This story is sponsored by: Victory Apparel
By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
MADISON – The heartbreak was evident as the final buzzer sounded, ending a magical run for the Marshfield boys basketball team.
The Tigers could taste the first state title in program history, up five with 3½ minutes to go, but Wisconsin Lutheran scored the final seven points of the game and forced turnovers on Marshfield’s final four possessions, stealing a 57-55 victory in the Division 1 championship game at the 2025 WIAA State Boys Basketball Tournament at the Kohl Center.
Marshfield earned the program’s second runner-up silver ball trophy to go along with one in 1940, the last time a Tigers’ team reached the state basketball finals. While it was a great accomplishment for the Tigers, which were making its first state tournament appearance since 1994, it was a bitter pill to swallow considering how the game ended.
“It hurts. I can’t sit here and put on a brave face, it hurts,” Marshfield coach Chris Fischer said. “If the game is 35 minutes long, we’re celebrating a state championship. We didn’t do enough to finish it out. I knew our best was and is state championship worthy.”
Senior guard Landon Lee, who finished with a game-high 22 points on a masterful 9-for-12 shooting performance that included 4-for-6 from 3-point range, said this year’s squad put Marshfield on the state basketball map.
“I don’t think a lot of people really have any idea of what Marshfield basketball is like,” Lee said. “Definitely down here, if you’re not from Central Wisconsin, you don’t know what Marshfield basketball is like, how we play, how we win games. I think our group of seniors really made a difference, we made us known, we made people think about us…we proved a lot of people wrong.”
As had happened more frequently than not during the Tigers’ postseason run, they had to come from behind after a slow start.
Wisconsin Lutheran hit a pair of 3-pointers to take an 8-0 lead. Chris Pohl stopped the bleeding temporarily for the Tigers, before the Vikings scored five more in a row, including another 3-pointer by Isaiah Mellock, and Marshfield trailed 13-2.
After another basket by Pohl, the Tigers got things rolling.
Valin Ramberg followed with a hoop in what turned out to be a 17-6 run for Marshfield. Camden Kolstad came off the bench and hit a pair of 3s, and Lee added another as the Tigers tied the game at 19-19 with just over four minutes to go in the first half.
“When we get down, we look at each other, ‘We’re good, we’re going to get through this,’” Lee said. “We don’t look at it like it’s over. We look at it that we have another hump to get over, it’s what we did all season. When we get down like that, we’re just really good at picking each other up.”
The lead changed hands four times before a Joey Ketterer 3-pointer gave Marshfield a 28-23 lead. Kinston Knueppel responded with a 3-pointer for Wisconsin Lutheran just before the buzzer and the Tigers took a 28-26 advantage into the break.
The Tigers hung on to the lead throughout the first nine minutes of the second half.
Lee hit a 3-pointer and scored on a drive down the lane to make it 41-38 with 11 minutes left.
After a basket from Kager Knueppel for the Vikings, Lee scored again to maintain a three-point lead.
Wisconsin Lutheran took its first lead of the second half on a pair of a free throws and a hoop by Mellock before Lee nailed his fourth triple. Following a hoop by Zavier Zens, who had a team-high 19 points for the Vikings, tied the game again, Ramberg scored inside and Brooks Hinson knocked down a 3-pointer, one of 11 from the Tigers, to put Marshfield up 51-48 with 6:37 to go.
After two baskets from the Vikings, Lee scored twice for the Tigers, making it 55-50 with 3:35 left.
Alex Greene scored down low for Wisconsin Lutheran and Marshfield went to a familiar keep away game on the offensive end, trying to run clock and force the Vikings to foul.
It worked for a while as the Tigers were able to chew off more than a minute, but they turned it over and Wisconsin Lutheran converted on the other end on a Zens basket.
The Vikings forced another turnover the next time down and Zens scored again as he was fouled to give them a 56-55 lead with 36.3 seconds to go. He missed the free throw and Marshfield rebounded, but Lee was stripped driving to the basket with 4 seconds left and the Tigers had to foul.
Zens missed again at the line, giving the Tigers a chance. A long pass to Marshfield’s free throw line was knocked away, Greene was fouled and made one of two free throws to give Wisconsin Lutheran a two-point lead with 1.3 seconds left. Another long pass by the Tigers was intercepted, ending their season.
“It’s still early to get a full appreciation of what just happened, what took place and the journey these guys took us on,” Fischer said. “The first basketball (will go) in that trophy case in 85 years. I think a lot of people are going to remember this game for sure. These guys are champions regardless of the outcome tonight, they were champions regardless of the outcome in the last couple of weeks during the playoff run.
“They’re going to be remembered for a long, long time. I’m never going to forget them, the whole senior class, all eight of them.”
Vikings 57, Tigers 55
Marshfield 28 27 – 55
Wisconsin Lutheran 26 31 – 57
MARSHFIELD (55): Chris Pohl 4-10 0-0 10, Joey Ketterer 2-3 2-3 8, Brooks Hinson 2-7 0-0 5, Landon Lee 9-12 0-0 22, Valin Ramberg 2-2 0-0 4, Camden Kolstad 2-2 0-0 6. FG: 21-36. FT: 2-3. 3-pointers: 11-20 (Lee 4-6, Kolstad 2-2, Ketterer 2-3, Pohl 2-5, Hinson 1-4). Rebounds: 15 (Hinson 7). Turnovers: 11. Fouls: 12. Fouled out: none. Record: 23-7.
WISCONSIN LUTHERAN (57): Alex Greene 4-8 1-2 11, Kager Knueppel 5-5 0-0 10, Isaiah Mellock 3-4 2-2 9, Ben Langebartels 1-2 0-0 2, Zavier Zens 8-13 2-4 19, Riley Walz 1-2 0-0 3, Kinston Knueppel 1-4 0-0 3, Josiah Rice 0-0 0-0 0. FG: 23-38. FT: 5-8. 3-pointers: 6-16 (Greene 2-4, Mellock 1-2, Walz 1-2, Zens 1-4, Ki. Knueppel 1-4). Rebounds: 17 (Greene 3, Zens 3, Ki. Knueppel 3). Turnovers: 8. Fouls: 9. Fouled out: none. Record: 28-2.