This story is sponsored by: The Marshfield Tiger Booster Club
By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
MARSHFIELD – In a battle of the two teams on top of the Wisconsin Valley Conference standings, the Marshfield and Stevens Point boys basketball teams didn’t disappoint.
The lead changed hands seven times in the final 4½ minutes, with the five-time defending conference champion Panthers holding on at the end and defeating Marshfield 59-56 on Tuesday night at Marshfield High School.
Stevens Point, winners of the past three WIAA Division 1 state titles, improves to 10-3 overall and 6-1 in the WVC, while Marshfield drops to 7-7 and 5-2 in conference play.
Point senior guard Drew Blair and Marshfield junior Reed Miller traded scores in the final 3 minutes.
Blair, who scored 44 of the Panthers’ 59 points, made one of two free throws with 4:13 to go to give them a 51-50 lead.
Miller and Blair traded baskets, and the lead in the game, before Miller hit again on a leaner in the lane with 2:24 left to put the Tigers up 54-53.
After a basket from Andrew Erdman, Miller scored again in the lane and Marshfield led 56-55 with 1:35 left.
Blair made four-straight free throws and Marshfield failed to score again to provide the final margin.
After two missed free throws by Stevens Point with 13.6 seconds left, Marshfield couldn’t get an open look at a potential game-tying 3-pointer and Miller was forced to heave a 35-footer at the buzzer that banged off the backboard as the buzzer sounded.
“They’re really good at taking things away,” Marshfield coach Scott Scheuer said. “We had 11 days off, then no school (Monday), talk about over-thinking things. SPASH is SPASH, and until somebody beats them, they are still the state champs.
“Drew Blair is pretty good. At times, we played really good defense on him and he still knocked shots down. We battled and hit a couple of shots in the lane, and when it’s possession-by-possession and they score you have to score. It’s a tough loss, it was a grind, a battle.”
An 11-0 run by Blair put the Panthers up 24-17 in the first half before the Tigers climbed back ahead with a 12-0 run that included 3-pointers from Anthony Posteluk and Tommy Olson.
Marshfield led 31-28 at halftime and 41-37 five minutes into the second half before Point had a 7-0 run, which included five points by Blair, to go back ahead.
A 3-pointer by Olson and two free throws by Seth Anderson, who led Marshfield with 21 points, tied the game at 50-50 with 5:27 left, providing the stage for the battle to the end as both teams left all they had on the floor.
“It’s good that we have one day and then we have Rapids,” Scheuer said. “Our season isn’t over.”
Marshfield hosts Wisconsin Rapids at 7:15 p.m. Thursday. The game will be broadcast on WDLB-AM 1450 and wdlbwosq.com.
Panthers 59, Tigers 56
Stevens Point 28 31 – 59
Marshfield 31 25 – 56
STEVENS POINT (59): Nolan Blair 0-0 0-0 0, Drew Blair 16-25 11-14 44, Andrew Erdman 4-10 3-3 12, Drew Cullen 1-7 0-0 3, Brennan Mueller 0-5 0-0 0, Evan Vollendorf 0-1 0-0 0, Darren Zwicker 0-0 0-1 0, Max Hofmeister 0-0 0-2 0. FG: 21-48. FT: 14-20. 3-pointers: 3-18 (Blair 1-4, Cullen 1-5, Erdman 1-6, Mueller 0-3). Rebounds: 18 (Zwicker 6). Turnovers: 3. Fouls: 13. Fouled out: none. Record: 10-3, 6-1 Wisconsin Valley Conference.
MARSHFIELD (56): Isaac Meverden 2-5 2-2 6, Brant Bohman 3-5 0-0 7, Tommy Olson 2-3 0-0 6, Reed Miller 4-12 0-0 9, Seth Anderson 8-16 5-5 21, Anthony Posteluk 1-1 2-2 5, John Reigel 0-0 0-0 0, Grant Urban 0-2 2-2 2. FG: 20-34. FT: 11-11. 3-pointers: 5-13 (Olson 2-3, Miller 1-4, Bohman 1-2, Posteluk 1-1, Meverden 0-1, Anderson 0-2). Rebounds: 30 (Miller 10). Turnovers: 11. Fouls: 18. Fouled out: Anderson. Record: 7-7, 5-2 Wisconsin Valley Conference.