This story is sponsored by: The Marshfield Tiger Booster Club
By Steve Pilz
For MarshfieldAreaSports.com
MARSHFIELD – The Marshfield Tigers girls didn’t shoot the lights out all of Friday night, but they sure did when they needed to, putting it in gear midway through the first half and cruising to a 52-40 win over Shawano in a WIAA Division 2 girls basketball regional semifinal at the Marshfield High School Fieldhouse.
Thanks to an upset on the other side of the bracket, the third-seeded Tigers (11-12) will host another playoff game Saturday night at 7 p.m. against No. 7 seed New London (13-11) for the regional championship. New London pounded second-seeded Lakeland 61-39 on the road Friday night.
Tigers senior Meg Bryan entered the game with 67 3-pointers and a 12.9 scoring average.
With the Tigers struggling to get out of the gate, the senior guard with an effortless jumper, struggled as well, missing her first four 3-point attempts.
That was apparently bad news for the Hawks.
After Bryan hit her first three, teammate Jenna Jakobi hit a short jumper, and that was followed two baskets by Katie Osinski. When Bryan hit another three it was 16-5 with 6:45 left in the first half. Six minutes later the damage was done. Osinski would finish the half with 12 points on 6-for-7 shooting, Bryan hit five threes in the half and Jakobi chipped in seven points as the Tigers led 34-19.
“We talked about being efficient on offense,” Marshfield coach Heidi Michaelis said. “We needed to take what they gave us. Meg (Bryan), she hung in their early, missed four or five right away. She started slow but came on strong. That’s what shooters do. Katie O. has been doing that for us all season. She’s good with her body. The kids look to her because they know she can score down low. She really came through for us tonight.”
The Hawks scored the first six points of the second half with a trapping half-court press, but the hole they dug and the experience of Bryan, Osinski and Jakobi shone through enough to help the Tigers weather the storm. A 3-pointer by Shawano’s Tori DePerry, who finished with 23 points, brought the Hawks to within eight at 48-40 with 4:25 left in the game.
Bryan drilled two more 3s in the half, to give her 74 for the season, wrapped around four buckets by Jakobi, when they needed them and the Hawks had no chance against the Tigers three-headed monster. Bryan finished with a season-high 23 points on seven 3-pointers. Jakobi had 15 and Osinski missed just two shots on her way to 12 points.
Coach Michaelis concluded her comments at game’s end saying “I’m thrilled to be playing tomorrow night.”
Tigers 52, Hawks 40
Shawano 19 21 – 40
Marshfield 34 18 – 52
SHAWANO (40): Rachel Reed 3, Hailey Buschman 4, Tori DePerry 23, Kayla Ward 2, Hannah Wendorff 2, Brandi Gueths 4, Gracyn Habeck 2. FG: 15-45. FT: 6-13. 3-pointers: 4-14 (DePerry 3, Reed 1). Turnovers: 14. Fouls 11. Fouled out: none. Record: 15-9.
MARSHFIELD (52): Kaydee Johnson 0-2 0-0 0, Meg Bryan 8-17 0-0 23, Maddie Michaelis 0-2 0-0 0, Desirae Weisenberger 0-3 0-0 0, Corianne Johnson 1-1-0-0 2, Katie Osinski 6-8 0-1-12, Jenna Jakobi 7-17 1-4 15. FG: 22-50. FT: 1-5. 3-pointers: 7-18 (Bryan 7). Turnovers: 11. Fouls: 10. Fouled out: none. Record 11-12.