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By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
MARSHFIELD – Winning tight games often comes down to free throw shooting and defense, and the Marshfield girls basketball team did both well down the stretch on Friday.
Marshfield made 7 of 10 free throws and held Wisconsin Rapids to three points during the final 3:40 to pull out a 51-46 win at The Boson Company Fieldhouse at Marshfield High School.
Kendra Lysne hit a 3-pointer with 3:47 remaining, closing out a 7-0 run to bring Wisconsin Rapids within a point at 44-43.
Marshfield was able to close out the victory at the free throw line. Ellie Kummer made 6 of 8 at the line and Natalie Zuelke added one more as the Tigers outscored Rapids 7-3 over the final 3:33.
Wisconsin Rapids’ only points came on a 3-pointer from Brianna Hahn with 1:16 to go. Rapids missed its other three shot attempts and turned the ball over twice.
“For the most part, we didn’t give it (the lead) up, but we did things to not help our situation, that’s for sure,” Marshfield coach Heidi Michaelis said. “Down the stretch we made free throws and get the win, that’s the goal.”
Ellie Fehrenbach had 15 points, Caitlin Michaelis added 14 points, including four 3-pointers, and Kummer finished with 13 points for the Tigers (6-6, 3-1 Wisconsin Valley Conference).
Lysne had 13 points, and Hahn and Victoria Hansen each had 12 for Rapids (4-6, 2-3 Wisconsin Valley Conference).
Marshfield closed out the first quarter on a 9-0 run to take a 17-13 lead. After going up 19-13 on a basket by McKayla Scheuer, Rapids ripped off seven points in a row to regain the lead at 20-19.
Each team traded runs and the game was tied 26-26 at halftime.
Marshfield led by as much as five in the third quarter, but Rapids outscored the Tigers 4-0 over the final 2 minutes and Marshfield led 37-36 entering the fourth.
Marshfield ran off the first seven points of the fourth on baskets by Michaelis and Scheuer, and three free throws. Rapids again closed within a point on the Lysne 3-pointer before the Tigers closed out the win.
The victory pulls Marshfield into a second-place tie in the conference with Wausau West at 3-1. D.C. Everest topped West on Friday night 57-51 and improve to 5-0 in the Valley.
“I do feel like we’re getting better,” Heidi Michaelis said. “There are still things we need to get better at. We have to take care of the ball. I think a lot of times we have a lot of unforced turnovers and if we cut down on those…I told them that it’s the law of averages, you have more possessions and things will go better for you. I still think we can be better on the defensive end.
“There’s always things that we can work on. We’ve played some really hard teams and we’ve lost some close games. Tonight we had to do things to the end of the fourth quarter to get the win.”
Marshfield plays at Merrill on Tuesday.
Tigers 51, Raiders 46
Wisconsin Rapids 13 13 10 10 – 46
Marshfield 17 9 11 14 – 51
WISCONSIN RAPIDS (46): Kendra Lysne 6-13 0-0 13, Carissa Vruwink 0-3 0-2 0, Brianna Hahn 4-5 3-4 12, Lizzy Keena 0-1 0-0 0, Paige Newman 2-6 1-2 5, Chani Pulchinski 2-3 0-0 4, Alyssa Huglen 0-2 0-0 0, Victoria Hansen 5-6 2-4 12. FG: 19-39. FT: 6-12. 3-pointers: 2-7 (Lysne 1-1, Hahn 1-2, Vruwink 0-1, Newman 0-3). Rebounds: 25 (Hansen 9). Turnovers: 23. Fouls: 17. Fouled out: none. Record: 4-6, 2-3 Wisconsin Valley Conference.
MARSHFIELD (51): McKayla Scheuer 2-3 0-0 4, Caitlin Michaelis 5-14 0-0 14, Natalie Zuelke 0-0 2-6 2, Lauren Gilbertson 0-0 0-0 0, Martha Kupfer 0-0 0-0 0, Ellie Kummer 2-9 8-10 13, Ellie Fehrenbach 4-17 7-7 15, Kailey Hubler 1-2 1-1 3, Emma Fehrenbach 0-1 0-0 0. FG: 14-46. FT: 18-24. 3-pointers: 5-19 (Michaelis 4-11, Kummer 1-7, Scheuer 0-1). Rebounds: 25 (Zuelke 7). Turnovers: 17. Fouls: 14. Fouled out: none. Record: 6-6, 3-1 Wisconsin Valley Conference.