This story is sponsored by The Williams-Gray Co.
By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
WESTON – With the game, and season on the line, D.C. Everest senior Lauren Anklam took over.
The Evergreens guard scored their final eight points over the last 2:23 and helped D.C. Everest hold off Marshfield 44-40 in a WIAA Division 1 girls basketball regional semifinal Friday night at D.C. Everest High School.
Anklam outscored Marshfield 8-5 over those final 2-plus minutes, driving inside for two baskets and making four of six free throws in the final 1:09 to keep the Tigers at bay. She finished with a game-high 22 points.
D.C. Everest (17-6) moves on to a Division 1 regional final at 7 p.m. Saturday at Chippewa Falls (19-4).
“Anklam did a great job at the end,” Marshfield coach Heidi Michaelis said. “She wanted the ball at the end and kind of took over. She made free throws and made shots. It was a good game, a defensive battle. I thought we did a lot of really good things. It comes down to free throws (Marshfield was just 6 of 16), it comes down to a possession here or there.”
Marshfield started poorly on offense, missing its first five shots and turning the ball over three times in the first 5½ minutes.
Three more turnovers by the Tigers helped Everest build an 11-3 lead by the end of the first quarter.
The Evergreens pushed their advantage to 17-7 after a three-point play by Anklam at the 4:44 mark of the second quarter before Marshfield finally got things rolling.
Marshfield used a 6-0 run to crawl back in it, and Darian Molter had a pair of steals that led to a layup and a 3-pointer as the Tigers knotted the score at 18-18 by halftime.
“Our defensive effort and our rebounding effort was the best you’ve seen all year,” Heidi Michaelis said. “This team hung tough. There was a time in the first quarter where it could have gone bad – it did the last time we were here. For the kids to stay poised and stay in control, and to get back tied at half says a lot about our team.”
Neither team led by more than two points over the first 13 minutes of the second half.
Molter had another steal and layup, Caitlin Michaelis hit a pair of 3-pointers and Ellie Kummer set up Natalie Zuelke underneath for a basket as Marshfield scored on four straight possessions late in the third quarter.
However, Everest counted with a hoop of its own each time, and two free throws by Anklam with 51 seconds left in the period tied the game at 30-30 heading into the fourth.
A 6-2 run gave Everest a 36-34 lead with 3:30 to go and Marshfield never regained the lead.
Anklam went to the bench after picking up her fourth foul with 4:14 left, but the Tigers could only get as close as one before she re-entered the game at the 2:43 mark and took the game over.
Anklam and Zuelke exchanged baskets, keeping Everest’s lead at one, before Anklam made a basket and two of three free throws to put the Evergreens up 43-37 with 1:09 to go.
Molter drilled a deep 3-pointer with 20 seconds left, but Anklam made one of two free throws to put Everest up by four and Marshfield couldn’t get any closer, missing a pair of 3-pointers in the final seconds.
Molter led Marshfield with 16 points, Michaelis added 12 and Zuelke and Fehrenbach each had six. No one else scored for the Tigers.
Marshfield loses only one senior that played the entire season in Makayla Zimmermann (Tiffany Stargardt sat out the majority of the season with an injury). Returning the entire core of the team has Heidi Michaelis looking to the future with optimism.
“It’s not fun to be done early, but as long as you learn and you are better the next time you are on the court, I can live with that,” Michaelis said. “They hung together all year and stayed positive all year. Yeah, it didn’t go well at times, but for them to stay as together and positive as they have been says a lot about them. I think it bodes well for the future.”
Evergreens 44, Tigers 40
Marshfield 3 15 12 10 – 40
D.C. Everest 11 7 12 14 – 44
MARSHFIELD (40): McKayla Scheuer 0-0 0-0 0, Darian Molter 6-11 2-3 16, Natalie Zuelke 3-4 0-0 6, Caitlin Michaelis 4-12 2-3 12, Martha Kupfer 0-0 0-0 0, Emily Goeppinger 0-0 0-0 0, Lauren Gilbertson 0-0 0-0 0, Makayla Zimmermann 0-0 0-0 0, Ellie Kummer 0-6 0-4 0, Kailey Hubler 0-1 0-0 0, Ellie Fehrenbach 2-6 2-6 6. FG: 15-40. FT: 6-16. 3-pointers: 4-18 (Molter 2-6, Michaelis 2-5, Kummer 0-5, Fehrenbach 0-2). Reboundes: 22 (Zuelke 6, Fehrenbach 5). Turnovers: 13. Fouls: 22. Fouled out: none. Record: 14-9.
D.C. EVEREST (44): Hannah Tipple 1-2 0-0 2, Haley Kroll 4-7 1-2 10, Mali Theiss 1-2 1-2 3, Brianna Ziolkowski 0-9 0-2 0, Lauren Anklam 7-12 8-11 22, Mackenzie Mathies 0-1 0-0 0, Makayla Pagel 0-2 0-2 0, Taylor Hodell 3-5 1-4 7. FG: 16-40. FT: 11-23. 3-pointers: 1-12 (Kroll 1-2, Theiss 0-1, Mathies 0-1, Anklam 0-3, Ziolkowski 0-5). Rebounds: 26 (Hodell 10). Turnovers: 10. Fouls: 19. Fouled out: none. Record: 17-6.