This story is sponsored by Dental Clinic of Marshfield
By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
STEVENS POINT – The Marshfield boys basketball team hung with undefeated and 10th-ranked Stevens Point Area Senior High for three quarters – the problem was the second quarter.
Stevens Point outscored the Tigers 13-0 in the second period and held off a late comeback attempt to defeat Marshfield 51-49 in a Wisconsin Valley Conference game Tuesday night at SPASH.
The Panthers (13-0 overall, 5-0 Wisconsin Valley Conference) led 13-11 after one quarter before seemingly take control of the game with a 13-0 second-quarter run.
Marshfield (5-6, 3-2 Wisconsin Valley Conference) was 0-for-9 from the field and turned the ball over five times in the quarter.
Trevor Anderson scored six of his 16 points in the second quarter run that put Stevens Point up 26-11 at the half.
“We were playing a lot of defense out there and when we get the ball on the offensive end, it’s like we have ants in our pants to score,” Marshfield coach Bill Zuiker said. “It’s a tough sell to kids to say, ‘Hey, one possession at a time. You have to maximize the possession.’ Even if you’re down five, even if you’re down nine, they only give you two or three at a time. Our guys just haven’t wrapped their head around that yet.”
Marshfield regained its offensive rhythm coming out of halftime. Matt Oestreich hit a 3-pointer early in the third quarter five other Tigers scored in the quarter as they cut SPASH’s lead to 33-28.
The Panthers went up by as much as nine late in the game, following a three-point play by Eric Zelhofer with 2:30 to go, but the Tigers had one last push in them.
Alex Strege and Luke Olson each hit long 3-pointers to get Marshfield to within two at 51-49 with 14.5 second left. After Stevens Point’s Geoge Diekelman missed two free throws with 12.4 seconds left, Marshfield had one last chance to tie it, but missed two heavily contested attempts in the lane before the buzzer sounded.
“We can compete, but you can’t dig a hole like that,” Bill Zuiker said. “We thought we could trap them a bit, but you can’t trap on misses, you have to put the ball in the basket. With 11 points in the first half, we had, like, two trapping opportunities.
“I’m very proud of what we did all game. It’s really a learning experience for these guys. SPASH was at home and you have a tall order when you are down that much.”
Luke Zuiker led Marshfield with 12 points on just 5 of 17 shooting. Olson, Tanner Dennis-Brown and Strege each added nine points for the Tigers.
Marshfield is back in action Friday, hosting Eau Claire North in a nonconference game at Marshfield High School.
Panthers 51, Tigers 49
Marshfield 11 0 17 21 – 49
Stevens Point 13 13 7 18 – 51
MARSHFIELD (49): Jeff Allison 1-2 0-0 2, Kole Oppman 0-0 0-0 0, Isaac Accola 1-2 0-0 3, Matt Oestreich 2-3 0-0 5, Luke Zuiker 5-17 1-2 12, Caleb Alexander 0-0 0-0 0, Luke Olson 3-9 2-2 9, Tanner Dennis-Brown 4-6 1-1 9, Alex Strege 4-7 0-0 9. FG: 20-46. FT: 4-5. 3-pointers: 5-14 (Accola 1-1, Oestreich 1-2, Zuiker 1-3, Strege 1-3, Olson 1-4). Rebounds: 21 (Dennis-Brown 5). Turnovers: 10. Fouls: 13. Fouled out: none. Record: 5-6, 3-2 Wisconsin Valley Conference.
STEVENS POINT (51): Sam Griffith 1-2 0-0 2, George Diekelman 4-9 0-3 8, Eric Zelhofer 1-3 3-3 5, Jon Barnes 1-3 0-0 2, Sam Hauser 2-7 2-2 6, Trevor Anderson 5-9 5-6 16, Ryan Sullivan 4-5 0-0 9, Sean Van Helden 1-2 1-2 3. FG: 19-40. FT: 11-16. 3-pointers: 2-14 (Sullivan 1-2, Anderson 1-4, Hauser 0-4, Zelhofer 0-2, Barnes 0-1, Diekelman 0-1). Rebounds: 22 (Diekelman 5). Turnovers: 12. Fouls: 8. Fouled out: none. Record: 13-0, 5-0 Wisconsin Valley Conference.