This story is sponsored by The Williams-Gray Co.
By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
MARSHFIELD – After a poor second quarter, the Marshfield boys basketball team finished strong, outscoring Wisconsin Rapids by 15 points in the second half to beat the Raiders 48-36 in the two teams’ Wisconsin Valley Conference and regular-season finale on Thursday at the Marshfield High School Fieldhouse.
With the win, the Tigers improve to 12-10 and finish third in the Wisconsin Valley Conference with an 8-4 record. The victory also secures Marshfield’s fourth-straight winning season, something that hasn’t happened in the program since a streak of four from the 1961-62 through the 1964-65 seasons.
A sluggish second quarter saw Rapids open up a 20-17 halftime lead as the Tigers made just two of six shots from the field and turned the ball over five times.
Marshfield didn’t score for a stretch of 5:09, and Riley Presley scored six of his game-high 15 points during that span as the Raiders took a three-point lead into halftime.
Marshfield was just 6 of 17 from the field in the first half before completely turning the tables in the second half.
The Tigers made 8 of 11 shots in the third quarter, including five of their last six during a 12-2 run that turned a 27-21 deficit into a 33-29 advantage.
Tanner Dennis-Brown, Alex Strege and Matt Oestreich each scored four points in the quarter as Marshfield outscored the Raiders 16-9 to take the lead for good.
“It was just some want-to,” Marshfield coach Bill Zuiker said. “We took more charges than we have all year. We made some big plays, tough plays. Rapids is a physical team, they play hard, we had to earn it.”
Luke Zuiker scored the first five points of the quarter and after Wisconsin Rapids (5-17, 3-9 Wisconsin Valley Conference) came within three points after a rebound and basket by Regis Henke with 4:38 to go, it but didn’t make another shot the rest of the way.
The Tigers closed the game on a 10-1 run as Dennis-Brown scored six more of his team-high 12 points.
Marshfield ended up shooting 50 percent for the game, making 21 of 42 shots.
Marshfield opens WIAA postseason play on Feb. 22 with a Division 1 regional semifinal at home against Hudson. Game time is 7 p.m. and will be broadcast on WDLB-AM 1450 and wdlbwosq.com.
“It’s been a very good season with these guys, I like them a lot,” Bill Zuiker said. “It’s been frustrating at times because I felt like we were on the verge of really rolling it up a little bit, but we have kind of shot ourselves in the foot a few times.
“We’re going to work to carry this over. Confidence is a big thing.”
Tigers 48, Raiders 36
Wisconsin Rapids 12 8 9 7 – 36
Marshfield 11 6 16 15 – 48
WISCONSIN RAPIDS (36): Zach Bassuener 1-8 0-0 2, Hunter Langholff 0-1 0-0 0, Riley Presley 7-8 1-2 15, Jared Halbu 0-1 0-0 0, Jace Willamson 1-4 0-0 3, Alex Bassuener 2-8 0-0 5, Regis Henke 4-4 2-2 10, Jayson Wiernik 0-1 1-2 1. FG: 15-35. FT: 4-6. 3-pointers: 2-11 (Williams 1-4, A. Bassuener 1-4, Z. Bassuener 0-2, Halbu 0-1). Rebounds: 23 (Prelsey 7). Turnovers: 18. Fouls: 14. Fouled out: Wiernik. Record: 5-17, 3-9 Wisconsin Valley Conference.
MARSHFIELD (48): Jeff Allison 1-1 0-0 2, Isaac Accola 2-4 1-2 5, Matt Oestreich 4-7 0-0 8, Luke Zuiker 4-11 0-1 9, Luke Olson 1-7 3-4 6, Tanner Dennis-Brown 6-8 0-0 12, Alex Strege 3-4 0-0 6, Caleb Alexander 0-0 0-0 0. FG: 21-42. FT: 4-7. 3-pointers: 2-13 (Zuiker 1-6, Olson 1-5, Accola 0-1, Oestreich 0-1). Rebounds: 19 (Dennis-Brown 6). Turnovers: 12. Fouls: 11. Fouled out: none. Record: 12-10, 8-4 Wisconsin Valley Conference.