This story is sponsored by: High Street Salon, Spa & Travel
By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
MARSHFIELD – With the game on the line, the Marshfield girls basketball team clamped down on defense and was able to pull out another win.
Leading by four points with 5½ minutes to go, the Tigers outscored Wausau Newman Catholic 15-6 the rest of the way to win 65-52 to capture the title its home Marshfield Tiger Girls Basketball Invitational on Wednesday afternoon at the Marshfield High School Fieldhouse.
Meg Bryan hit her fourth 3-pointer of the game to start the run that included two free throws each from reserve guards Sara Dasler and Jenny Scheppler, and late layups by backups Dani Bender and Ana Jensen.
Marshfield went 2-0 at the tournament to improve to 9-1 this season. Newman Catholic is now 3-6, losing to Rhinelander on Tuesday as well. Hudson pounded Rhinelander 59-38 in the other game Wednesday as both of those teams finished 1-1.
“We played with the lead for the whole game, which was a good thing, but they weren’t a team that was going to go away,” Marshfield coach Heidi Michaelis said. “With their offense, they lull you. You play defense for 45 seconds and then they find a way to come clean or make a 3. That’s a killer for you on defense. We found a way to get a win and that was our goal, two wins in two days, and we did that.”
Marshfield scored the first four points of the game and never trailed, but it was far from easy for the Tigers.
Newman Catholic made 12 of 23 shots from 3-point range, which included 5-for-7 from Lauren Fech and 4-for-8 from Taylor Jankowski, to keep it close throughout.
Marshfield led by as much as nine in the first half and took a 29-22 lead into halftime after a late 3-pointer for McKayla Scheuer. The senior guard made 4 of 6 shots from long range and finished with 15 points.
A Fech 3-pointer capped a 6-2 run by the Cardinals to start the second half and cut the lead to three.
After Marshfield went back up by seven after two baskets from Ema Fehrenbach, who led the Tigers with 18 points and nine rebounds, Newman got it down to two at 44-42 with 7:44 left after a rebound and basket by Signe Fronek.
Marshfield didn’t flinch and maintained its lead. Another 3-pointer from Jankowski cut the Tigers’ lead to 50-46, but the Cardinals only made two of their final eight shot attempts as Marshfield pulled away.
“They did a good job on Ema in the first half and in the second half, McKayla didn’t score as much, but we were able to get it into Ema,” Michaelis said. “Everyone played, everyone scored, so that was good for those kids and everyone was happy.”
The Tigers return to action Tuesday at Chippewa Falls.
Tigers 65, Cardinals 52
Newman Catholic 22 30 – 52
Marshfield 29 36 – 65
NEWMAN CATHOLIC (52): Lauren Fech 6-10 2-2 19, Signe Fronek 4-11 0-0 10, Makayla Slaby 0-3 1-2 1, Taylor Jankowski 4-10 0-0 12, Abbey Fox 2-6 2-6 6, Mikayla Tomsyck 0-0 0-0 0, Karina McGucken 0-4 1-2 1, Brogan Kimball 1-4 0-0 3. FG: 17-48. FT: 6-12. 3-pointers: 12-23 (Fech 5-7, Jankowski 4-8, Fronek 2-6, Kimball 1-2). Rebounds: 26 (Fronek 8). Turnovers: 15. Fouls: 16. Fouled out: none. Record: 3-6.
MARSHFIELD (65): McKayla Scheuer 5-9 1-2 15, Dani Bender 1-3 0-0 2, Jenny Scheppler 0-0 2-2 2, Ana Jensen 1-1 1-2 3, Sara Dasler 0-0 4-4 4, Meg Bryan 4-12 3-4 15, Maddie Nikolai 1-7 0-0 2, Ema Fehrenbach 8-12 2-5 18, Hannah Meverden 2-6 0-0 4. FG: 22-50. FT: 13-19. 3-pointers: 8-16 (Scheuer 4-6, Bryan 4-9, Meverden 0-1). Rebounds: 34 (Fehrenbach 9). Turnovers: 7. Fouls: 12. Fouled out: none. Record: 9-1.