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By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
MARSHFIELD – The Marshfield girls basketball team put together a solid all-around effort to whip D.C. Everest 47-29 in a Wisconsin Valley Conference game Friday night at Marshfield High School.
Marshfield shot 47 percent from the field (18 of 38) and made 7 of 16 3-point attempts while holding Everest to 22 percent shooting (10 of 45) and just two baskets in a 14-minute stretch that reached from the middle of the second quarter through the first minute of the fourth.
“I thought defensively we were better in the second half,” Marshfield coach Heidi Michaelis said. “In the first half, I thought they got deep on us into the lane. That was definitely our focus at halftime, was just being better defensively.”
The Tigers’ leading scorer Taylor Varsho was limited to just seven points as Everest threw a variety of defenses at Marshfield to stop her. So, fellow senior Leah Ripp stepped up for the Tigers, scoring 13 points and making 3 of 6 from 3-point range. She added six rebounds in the win.
“At this point in the season that we’ve seen most of these things and this team is pretty good at recognizing what it is and knowing what to do against it,” Michaelis said. “Leah can definitely do that for us. We’ve seen her do that at different times this year. Anytime you have as many people as we have that can score, it takes the pressure off of Taylor. Taylor’s smart. She made good passes. She made everyone around her better and that’s kind of what she does.”
Varsho made a 3-pointer 14 seconds into the game and the Tigers never trailed. An 8-4 advantage in the second quarter gave Marshfield a 23-15 lead at halftime, and the Tigers pushed it double digits in the third, outscoring Everest 11-3 to take a 34-18 lead.
Everest missed all 15 field goal attempts in the third quarter and the streak reached 17 before a basket by Hannah Johnson 51 seconds into the fourth quarter.
Caitlin Michaelis scored all seven of her points in a 1½-minute stretch of the fourth, making two 3-pointers and a free throw, and Courtney Bauer added a basket during a 9-5 run that gave Marshfield an 18-point lead.
The Tigers (13-4, 8-1 Wisconsin Valley Conference) keep pace with Stevens Point (16-1, 8-1 WVC) in the conference standings after losing at SPASH last Friday. Responding positively with a pair of wins this week – Marshfield beat Eau Claire North in a nonconference game on Tuesday – was good to see, Heidi Michaelis said.
“Anytime you lose a good that meant as much as that did, it’s always hard, but I thought the kids came back – the first couple of quarters against Eau Claire, we were a little dragging – but to find a way to win that game was huge and tonight they had themselves ready to go and kind of erased last Friday night’s game,” Michaelis said.
Marshfield plays at Wausau East on Tuesday and hosts Altoona for a nonconference game next Thursday.
Tigers 47, Evergreens 29
D.C. Everest 11 4 3 11 – 29
Marshfield 15 8 11 13 – 47
D.C. EVEREST (29): Megan Kroll 4-10 7-10 15, Paige VanGrinsven 2-6 0-0 5, Mali Theiss 0-1 0-0 0, Courtney Lindemann 1-2 0-0 2, Brianna Ziolkowski 0-10 0-0 0, Lauren Anklam 0-6 0-0 0, Hannah Johnson 2-6 0-0 5, Kristen Churkey 0-0 0-0 0, Kelsey Gilmore 0-0 0-0 0, Paige Day 1-4 0-0 2, Maggie Casello 0-0 0-0 0. FG: 10-45. FT: 7-10. 3-pointers: 2-13 (VanGrinsven 1-1, Johnson 1-4, Anklam 0-3, Ziolkowski 0-5). Rebounds: 23 (Day 7). Turnovers: 11. Fouls: 11. Fouled out: none. Record: 9-9, 4-4 Wisconsin Valley Conference.
MARSHFIELD (47): Taylor Varsho 3-9 0-2 7, Tiffany Stargardt 2-4 1-2 5, Darian Molter 1-3 0-0 3, Caitlin Michaelis 2-6 1-2 7, Sara Fuller 0-1 0-0 0, Leah Ripp 5-8 0-0 13, Mikayla Zimmerman 0-0 0-0 0, Courtney Bauer 3-4 0-2 6, Ellie Fehrenbach 2-3 2-2 6. FG: 18-38. FT: 4-10. 3-pointers: 7-16 (Ripp 3-6, Michaelis 2-6, Varsho 1-2, Molter 1-1, Fuller 0-1). Rebounds: 27 (Stargardt 8, Ripp 6). Turnovers: 12. Fouls: 14. Fouled out: none. Record: 13-4, 8-1 Wisconsin Valley Conference.