This story is sponsored by: The Marshfield Tiger Booster Club
By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
MARSHFIELD – The one-two punch of Stevens Point’s Leah Earnest and Madisyn Rogan were just too much to handle for the Marshfield girls basketball team on Friday night.
Earnest scored 27 points and grabbed 13 rebounds, and Rogan had 18 points on 7-for-12 shooting to lead the Panthers to a 75-60 victory over Marshfield in the two teams’ Wisconsin Valley Conference opener at the Boson Company Fieldhouse at Marshfield High School.
Earnest scored seven points in the opening 3½ minutes to help the Panthers build a 12-3 lead and they never trailed in the game.
“Earnest and Rogan are both great players,” Marshfield coach Taylor Varsho said. “Earnest, we couldn’t guard her. She would hesitate, take a dribble and attack the rim. She has a pull-up jumper, can shoot from 3, she’s got it all. Rogan took the game over in the second half. She sees the floor so well.
“We have a lot of work to do defensively. I’m proud of the girls, we scored 60 points, so it’s not our offense that’s hurting us, it’s our defense. We have to focus to getting a stop every possession.”
Marshfield (2-3, 0-1 Wisconsin Valley Conference) fell behind by as much as nine before closing to within 22-20 on a 6-0 run, four points coming from Paige Preston.
Point (3-4, 1-0 Wisconsin Valley Conference) responded five points in a row to regain control. The Panhters made 16 of 28 shots from the field in the first half to take a 36-28 lead into intermission.
Untimely turnovers and missed shots hurt the Tigers at the start of the second half and Stevens Point took full advantage.
Earnest had six points and Rogan four in a 12-2 run to start the half, giving the Panthers an 18-point lead.
Kaydee Johnson, who scored a team-high 21 points, had three baskets in a 10-4 run for the Tigers to cut it down to 12, but the Panthers came back again with a 12-0 run to effectively end it.
Marshfield trailed by as much as 25 before scoring the final nine points to close out the game.
“We’ve got to be stronger with the ball and improve our basketball knowledge,” Varsho said. “We’ve got to look up the court, we’ve got to go where there’s a mismatch, we don’t see the floor like Rogan does.
“We started off 0-2 and it was great to get those two road wins (against Medford and Eau Claire North). It’s great to see that there are capabilities from my players. We’ve just got to stop the threats from the other team. We’ll get better and we’ll work on it.”
Marshfield plays at Wisconsin Rapids as part of a girls-boys doubleheader on Tuesday. The girls game starts at 6 p.m., with boys to follow at approximately 7:45 p.m. Both games will be broadcast on WDLB-AM 1450 and wdlbwosq.com.
Panthers 75, Tigers 60
Marshfield 28 32 – 60
Stevens Point 36 39 – 75
STEVENS POINT (75): Rachel Lummis 6-11 0-0 12, Shaye Solinsky 0-0 0-0 0, Faith Weddle 0-0 0-0 0, Alyssa Standifer 0-1 0-0 0, Kelsie Kostuchowski 1-3 0-0 2, Kylie Klismith 0-1 0-0 0, Joleece Pecore 3-6 0-0 8, Kaylee Hintz 1-4 0-0 2, Hailey Carlson 3-3 0-1 6, Madisyn Rogan 7-12 4-6 18, Zoe Fink 0-2 0-1 0, Leah Earnest 11-23 2-3 27. FG: 32-66. FT: 6-11. 3-pointers: 5-17 (Earnest 3-7, Pecore 2-3, Hintz 0-2, Fink 0-2, Rogan 0-3). Rebounds: 37 (Earnest 13). Turnovers: 14. Fouls: 10. Fouled out: none. Record: 3-4, 1-0 Wisconsin Valley Conference.
MARSHFIELD (60): Grayce Bryan 0-1 0-0 0, Maddie Michaelis 3-11 0-0 9, Kaydee Johnson 9-16 0-0 21, Hannah Kelnhofer 0-0 0-0 0, Desirae Weisenberger 0-0 0-0 0, Bailey Matis 2-5 1-2 7, Emily Weis 0-0 0-0 0, Paige Preston 3-6 1-4 7, Brooklyn Boushack 3-6 0-0 6, Jenna Jakobi 5-11 0-0 10. FG: 25-56. FT: 2-6. 3-pointers: 8-21 (Johnson 3-7, Michaelis 3-9, Matis 2-4, Bryan 0-1). Rebounds: 26 (Jakobi 7). Turnovers: 15. Fouls: 11. Fouled out: none. Record: 2-3, 0-1 Wisconsin Valley Conference.