This story is sponsored by: Randy LeMoine Agency, LLC – American Family Insurance
By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
MARSHFIELD – The Marshfield boys basketball team never trailed and went on to its fourth win in its last five games as it took down D.C. Everest 71-61 on Friday night at Marshfield High School.
Alec Hinson made 6 of 7 shots from the field, including 4 of 5 from 3-point range, and also made 10 of 11 free throws to score a game-high 26 points for the Tigers, who are now 11-7 overall and pull into a fourth-place tie in the Wisconsin Valley Conference with D.C. Everest (10-8 overall) at 4-5.
Adam Fravert added 18 points and six rebounds for Marshfield, which has three wins in a row.
As the game turned into a foul-fest in the final 5 minutes when Everest started hacking trying to get the ball back, Marshfield made 19 of 22 free throws, including 11 straight at one point.
“We did everything efficient tonight, I thought, except handling the press at the end,” Marshfield coach Scott Scheuer said. “I think we got complacent. We haven’t had an issue with the press all season, until now, so we are going to drill that hard (in practice). We played with energy tonight. Hinson hit some huge 3s and some free throws. They never got under that seven or eight points at the end.”
Marshfield led by as much as 11 late in the first half after a 3-pointer from Hinson and two free throws by Ethan Posteluk put the Tigers in front 28-17.
Marshfield took a 29-21 lead into halftime and scored the first five points of the second half on a lob to Fravert and a 3-pointer from Tyson Slade.
Everest got as close as six before a 14-6 run by the Tigers gave them back a double-digit lead. A Hinson 3-pointer made it 50-36 with 6:28 to go.
A dunk by Fravert with 5:50 left was Marshfield’s last field goal. The Evergreens cut it down to 57-49 on a 3-pointer from Riley Petersen, however, the Tigers were able to keep them at bay by making key free throws down the stretch.
“(Eau Claire) Memorial beat Everest, Wausau East beat Everest, and now we beat all three of them, so this is huge for seeding (for the WIAA playoffs),” Scheuer said. “We beat the top four teams in the Big Rivers (Conference), now we’ve got to get Rapids. We could finish 15-7 (if the Tigers win out). We played SPASH tough both times, so that should help us when they start to put things in order.”
Stephen Weir and Jacob Gebert each had 15 points for Everest.
Marshfield has a busy week next week, playing at Wisconsin Rapids on Monday, home against Rhinelander on Tuesday, and at Wausau East on Feb. 19.
Tigers 71, Evergreens 61
D.C. Everest 21 40 – 61
Marshfield 29 42 – 71
D.C. EVEREST (61): Trent Heckel 0-0 0-0 0, Derek Reiche 2-3 2-2 7, Riley Petersen 2-8 2-4 8, Connor Dickinson 1-6 2-5 4, Stephen Weir 5-7 2-2 15, Dylan Ellenbecker 0-0 2-2 2, Austin Hargraves 0-0 3-4 3, Matt Jagodzinski 0-0 0-0 0, Jacob Gebert 6-13 2-3 15, Jared Halambeck 2-3 3-4 7. FG: 18-40. FT: 18-26. 3-pointers: 7-16 (Weir 3-4, Petersen 2-5, Reiche 1-2, Gebert 1-4, Dickinson 0-1). Rebounds: 25 (Gebert 7). Turnovers: 12. Fouls: 30. Fouled out: Reiche, Gebert. Record: 10-8, 4-5 Wisconsin Valley Conference.
MARSHFIELD (71): Ethan Posteluk 2-6 3-4 8, Trevor Schwecke 1-2 2-4 4, Ethan Voss 0-3 2-2 2, Tyson Slade 2-6 5-9 10, Alec Hinson 6-7 10-11 26, Grant Michaelis 1-2 0-0 3, Isaac Huettl 0-0 0-0 0, Adam Fravert 5-9 7-9 18, Nick Stewart 0-0 0-0 0. FG: 17-35. FT: 29-39. 3-pointers: 8-16 (Hinson 4-5, Slade 1-3, Fravert 1-2, Posteluk 1-2, Michaelis 1-2, Voss 0-2). Rebounds: 21 (Fravert 6). Turnovers: 6. Fouls: 23. Fouled out: Michaelis. Record: 11-7, 4-5 Wisconsin Valley Conference.