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By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
MARSHFIELD – On the west wall of the Marshfield High School Fieldhouse there are banners for each varsity sport displaying the years in which Marshfield won a conference championship.
The boys basketball banner is nearly empty. Only the year 1992 appears, marking the only season Marshfield has won a Wisconsin Valley Conference title in the sport. This year’s team is on a mission to add another number, 2010, to the box.
Despite losing its first conference game of the season Friday, a 61-55 overtime defeat to the hands of D.C. Everest, the Tigers (7-3 overall) remain in first place in the Valley with a 4-1 record. Marshfield will complete the first half of the Valley schedule Tuesday at Wausau East with destiny, and a WVC championship, well within its grasp.
“We’re just going to come hard, work hard on Monday and work toward going undefeated from here,” junior guard Sully Luepke said. “That’s our goal, to win conference and put something in the box. We have certain drills to put a date in the box, that’s what we’re going to do.”
The Tigers won’t have too much time to dwell on the loss, in which they gave up a season-high 61 points as Marshfield heads right back into Valley action Tuesday against East.
How the players come into practice Monday could be a telling sign for what lies ahead for the Tigers.
“The mark of our team will be how we bounce back from it, coming back on Monday and getting ready for East on the road on Tuesday,” Marshfield coach Craig Michaelis said. “As much as it leaves a bad taste in your mouth, you don’t have time to dwell on it, you have to get right back up on the horse and get after it.”
Luepke said despite the loss to the Evergreens, he feels like things have been coming together for the team this season. Junior Cale Zuiker, who hit a buzzer-beating shot to defeat Holmen last Tuesday, is in the top five in the conference in scoring at 13 points a game and the return of senior Ryan Danczak, who led Marshfield with 17 points Friday night have helped bring depth to the lineup.
“We got more mature. We had a young team last year,” he said. “We got Ryan (Danczak) back from a couple of injuries and we’ve meshed a lot better this year. Last year was kind of two classes, and this year we have come together and we’ve got a good thing going.”
Senior guard Ben Johnson sees the same thing, and even after the loss, seems to think this could be a magical year for the Tigers.
“We’ve been unified this year,” Johnson said. “Last year, it was kind of hit or miss. I think this team, we bond well, we play together and we play for each other out there.
“From now on every conference game is that much bigger since we lost this one. We just have to continue to get better, work hard and continue to play better basketball.”
Contact publisher/reporter Paul Lecker by e-mail at paul@marshfieldareasports.com.
