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By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
MARSHFIELD – The Marshfield boys basketball team’s relentless defensive pressure and efficient offense helped the Tigers dominate from the outset and roll to a 61-27 win over Wausau West in a Wisconsin Valley Conference game Tuesday night at Marshfield High School.
The Tigers were happy to be back on their home court after playing their first four games on the road and improve to 3-2 overall and 2-1 in the Wisconsin Valley Conference. West drops to 2-5 and 0-3 in the Valley.
Sophomore Luke Zuiker had five steals and 17 points to lead Marshfield, which shot nearly 50 percent (27-for-56) from the field and saw nine different players score in the game.
Marshfield forced 17 turnovers and held the Warriors to 10 of 33 shooting in the victory.
“I’ve been pleased with the effort and intensity that they’ve brought,” Marshfield coach Craig Michaelis said. “What you saw tonight, how hard they played, is the way they’ve been playing in practice. I’m not surprised by it. That’s what it’s going to take night in and night out. It’s too tough of a conference to come out and give a subpar effort. If you do that, you lose games.
“I’m proud of what we did and I’m encouraged because I think this is a team that can continue to get better.”
Marshfield opened the game with a 10-4 run sparked by two baskets by Zuiker and two more, including a 3-pointer, by Luke Olson. Elliot Ashbeck had five points and Zuiker scored off an Ashbeck steal at the buzzer to push the Tigers lead to 17-6 after the first quarter.
West scored the first hoop of the second quarter but the Tigers responded with a 12-2 run to open up a 19-point lead and led by double digits the rest of the way.
Olson hit another 3-pointer and had a three-point play in the third quarter, and Zuiker scored eight points in the period as Marshfield outscored West 25-8 to put the game away. Zuiker had three steals that resulted in layups in the quarter as the Tigers’ defense and energy were top-notch.
“We played really hard and we have team chemistry out there,” Zuiker said. “It’s what coach talks about every day in practice. Our defense will translate to our offense. It’s really what we want to happen.”
The Tigers’ depth also came into play. All 13 players saw plenty of action Tuesday, with the starters sitting out the entire fourth quarter. It didn’t matter much as Marshfield held West without a basket from the field in the quarter.
“We can go 13 deep any night,” Zuiker said. “It’s hard to not have 6-9 and 7-feet (post players) like we did last year, but the intensity and the chemistry we have, it’s a lot better to be able to go 13 deep, I think.
“We’re getting better every day. Last Friday was tough losing at SPASH in a close game. We’re young and we need the experience. We don’t have a lot of that yet.”
Marshfield will play in the Big Rivers-Wisconsin Valley Conference Challenge next week at Eau Claire North. The Tigers play Eau Claire Memorial on Wednesday and Chippewa Falls on Thursday.
Tigers 61, Warriors 27
Wausau West 6 9 8 4 – 27
Marshfield 17 12 25 7 – 61
WAUSAU WEST (27): Tyler Schertz 2-3 0-0 5, Justin Duffy 1-6 0-0 3, Andrew Fischer 0-0 0-0 0, Jordan Huehnerfuss 1-8 2-2 4, Steven Morel 0-1 0-0 0, Evan Mayer 1-2 1-2 3, Taylor Penn 4-8 2-2 10, Andrew Wolfe 0-3 0-0 0, Brendan Lewandowski 1-2 0-0 2. FG: 10-33. FT: 5-6. 3-pointers: 2-12 (Schertz 1-1, Duffy 1-4, Wolfe 0-1, Penn 0-1, Huehnerfuss 0-5). Rebounds: 17 (Mayer 3, Huehnferfuss 3). Turnovers: 17. Fouls: 6. Fouled out: none. Record: 2-5, 0-3 Wisconsin Valley Conference.
MARSHFIELD (61): Luke Olson 4-7 1-1 11, Elliot Ashbeck 6-13 0-0 13, Kole Oppman 1-3 0-0 2, Mack Scheppler 1-2 0-0 2, Isaac Accola 2-3 0-0 5, Matt Oestreich 0-1 0-0 0, Luke Zuiker 8-13 1-4 17, Sean Koran 0-1 0-0 0, Adam Voss 0-1 0-0 0, Tanner Dennis-Brown 0-2 0-0 0, Brandon Brown 1-2 0-0 2, Alex Arendt 1-1 1-2 3, Ben Satter 3-7 0-0 6. FG: 27-56. FT: 3-7. 3-pointers: 4-13 (Olson 2-4, Ashbeck 1-2, Accola 1-1, Oppman 0-2, Zuiker 0-1, Koran 0-1, Voss 0-1, B. Brown 0-1). Rebounds: 33 (Satter 6, Zuiker 6, Ashbeck 5). Turnovers: 7. Fouls: 8. Fouled out: none. Record: 3-2, 2-1 Wisconsin Valley Conference.