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By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
Click here to view the Wisconsin Valley Conference girls basketball standings
MARSHFIELD – Stopping Wausau West junior Jasmin Samz was a priority for the Marshfield girls basketball team, but through the first 11 minutes of the game, Samz was having her way.
Samz, the leading scorer in the Wisconsin Valley Conference at 23.4 points per game this season, scored 17 points in those first 11 minutes as West opened up a 16-point lead.
Marshfield figured something out at that point and the tables turned. The Tigers went to a box-and-one defense with Caitlin Michaelis and Martha Kupfer hounding Samz at every turn.
With their top scorer locked down, West’s offense went in a funk and Marshfield stormed back for a 59-44 victory on Friday night at The Boson Company Fieldhouse at Marshfield High School.
Samz was held to just two free throws the rest of the way and the Tigers outscored West 40-18 in the second half to pull away.
“She made some really long shots,” Marshfield coach Heidi Michaelis said. “She didn’t really get in the paint on us too much, but she was on. In the first half, we were keying on her and she still had 17.
“I thought we could do a better job going to a box-and-one and we sold out on that. The kids really responded, not just Martha and Michaelis, but everyone else helped. She didn’t get any clean or easy looks and that really helped.”
Samz’s 12 points in the first quarter helped West (7-6, 4-2 Wisconsin Valley Conference) out to a 19-4 lead.
A 3-pointer by Samz made it 26-10 with 5:29 to go in the second quarter, but from there it was a totally different game.
Marshfield scored the final nine points of the half, the final five coming on a pair of baskets by Michaelis in the final 1:15, and the Tigers closed the gap to 26-19 at the break.
Samz made two free throws on West’s opening possession of the second half, but did not score again.
Marshfield continued to chip away at the Warriors’ lead and McKayla Scheuer’s two free throws with 13 seconds to go in the third quarter officially erased the deficit and put Marshfield up 36-35. The Tigers never trailed again.
Marshfield made 17 of 25 free throws in the fourth quarter. Ellie Kummer was 6 of 6, Michaelis was 5 of 8 and Ellie Fehrenbach went 5 of 6 from the line in the final 8 minutes as the Tigers pulled away. Marshfield scored 10 of the final 11 points, all from the free throw line.
Kummer finished with 16 points, Michaelis had 13 and Fehrenbach had 10 points and 10 rebounds for Marshfield (7-7, 4-2 Wisconsin Valley Conference).
“We started out the game 1 out of 10 and I don’t think we had bad looks,” Heidi Michaelis said. “Zone (defense from West) is a tempo killer and you have to kind of find your way through it. We said you have to get it to the inside. I tell the kids all the time that if it goes inside and then outside, the shooting percentage from the outside goes up to about 60 percent.”
Marshfield hosts Eau Claire North in a nonconference game on Tuesday.
Tigers 59, Warriors 44
Wausau West 19 7 9 9 – 44
Marshfield 6 13 17 23 – 59
WAUSAU WEST (44): Kierra Kohlbeck 2-10 1-4 5, Jessy Wiskofske 1-5 0-0 3, Ravyn Heckendorf 1-1 0-0 3, Lauren Conley 0-0 0-1 0, Anna Brown 2-9 4-6 8, Erin Bardonner 0-0 0-0 0, Jasmin Samz 6-13 5-6 19, Sarah Snoeyenbos 1-2 4-4 6. FG: 13-40. FT: 14-21. 3-pointers: 4-16 (Samz 2-6, Wiskofske 1-4, Heckendorf 1-1, Kohlbeck 0-5). Rebounds: 20 (Brown 8). Turnovers: 14. Fouls: 27. Fouled out: Samz. Record: 7-6, 4-2 Wisconsin Valley Conference.
MARSHFIELD (59): McKayla Scheuer 2-3 2-2 7, Caitlin Michaelis 3-9 6-11 13, Natalie Zuelke 1-5 3-4 5, Lauren Gilbertson 0-0 0-0 0, Martha Kupfer 0-0 0-0 0, Ellie Kummer 3-9 7-8 16, Ema Fehrenbach 3-4 0-3 6, Ellie Fehrenbach 1-4 8-10 10, Kailey Hubler 1-2 0-0 2. FG: 14-36. FT: 26-38. 3-pointers: 5-17 (Kummer 3-8, Michaelis 1-7, Scheuer 1-2). Rebounds: 28 (El. Fehrenbach 10). Turnovers: 18. Fouls: 19. Fouled out: none. Record: 7-7, 4-2 Wisconsin Valley Conference.