This story is sponsored by: Marshfield Chips
By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
MARSHFIELD – In a game that could possibly decide seeding in the upcoming WIAA playoffs, the Marshfield boys basketball team took little time to show that it was the better team in its nonconference matchup with Eau Claire Memorial.
The Tigers scored the game’s first 17 points and cruised to an 80-54 victory on Saturday night at Marshfield High School.
Marshfield improves to 17-5 with its ninth-straight win and looks to be a solid No. 2 seed in its Division 1 sectional when the postseason brackets are released on Sunday.
After some slow starts in recent games, the Tigers came out firing, driving to the basket with ease and hitting on 10 of its first 11 field goal attempts. The one miss was put back for a hoop as Marshfield scored on its first six possessions.
“The last couple of times out we were getting wins, last night against Merrill on Senior Night with so many distractions, last week with Wausau West and Chippewa Falls the night before, and you’re getting wins, but coming out feeling unsatisfied,” Marshfield coach Chris Fischer said. “We know what we are capable of. It’s important that you maintain that it is a process based on outcomes. We’re winning games, but we know with our process that we have to be a little bit better.
“Tonight, right off the bat, it helped that we got some really good looks early. We were attacking the rim, got layups, we got to the free throw line and it continued throughout. The ball movement tonight was probably as good as it’s been for us this year.”
Brooks Hinson scored six of his game-high 23 points in the opening 17-0 run.
Marshfield pushed the lead to 30-10 after Landon Lee was fouled on a 3-point attempt and hit all three free throws.
Memorial (17-4) closed to within 34-24 after back-to-back 3-pointers from Wesley Mboga and Cooper Jesperson, but the Tigers immediately responded with a 9-1 run to close the half to take a 43-25 lead into the break.
Marshfield was never threatened in the second half, leading by at least 16 the rest of the way.
The Tigers knocked down 14 of 15 free throws over the final 6½ minutes and Chris Pohl put the exclamation point on the win with a thunderous dunk with just under two minutes to go as they dominated from start to finish.
“Eau Claire Memorial is a good team and we maybe caught them on a bad night,” Fischer said. “It’s encouraging to see us play well and hopefully we’re peaking. If we do play them again (in the playoffs), it’s likely going to be a very different game.”
Marshfield shot 65 percent from the field (28-for-43) and 20-for-24 at the free throw line.
Joey Ketterer finished with 19 points, Lee had 18 and Pohl 10 in for the Tigers.
Jesperson led Memorial with 15 points.
Marshfield will wrap up its regular season with a road game at Neenah on Tuesday and its home finale Thursday against Wisconsin Rapids.
Tigers 80, Old Abes 54
Eau Claire Memorial 25 29 – 54
Marshfield 43 37 – 80
EAU CLAIRE MEMORIAL (54): Shimar Simmons 0-0 1-2 1, Julius Clark 4-8 5-5 14, Bryce Hedtke 1-2 2-2 5, Cooper Jesperson 3-16 7-8 15, Tay Ferguson 2-6 1-2 6, Wesley Mboga 6-8 0-0 13, Caleb Yates 0-0 0-0 0, Ian Bauer 0-1 0-0 0, Ben Fesenmaier 0-0 0-0 0. FG: 16-41. FT: 16-19. 3-pointers: 6-23 (Jesperson 2-11, Hedtke 1-1, Clark 1-3, Mboga 1-3, Ferguson 1-4, Bauer 0-1). Rebounds: 12 (Mboga 3). Turnovers: 12. Fouls: 23. Fouled out: none. Record: 17-4.
MARSHFIELD (80): Chris Pohl 4-8 2-3 10, Joey Ketterer 6-7 5-6 19, Jack Sternitzky 0-0 0-0 0, Brooks Hinson 8-13 6-6 23, Landon Lee 5-9 7-9 18, Afton Hamill 0-0 0-0 0, J.J. Steinbach 0-0 0-0 0, Camden Kolstad 0-1 0-0 0, Magnus Machtan 1-1 0-0 2, Valin Ramberg 4-4 0-0 8. FG: 28-43. FT: 20-24. 3-pointers: 4-9 (Ketterer 2-2, Lee 1-3, Hinson 1-4). Rebounds: 17 (Hinson 8). Turnovers: 8. Fouls: 17. Technical foul: Pohl. Fouled out: Pohl. Record: 17-5.