This story is sponsored by Studio 211 Hair Salon
By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
View video highlights of the Tigers’ win at allmarshfield.com
MARSHFIELD – The Marshfield boys basketball team stumbled down the stretch, going 7-6 in its last 13 games after a 9-0 start.
The playoffs are a new season, however, and the Tigers got off to the start they wanted.
Marshfield jumped out to an 11-2 lead in the first 3½ minutes and never looked back, destroying Eau Claire Memorial 70-42 in a WIAA Division 1 regional final on Saturday night at the Marshfield High School Fieldhouse.
Cale Zuiker scored 24 points and grabbed nine rebounds to lead Marshfield. He hit three 3-pointers, including one at the third-quarter buzzer, and had a dunk to start the fourth quarter. Elliot Ashbeck added 18 points and six rebounds, with eight points coming in the first 1:45 to push the Tigers to an 8-0 lead.
Marshfield (17-6) moves on to a Division 1 sectional semifinal against Superior (16-7) at D.C. Everest at 8 p.m. Thursday. The sectional final is Saturday at D.C. Everest, with a Super Tuesday final set for the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point on Tuesday, March 15. The WIAA State Boys Basketball Tournament is March 17-19 at the Kohl Center in Madison.
Marshfield beat Superior 49-42 in a Big Rivers/Wisconsin Valley Conference Challenge game on Dec. 30 at D.C. Everest.
“Coach said in the locker room before we started, ‘Everyone’s 0-0 and go out and try to get one win at a time,’” Zuiker said. “If you want to go far in the playoffs, that’s got to be your mentality.”
Marshfield shot 52 percent from the field (22 of 42) and was 7 of 14 from 3-point range as the Tigers set a season-high with their 70 points.
The 21 points in the first quarter, on 8 of 14 shooting, was one of the better quarters of the season for Marshfield.
“We were going to take advantage of the pace that was there,” Marshfield coach Craig Michaelis said. “(Memorial) has been more prone to a quicker pace than teams that we see on a regular basis in our conference. If it was there, why not? We had a nice quick start, forced them to be a little more aggressive in their trapping full-court defense and we got some looks off that.”
Senior point guard Sully Luepke, who returned a few weeks ago after missing the first 2½ months of the season due to a broken leg he suffered during the football season, along with the addition of freshman Luke Zuiker to the starting lineup, sparked the Tigers’ offense on Saturday.
Their play allowed Ashbeck and Dustin Thumann (seven points, four rebounds) to play off the ball a little more than normal for Marshfield.
“Everyone looks to him as the point guard, but what Sully brings to our team is defense,” Cale Zuiker said. “He’s that hard-nosed, grit kind of guy that we really didn’t have. It’s great having him out there doing that kind of stuff.”
Michael Roden led Memorial (10-13) with 13 points.
Tigers 70, Old Abes 42
Eau Claire Memorial 9 8 12 13 – 42
Marshfield 21 15 15 19 – 70
MEMORIAL (42): Rick Caldwell 2-9 0-0 4, Jake Travis 0-0 0-0 0, Blake Hartl 2-7 0-0 6, E.J. Gardow 0-1 3-4 3, Ryan Valk 1-5 0-0 3, Colin Loshaw 0-2 0-0 0, Alex Reichert 2-7 0-2 5, Malek Lemke 0-0 0-0 0, Michael Roden 5-8 3-4 13, Pat Hince 2-6 0-0 4, Justin Stuebs 2-2 0-0 4. FG: 16-47. FT: 6-10. 3-pointers: 4-19 (Hartl 2-4, Reichert 1-6, Valk 1-4, Roden 0-1, Caldwell 0-2, Loshaw 0-2). Rebounds: 22 (Caldwell 6). Turnovers: 12. Total fouls: 18. Fouled out: none. Record: 10-13.
MARSHFIELD (70): Luke Olson 0-1 0-0 0, Brody Erickson 0-0 0-0 0, Sully Luepke 2-3 0-0 5, Ian Padron 0-3 4-8 4, Elliot Ashbeck 6-11 4-6 18, Sean Koran 1-2 0-0 3, Adam Voss 0-1 0-0 0, Cale Zuiker 9-11 3-6 24, Brandon Brown 0-0 0-0 0, Luke Zuiker 0-3 0-0 0, Chris Stemen 1-1 4-4 6, Dustin Thumann 2-3 3-4 7, Alex Arendt 0-0 0-0 0, Jon Bauer 1-3 1-2 3. FG: 22-42. FT: 19-30. 3-pointers: 7-14 (C. Zuiker 3-4, Ashbeck 2-6, Luepke 1-2, Koran 1-2). Rebounds: 32 (C. Zuiker 9, Ashbeck 6). Turnovers: 9. Total fouls: 10. Fouled out: none. Record: 17-6.