This story is sponsored by Victory Apparel
By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
MARSHFIELD – Three days after the Marshfield boys basketball team played its best game of the season, the Tigers came out and played arguably its worst.
Marshfield shot 24 percent (11 of 45) overall, was 1 of 19 from 3-point range and didn’t score in the fourth quarter, falling 47-28 to D.C. Everest on Friday night at the Marshfield High School Fieldhouse.
The Tigers knocked off first-place Stevens Point on Tuesday night with a big fourth quarter, but Friday they were sluggish all game.
Everest never trailed, jumping out to a 7-0 lead and an 18-5 advantage by the end of the first quarter.
Marshfield got to within eight twice – late in the second quarter and early in the third – but couldn’t get any closer as it saw its three-game winning streak end.
“It baffles me,” Marshfield coach Bill Zuiker said. “We had a lot riding here. We had a chance to get a second seed in the sectional if we split with Everest, and that means home games. It’s tough to take. Obviously we didn’t shoot the ball well, but I didn’t think we had any edge. When we did make good effort, we made bone-headed plays. We never could string a whole lot together.”
Baskets by Tanner Dennis-Brown and Isaac Accola brought the Tigers to within 27-19 1:30 into the third quarter, but they made just two more baskets from the field the rest of the game.
Everest used a 9-2 run to go back up by 15 and led by at least 10 the rest of the way.
The Tigers missed all 10 shot attempts in the fourth quarter as D.C. Everest outscored them 9-0.
“When we did get it to single digits, it just went away quickly,” Zuiker said. “I just don’t have an answer for it.”
Luke Zuiker led Marshfield (10-8, 6-4 Wisconsin Valley Conference) with 11 points and five rebounds.
Jared Gjertson was 7 of 9 from the field and scored 14 points for the Evergreens (11-6, 7-2 WVC).
Marshfield is at Rhinelander on Tuesday. The game will be broadcast on WDLB-AM 1450 and wdlbwosq.com beginning with pregame at 6:45 p.m.
Evergreens 47, Tigers 28
D.C. Everest 18 7 13 9 – 47
Marshfield 5 10 13 0 – 28
D.C. EVEREST (47): Zach Finnegan 6-11 1-1 13, Nick Sierakowski 0-1 0-0 0, Jon Rohr 3-5 0-0 8, Stephen Weir 0-0 0-0 0, Grant Vangrinsven 1-1 0-0 2, Josh Nielson 3-7 0-0 8, Jacob Stroik 0-0 0-0 0, Adam Decker 1-1 0-2 2, Jared Gjertson 7-9 0-1 14, Joshua Conley 0-0 0-0 0. FG: 21-35. FT: 1-4. 3-pointers: 4-9 (Rohr 2-4, Nielson 2-4, Finnegan 0-1). Rebounds: 25 (Gjertson 6). Turnovers: 15. Fouled out: 15. Fouled out: none. Record: 11-6, 7-2 Wisconsin Valley Conference.
MARSHFIELD (28): Jeff Allison 0-1 0-0 0, Isaac Accola 2-5 3-3 7, Matt Oestreich 1-4 0-0 2, Luke Zuiker 4-12 2-4 11, Luke Olson 1-10 0-0 2, Tanner Dennis-Brown 1-4 0-0 2, Alex Strege 2-6 0-0 4, Mitch Ott 0-0 0-1 0, Jace Krasselt 0-1 0-0 0, Caleb Alexander 0-2 0-0 0. FG: 11-45. FT: 5-8. 3-pointers: 1-19 (Zuiker 1-5, Olson 0-4, Strege 0-3, Accola 0-2, Oestreich 0-2, Krasselt 0-1, Alexander 0-1). Rebounds: 19 (Zuiker 5, Accola 5). Turnovers: 9. Fouls: 9. Fouled out: none. Record: 10-8, 6-4 Wisconsin Valley Conference.