By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
MARSHFIELD – The Marshfield boys basketball team never trailed in 32 minutes of regulation play during Friday’s Wisconsin Valley Conference game at the Marshfield High School Fieldhouse, but it could not put away D.C. Everest.
That came back to haunt the Tigers.
Everest outscored Marshfield 6-2 over the final 3:22 of regulation to tie the game and force overtime, then outscored the Tigers 12-6 in the extra period to hand Marshfield its first conference loss of the season, 61-55.
Marshfield remains in first place in the conference at 4-1 (7-3 overall), holding a one-half game lead over Everest (3-1, 3-6).
Tuesday’s game at Wausau East will complete the first go-around in the conference for the Tigers, and guard Ben Johnson has high hopes for his team as the rest of the season progresses.
“You’re never set where you’re at, you just have to keep getting better,” Johnson said. “We’re going to see these guys again, and everybody else. We don’t need any help, if we just keep winning, we’ll win this conference. We have the tools and the people to do that.”
Marshfield led 47-41 after a basket by Ben Johnson with 3:41 left in the fourth quarter, but could only manage one more basket the rest of the way and watched as the Evergreens crawled back.
Everest made six straight free throws over the final 1:43, including two by Mike Mathson with 36.9 seconds left that tied the game at 49-49, the first time Marshfield had not been in the lead since late in the second quarter.
Ryan Danczak, who led the Tigers with 17 points, and Elliott Ashbeck each missed shots in the final four seconds and the game went to overtime.
In the extra four-minute period, Everest made both of its field goal attempts and 6 of 8 free throws to keep Marshfield at bay. The Tigers were just 1 of 6 from the floor and missed both of their free throws.
“We started fouling at the end and that kind of put us at a disadvantage,” Marshfield point guard Sully Luepke said. “We lost Cale (Zuiker, who fouled out with 1:07 left in regulation) and he’s been out most consistent shooter this year, so that kind of hurt us. The ball just didn’t go in the basket. I guess that’s it. Their (shots) did.”
Marshfield started out hot, making 7 of 12 field goal attempts in the first quarter. Johnson and Ashbeck each scored five points and Danczak had four as Marshfield built a 16-8 lead.
Luepke and Zuiker hit back-to-back baskets midway through the second quarter to put the Tigers up 22-13, their biggest lead of the game, but as was the case each time Marshfield pulled ahead, Everest clawed back.
A 9-0 run, fueled by a 3-pointer by Landon Berendsen, got Everest back to even at 22-22.
Marshfield closed the half with four points, including a pair of free throws by Zuiker with 3.7 seconds left, to take a 26-22 lead into the break.
The Tigers continued to hold the lead in the third quarter, but twice after they pulled ahead by six, Everest responded to close the gap.
“It was a hard-fought game, it was exactly what we thought it was going to be,” Marshfield coach Craig Michaelis said. “We had our chances to do what we needed to do to put it away, but we didn’t step up and get that done. You have to credit them, they stepped up and made some plays.
“In a tight game like that, it’s just a possession here or there that makes a difference. My kids played hard, I couldn’t be prouder of them, we just have to be able to seize games like this when we have opportunities.”
The Tigers play their next three games on the road, starting with the conference matchup Tuesday at East. Marshfield returns home for a nonconference game against Merrill on Feb. 1, followed by a WVC matchup against Rhinelander on Feb. 2.
Evergreens 61, Tigers 55 (OT)
D.C. Everest 8 14 10 17 12 – 61
Marshfield 16 10 11 12 6 – 55
D.C. EVEREST (61): Matt Hruska 2-4 3-4 8, Ryley Carstensen 4-10 3-4 11, Josh Werner 2-4 1-2 5, Landon Berendsen 1-3 0-0 3, Luke Heller 2-5 5-5 9, Mike Mathson 2-7 5-6 10, Josh Hoekstra 5-11 5-8 15. FG: 18-44. FT: 22-29. 3-pointers: 3-15 (Hruska 1-2, Berendsen 1-3, Mathson 1-5, Carstensen 0-4, Heller 0-1). Rebounds: 21 (Heller 9). Total fouls: 14. Fouled out: none. Technical foul: Hoekstra. Record: 3-6, 3-1 Wisconsin Valley Conference.
MARSHFIELD (55): Sully Luepke 2-5 2-2 6, Elliott Ashbeck 4-12 0-0 9, Ryan Danczak 8-13 1-3 17, Cale Zuiker 2-5 2-2 6, Ben Johnson 3-7 1-2 8, Antoine Brown-Hainz 1-3 0-0 2, Dustin Thumann 1-4 0-0 2, Jon Bauer 2-2 1-3 5. FG: 23-51. FT: 7-12. 3-pointers: 2-9 (Ashbeck 1-5, Johnson 1-1, Danczak 0-2, Luepke 0-1). Rebounds: 27 (Bauer 8). Total fouls: 23. Fouled out: Zuiker. Record: 7-3, 4-1 Wisconsin Valley Conference.
