of 71 shots from the field and 12 of 26 from 3-point range.
“Scoring 83 points is good for us, but our defense at times, the second-chance points – we didn’t do a good job rebounding,” Wilczek said. “They were bigger than us. We always talk about it’s not how big you are, but how big you play. We didn’t do a good job boxing out and they a bit more aggressive than we were. I think that’s why they won.”
Samsons 92, Marauders 83
Gogebic Community College 40 52 – 92
UW-Marshfield/Wood County 37 46 – 83
GOGEBIC (92): Jeff Borseth 9-15 0-0 25, Mark Jurakovich 3-6 2-3 8, Jimmie Roper 1-3 0-1 2, Jake Chiapuzio 3-4 0-1 6, Cameron Nelson 0-0 0-0 0, Anthony Laplant 11-20 4-4 29, Cole Dechant 1-5 0-0 2, Nathan Grmick 0-0 1-2 1, Brian Carter 3-11 3-3 11, Tori Brown 3-5 0-1 6, Brady Liebscher 0-0 0-0 0, Nathan Fettig 1-2 0-0 2. FG: 35-71. FT: 10-15. 3-pointers: 12-26 (Borseth 7-12, Laplant 3-7, Carter 2-5, Dechant 0-2). Rebounds: 42 (Laplant 7). Assists: 17 (Carter 6, Brown 6). Turnovers: 10. Total fouls: 19. Fouled out: none.
UW-MARSHFIELD/WOOD COUNTY (83): Cole Cloutier 0-0 0-0 0, Trevor Gorman 3-18 10-10 19, Nick Schlagenhaft 0-0 0-0 0, Isaac Dahlke 3-5 0-0 8, Dodge Langreck 0-1 0-0 0, Cullen Haldeman 1-8 4-8 7, Brandon DeSmet 3-8 0-0 7, Jake Scheppler 13-24 7-7 33, Jared Ystad 0-0 0-0 0, Matt Klieforth 4-7 1-2 9. FG: 27-71. FT: 22-27. 3-pointers: 7-19 (Gorman 3-8, Dahlke 2-2, Haldeman 1-4, DeSmet 1-2, Scheppler 0-1, Kliefort 0-1, Langreck 0-1). Rebounds: 39 (Haldeman 9). Assists: 17 (Gorman 7). Turnovers: 5. Total fouls: 15. Fouled out: Haldeman. Record: 5-9.