By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
MARSHFIELD – The Marshfield girls basketball team found itself in a position it hadn’t been in during the Wisconsin Valley Conference season thus far – trailing in the second half of a game.
Down by two midway through the third quarter, the Tigers rallied with 10 straight points and went on to a 56-42 win over Wisconsin Rapids for their sixth straight victory in Valley action.
Taylor Varsho survived a poor shooting performance (5-for-18 from the field, 4-for-9 free throws) to lead the Tigers with 17 points. Leah Ripp (10 points) and Eleni Seitz (nine points, seven rebounds) came off the bench to provide Marshfield with a boost.
The spark off the bench by Ripp, a sophomore, and Seitz, a junior, was just what Marshfield needed as it saw a double-digit lead evaporate in the middle of the third quarter. Seitz and Ripp each scored seven points in the second half.
“Our bench had huge games,” said senior Kelsey Weigel, who scored eight points and grabbed five rebounds. “Eleni stepped it up and grabbed some boards, and Leah hit her shots, which was really nice and put us back in the game.”
Marshfield (11-2, 6-0 Wisconsin Valley Conference) was hot early, making six of its first eight shots to jump out to a 13-2 lead.
Wisconsin Rapids (6-8, 3-3 WVC) hung within striking distance in the second quarter. After falling behind 21-10, the Raiders closed the half with a 9-3 run as five different players scored.
Rapids closed out a 12-0 run that bridged the end of the second and beginning of the third quarters to take its first lead. Stephanie Wisen’s layup put the Raiders up 26-24 with 4:27 to go in the third.
After each team exchanged baskets, the Tigers inexplicably flipped a switch and immediately found their groove.
Taylor Varsho and Ripp hit back-to-back 3-pointers to spark a 10-0 run for the Tigers.
“We definitely hit a spot there where we struggled offensively and defensively,” Marshfield coach Heidi Michaelis said. “For our kids, we definitely had a gut-check time. We were down by two, then we settled in. We called off the press because it just wasn’t working. We played solid half-court ‘D’ in that last quarter and a half, and ran better offense.
“Eleni Seitz came in and did a great job, finished underneath, and Leah Ripp came in. We had different people score some points for us, and that made a big difference.”
Victoria Gurtler and Wisen scored to get the Raiders back to within four of the lead, but Marshfield continued its hot shooting, scoring nine of the next 11 points to open up another double-digit lead. Rapids got no closer than nine over the final 5 minutes.
“We decided we had to work as a team and stop yelling at each other on the court,” Weigel said of the way the Tigers closed out the game. “We just had to step it up individually and as a team. I think once we fell into our half-court defense, it worked better for us.”
Marshfield plays at Rhinelander on Tuesday before returning home for a game against second-place Wausau West next Friday.
Tigers 56, Raiders 42
Wis. Rapids 8 11 13 10 – 42
Marshfield 15 9 14 18 – 56
WIS. RAPIDS (42): Hailee Frank 2-9 0-0 4, Nicole Slovensky 2-5 0-2 4, Stephanie Wisen 6-13 0-0 12, Ashlyn Wagner 1-1 0-0 2, Maisie Langhoff 2-3 0-0 4, Elizabeth Morrison 1-1 0-0 2, Erica Langholff 1-1 4-4 6, Mariah Richardson 0-1 0-0 0, Victoria Gurtler 3-5 2-4 8. FG: 18-39. FT: 6-10. 3-pointers: 0-5 (Frank 0-3, Wisen 0-1, Richardson 0-1). Rebounds: 19 (Frank 6). Total fouls: 18. Fouled out: none. Record: 6-8, 3-3 Wisconsin Valley.
MARSHFIELD (56): Taylor Varsho 5-18 4-9 17, Andie Varsho 3-7 2-3 8, Leah Ripp 4-7 0-2 10, Kelsey Weigel 3-4 2-2 8, Alyssa Brenner 1-2 0-0 2, Amelia Eckes 1-4 0-0 2, Sarah Wolff 0-0 0-0 0, Eleni Seitz 4-6 1-2 9. FG: 21-46. FT: 9-20. 3-pointers: 5-15 (T. Varsho 3-11, Ripp 2-3, A. Varsho 0-1). Rebounds: 26 (Seitz 7, Weigel 5). Total fouls: 9. Fouled out: none. Record: 11-2, 6-0 Wisconsin Valley.
Video highlights of the game available at allmarshfield.com
Contact Paul Lecker by e-mail at paul@marshfieldareasports.com.
