This story is sponsored by Victory Apparel
By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
MARSHFIELD – Before the Marshfield boys basketball team even knew it, it was down double digits.
The Tigers responded with a solid second half but could not come all the way back and dropped a 56-49 decision to D.C. Everest in a Wisconsin Valley Conference game Tuesday night at The Boson Company Fieldhouse at Marshfield High School.
Everest remains in a first-place tie with Stevens Point at 4-0 in the Valley following the victory and improves to 9-2 overall.
Marshfield has lost four games in a row and falls to 4-8 overall and 1-3 in the conference.
Everest had runs of 8-0 and 10-0 in the first quarter to pull out to a commanding 18-4 lead.
The Evergreens made their first eight shot attempts, six coming from point-blank range on drives or back-door cuts to the basket.
“Slight breakdowns defensively turn into layups, that’s the kind of team Everest is,” Marshfield coach Bill Zuiker said. “They are very sound, very well-coached. You have to be on top of your game and can not let them play from ahead. We were fortunate enough to scramble and get back in the game, but it wasn’t our game from start to finish.”
Marshfield fell behind 30-10 late in the second quarter before finally getting its offense going.
Adam Fravert scored five of his team-high 15 points in the final 3 minutes of the half to help Marshfield cut the deficit to 13, but a basket at the buzzer by Stephen Weir gave Everest a 37-22 lead at intermission.
The Tigers turned to a full-court trap to try to turn the tides and it worked in the third quarter.
Everest managed just two baskets in the period and the Tigers used an 8-0 run to get the game back within striking range.
A three-point play by Will Spindler, who finished with 12 points, and Tanner Boson and Caleb Alexander each added baskets to cut Everest’s lead to 39-34.
Marshfield couldn’t get closer than five, however. A 7-0 spurt by the Evergreens midway through the fourth quarter put them back on top by 12 and they held on the rest of the way.
Jake Gebert finished with 20 points and nine rebounds for D.C. Everest.
“To the kids’ credit, they played really hard and scrambled the best they could,” Zuiker said. “You can’t dig holes like that. It looked so bad, and we’re not so bad. We just don’t have a lot of margin for error. When we don’t get good shot selection, we’re not very good.”
Marshfield plays at Wausau East on Friday at 7:30 p.m. The game will be broadcast on WDLB-AM 1450 and wdlbwosq.com.
Evergreens 56, Tigers 49
D.C. Everest 18 19 4 15 – 56
Marshfield 4 18 12 15 – 49
D.C. EVEREST (56): Derek Reiche 1-1 0-0 3, Austin Behrens 2-4 0-0 5, Connor Dickinson 1-3 0-2 2, Stephen Weir 4-5 0-0 8, Riley Petersen 2-5 4-6 8, Grant Van Grinsven 0-0 0-1 0, Lucas Mathson 0-0 0-0 0, Chris Cornish 4-6 0-1 8, Jake Gebert 8-10 4-6 20, Brady Uekert 0-1 0-0 0, Ryan Bentz 1-2 0-0 2. FG: 23-37. FT: 8-16. 3-pointers: 2-6 (Behrens 1-1, Reiche 1-1, Weir 0-1, Uekert 0-1, Petersen 0-2). Rebounds: 26 (Gebert 9). Turnovers: 12. Fouls: 18. Fouled out: Cornish. Record: 9-2, 4-0 Wisconsin Valley Conference.
MARSHFIELD (49): Caleb Alexander 2-3 0-1 4, Tanner Boson 3-11 0-0 7, Tyson Slade 0-0 0-0 0, Kegan Fassler 2-3 2-3 6, Alec Hinson 0-0 0-0 0, Isaac Huettl 0-0 1-2 1, Will Spindler 5-7 2-4 12, Jordan Schlinsog 2-10 0-0 4, Adam Fravert 6-12 3-5 15. FG: 20-46. FT: 8-15. 3-pointers: 1-16 (Boson 1-6, Fravert 0-3, Schlinsog 0-7). Rebounds: 19 (Fravert 8). Turnovers: 8. Fouls: 15. Fouled out: none. Record: 4-8, 1-3 Wisconsin Valley Conference.