This story is sponsored by: Marshfield Chips
By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
MARSHFIELD – A slow-paced, defensive battle came down to the final seconds as the Marshfield and Appleton East boys basketball team opened their respective 2024-25 seasons with a nail-biter Tuesday night at Marshfield High School.
Appleton East came back from a nine-point deficit in the final 7½ minutes as Cade Prestigiacomo drilled a 3-pointer with 12 seconds remaining to give the Patriots their only lead of the second half and a 39-37 victory over the Tigers.
Prestigiacomo made two 3-pointers in the final 5 minutes to help the Patriots close the game on a 15-4 run and escape with the victory.
In a sluggish first half to open the season, both teams had trouble shooting and controlling the ball. Marshfield shot just 7-for-21 and committed five turnovers, while East was 5-for-14 with nine turnovers.
East ran out to a 10-6 lead on a 3-pointer by Jacob Weisbach before a three-point play from Landon Lee and a basket by Camden Kolstad put Marshfield on top 11-10.
Brooks Hinson hit a pair of 3-pointers later in the half for Marshfield, but Miles Bertrand countered with a 3 of his own for the Patriots and the Tigers took a slim 17-15 lead into halftime.
Appleton East’s offensive struggles continued while Marshfield got hot behind Hinson, last year’s Wisconsin Valley Conference Player of the Year and a Division 1 first-team all-state selection. The senior guard hit three-straight 3-pointers to up the Tigers’ lead to 31-22 with 11:11 to go.
Prestigiacomo scored for East and after Hinson missed on a 3-point attempt, Marshfield went cold, scoring just six points the rest of the way.
A basket inside by Ethan Knecht was Marshfield’s last, coming with 4:31 to go, as the Tigers led 37-30.
Josh Christiansen completed a three-point play and Bertrand sank a deep 3 to cut Marshfield’s lead to one with 3:42 remaining.
After misses by each team, Appleton East committed four fouls to get the Tigers into the bonus in the final minute to try to get the ball back. Knecht missed the front end of a one-and-one at the line, East rebounded and ran the clock down before Prestigiacomo hit what proved to be the game-winner on a step back 3-pointer with 12 seconds left.
Marshfield raced down court but Hinson’s shot rimmed out and Christiansen rebounded with one-half second to go.
Hinson finished with 17 points and seven rebounds, going 6-for-11 from the field including 5-for-7 from 3-point range. The rest of the Tigers were just 9-for-30 shooting.
Prestigiacomo led Appleton East with 14 points and Weisbach added nine in the victory.
Marshfield will look for its first win of the season Thursday as it travels to La Crosse Central for a nonconference game.
Patriots 39, Tigers 37
Appleton East 15 24 – 39
Marshfield 17 20 – 37
APPLETON EAST (39): Josh Christiansen 2-6 1-1 5, Cade Prestigiacomo 6-11 0-0 14, Brayden Nieman 0-3 2-2 2, DaKing Clemons 0-4 0-0 0, Jacob Weisbach 3-6 0-0 9, Clayton Nieman 1-2 0-0 3, Miles Bertrand 2-3 0-0 6, Apolo Massingue 0-1 0-0 0. FG: 14-36. FT: 3-3. 3-pointers: 8-18 (Weisbach 3-5, Prestigiacomo 2-3, Bertrand 2-3, Nieman 1-2, Clemons 0-1, Christiansen 0-2, Nieman 0-2). Rebounds: 24 (Nieman 5, Christiansen 5). Turnovers: 10. Fouls: 10. Fouled out: none. Record: 1-0.
MARSHFIELD (37): Joey Ketterer 0-1 0-0 0, Ben Jordan 0-1 0-0 0, Brooks Hinson 6-11 0-0 17, Vedder MacTaggart 1-2 0-0 3, Landon Lee 1-7 1-1 3, Camden Kolstad 1-5 0-0 2, Ethan Knecht 2-5 0-1 4, Valin Ramberg 4-9 0-0 8. FG: 15-41. FT: 1-2. 3-pointers: 6-18 (Hinson 5-7, MacTaggart 1-2, Kolstad 0-2, Ramberg 0-3, Lee 0-4). Rebounds: 24 (Hinson 7). Turnovers: 9. Fouls: 6. Fouled out: none. Record: 0-1.