This story is sponsored by: High Street Salon, Spa & Travel
By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
MARSHFIELD – Marshfield senior Taylor Varsho returned the game action Friday for the first time this season following a knee injury last March and looked like she had never left.
Varsho scored 20 points and freshman Caitlin Michaelis added 18 points to lead the Tigers to a 62-52 win over Stevens Point Area Senior High, handing the Panthers their first loss of the season on Friday night at Marshfield High School.
Varsho had knee surgery following an injury during practice prior to the Tigers’ WIAA Division 1 sectional semifinal last March and missed out on the softball season last spring and tennis season this fall while rehabbing. She practiced with the team this season but did not see any game action until Friday and made the most of it.
She scored on a post-up move the first time she shot the ball 55 seconds into the game and scored six points in the first quarter as the Tigers built a 12-10 lead.
Varsho’s three-point play and back-to-back 3-pointers by Michaelis capped a 15-0 run by Marshfield and gave them a 25-10 lead with 4:26 to go in the second quarter. The Tigers led by double digits the rest of the way.
Michaelis hit another 3-pointer and Courtney Bauer scored two of her nine points just before the buzzer to put the Tigers up 34-18 at halftime.
“I feel awesome,” Varsho said, giving credit to all of her doctors and coaches. “My leg feels good. We are young. People look at that and say, ‘Oh they’re not going to be very good, but they’ve got another thing coming. Those freshmen are definitely an asset to our team. Our No. 1 goal is to make it to state this year. It is my last year, and that is everyone’s No. 1 goal.”
The Tigers looked crisp in the first half, making 14 of 21 shots from the field, while holding SPASh to 6 of 26 shooting. Playing three point-guard types at times in Varsho, Michaelis and Darian Molter, along with post players Bauer and Tiffany Stargardt gives Marshfield a lot of options on the offensive end.
“Offensively, we have so many people that can score and so many weapons that we can hurt people in so many different ways,” Marshfield coach Heidi Michaelis said. “If we take care of the ball and can make that extra pass, this is what we can look like.
Varsho hit three 3-pointers in third and Michaelis and Leah Ripp each added another as the Tigers made 7 of 12 shots and 5 of 7 from long range to build a 53-28 lead.
SPASH outscored the Tigers 20-9 in the fourth quarter but only got as close as 10 at the end of the game when Savannah Soik scored eight points in the final 1:17.
“We didn’t finish the game strong, obviously, and that’s what I’m disappointed in,” Heidi Michaelis said. “That’s kind of what you get with a young team. They changed defenses and we didn’t adjust to it. To our credit, we had a big enough lead that we could kind of figure it out as we went. We got killed on the boards (34-19) and that kills me.”
For Varsho, her return couldn’t have gone much better.
“After eight months, it’s been one of the longest journeys ever,” Varsho said. “It felt great to get my feet wet in the water again and just be out there and play with my team again. It was definitely hard to be on the bench for the whole summer and the first three games. I got out there and did my best and it was good to get a big ‘W’ in our first conference game.”
Marshfield (3-1, 1-0 Wisconsin Valley Conference) plays at Wausau West on Tuesday.
Tigers 62, Panthers 52
Stevens Point 10 8 14 20 – 52
Marshfield 12 22 19 9 – 62
STEVENS POINT (52): Lexus Schroeder 0-0 0-0 0, Bryana Reisenauer 0-0 0-0 0, Savannah Soik 3-3 0-0 8, Haley Kolback 1-4 0-0 2, Lauren Thompson 3-11 0-2 7, Heather Woyak 3-8 2-4 9, McKenzie Taggatz 1-6 0-0 2, Morgan Cebula 3-8 5-13 11, Kallie Krueger 1-2 0-0 2, Nicki Hauser 1-6 0-0 2, Taylor Smola 4-5 1-1 9. FG: 20-53. FT: 8-20. 3-pointers: 4- 11 (Soik 2-2, Thompson 1-4, Woyak 1-2, Taggatz 0-2, Hauser 0-1). Rebounds: 34 (Thompson 6, Woyak 5, Cebula 5). Turnovers: 16. Fouls: 17. Fouled out: Cebula. Record: 3-1, 1-1 Wisconsin Valley Conference.
MARSHFIELD (62): Ellie Kummer 0-0 0-0 0, Taylor Varsho 7-11 3-4 20, Tiffany Stargardt 2-4 0-0 4, Darian Molter 2-4 0-0 4, Caitlin Michaelis 6-9 2-5 18, Sara Fuller 0-0 0-0 0, Leah Ripp 2-5 0-0 5, Courtney Bauer 4-4 1-2 9, Ellie Fehrenbach 1-4 0-0 2. FG: 24-41. FT: 6-11. 3-pointers: 8-13 (Michaelis 4-4, Varsho 3-4, Ripp 1-4, Molter 0-1). Rebounds: 19 (Stargardt 8). Turnovers: 16. Fouls: 14. Fouled out: none. Record: 3-1, 1-0 Wisconsin Valley Conference.