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By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
MARSHFIELD – As a new season begins, it’s natural for uncertainty to set in.
The Marshfield girls basketball team got rid of any opening-night jitters early, jumping out to a quick 13-point lead and cruising to a 69-28 victory over Rhinelander in a nonconference matchup Thursday night at The Boson Company Fieldhouse at Marshfield High School.
Junior guard Makayla Scheuer hit the floor running, scoring seven straight points to help the Tigers build a 7-2 lead. She added five more points in the first quarter and Meg Bryan hit a 3-pointer to push Marshfield’s lead to 22-10 at the end of the period.
The Tigers went up by 22 at the end of the half as Scheuer made two more 3-pointers, Caitlin Michaelis hit another, and they made six straight free throws to make it 41-19 at half. Scheuer finished with a game-high 25 points on 10-for-12 shooting overall and 5-for-7 from 3-point range.
“(Scheuer) never takes a bad shot,” Marshfield coach Heidi Michaelis said. “She’ll wait and let the game come to her. I hope I see that a lot this season. She can hurt you in so many ways. She’s so quick that if they start to take her shot away, she can get in the lane and hit a floater or create. I’m glad she’s on my team. She’s such a competitor.”
Marshfield forced 15 turnovers in the first half and held Rhinelander to just 6 of 16 shooting, while making seven 3-pointers and 12 of 12 free throws.
“I thought we played well and shared it well,” Heidi Michaelis said. “We had 22 baskets and 14 assists. That’s our big thing – make the extra pass. We have tons of people that can score and you just have to trust your teammates to get the best possible look.”
A 12-4 run to start the second half pushed the Tigers’ lead to 30 and Marshfield eventually went up by 40 with a 9-0 advantage to begin the fourth quarter.
Michalelis finished with 12 points, as did freshman Hannah Meverden, who was making her varsity debut in the starting lineup.
“She didn’t play like a freshman at all,” Heidi Michaelis said. “She looked confident out there, she ran the floor. I thought she was aggressive. She was around the ball a lot and then took advantage of the opportunities in front of her.”
Marshfield now has two weeks to prepare for its next game, which will be its Wisconsin Valley Conference opener at Wausau West on Dec. 5.
Tigers 69, Hodags 28
Rhinelander 10 9 6 3 – 28
Marshfield 22 19 15 13 – 69
RHINELANDER (28): Eve Hunter 1-2 0-0 2, Megan Haug 0-2 1-2 1, Kaly Kostrova 3-8 3-4 9, Eva O’Melia 0-3 0-0 0, Brianna DeNamur 0-1 0-0 0, Kylie Hunter 2-12 1-2 5, Brianna Gilbert 4-6 1-4 9, Ali Schickert 0-0 2-2 2. FG: 10-34. FT: 8-14. 3-pointers: 0-7 (K. Hunter 0-6, Haug 0-1). Rebounds: 27 (Kostrova 6). Turnovers: 22. Fouls: 17. Fouled out: none. Record: 0-1.
MARSHFIELD (69): Makayla Scheuer 10-12 0-0 25, Meg Bryan 1-13 2-2 5, Caitlin Michaelis 4-11 2-4 12, Ana Jensen 0-1 0-0 0, Maddie Nikolai 1-5 3-5 5, Martha Kupfer 0-0 2-2 2, Ellie Kummer 2-10 2-2 8, Hannah Meverden 4-5 4-5 12. FG: 22-57. FT: 15-20. 3-pointers: 10-30 (Scheuer 5-7, Michaelis 2-8, Kummer 2-6, Bryan 1-9). Rebounds: 28 (Nikolai 6, Michaelis 6). Turnovers: 11. Fouls: 15. Fouled out: none. Record: 1-0.