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By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
MARSHFIELD – Marshfield girls basketball coach Heidi Michaelis said she has changed her philosophy a little bit with her team during the WIAA playoffs.
Michaelis said she has allowed the girls to play a little more freely since the playoffs started and the results have been extraordinary.
The Tigers made 17 3-pointers combined in 20-plus point victories over Eau Claire Memorial and Superior to advance to the WIAA sectionals for the 10th straight season. The free-flowing offense has been a result of a staunch defense that allowed just 32 and 40 points in the two playoff games.
Freshman guard Caitlin Michaelis has been the biggest beneficiary so far as she exploded for a combined 11 3-pointers in the two wins, scoring 19 and 21 points, respectively, in the two games.
“We maybe lifted the reins a little bit,” Heidi Michaelis said. “We’ve always been, ‘Don’t take the early open looks.’ We’ve kind of taken away from that because we turned the ball over before we got to that six passes in, and we just kind of relaxed a little bit.”
The more consistent play of Michaelis, sophomore guard Darian Molter, and inside players Ellie Fehrenbach and Courtney Bauer, to go along with the school’s all-time leading scorer Taylor Varsho, gives the Tigers a number of weapons. During the playoffs, all of those weapons have been gelling together and giving Marshfield the look of a well-oiled machine, something that wasn’t the case for much of the season.
“It’s something that we knew that we could do,” Michaelis said. “I think that was the frustration level for a while because we have so many good parts and we weren’t clicking on all cylinders. I think the kids have kind of figured it out. The common goal is to get to the next game. It doesn’t matter who gets it done or how that happens, everyone is working together to play the next game.”
Marshfield (19-5) will take on Chippewa Falls (23-1) in a WIAA Division 1 sectional semifinal on Thursday night at Wausau West.
Chippewa Falls provides the Tigers with by far their toughest test yet in the playoffs. The Cardinals have won 14 games in a row since a Big Rivers Conference loss to Eau Claire North (47-44) on Jan. 7.
Marshfield beat North in a nonconference game a month later, 55-47 on Feb. 7.
Michaelis said she likes the Tigers’ chances considering how much they have improved over the past couple of weeks.
“This whole sectional – everyone’s kind of the same,” Michaelis said. “We’ve just got to be good on defense and we’ve got to take care of the ball. If we do those two things, be solid on the defensive end, be efficient and take care of the ball, I feel really good with where we are at right now no matter who we are playing.”
Marshfield has advanced to the WIAA State Girls Basketball Tournament four times (2004, 2006, 2008, 2009) during Michaelis’ 11 years as head coach and she is hopeful the Tigers are at the point this year where they can make a legitimate run at getting back to Madison.
“We’re playing with a lot of confidence and I feel that we have a lot of different parts that can play a role on any given night,” she said. “We’re excited for that opportunity to play in that sectional game – that’s what you work the whole season for and to play your best ball at the end of the season is always the goal.”