This story is sponsored by: The Marshfield Tiger Booster Club
By Steve Pilz
For MarshfieldAreaSports.com
MARSHFIELD – A slow start caused the Marshfield girls basketball squad to drop its opener 43-35 in the Marshfield Holiday Tournament to Hudson on Friday night at the Boson Construction Fieldhouse at Marshfield High School.
The Tigers fall to 2-4 on the season and will play Oshkosh North Saturday at 3:15 p.m. North lost to Wausau West in the other game Friday. West will take on Hudson at 1:30 p.m.
Tigers coach Taylor Varsho was quick to find a silver lining, however, after the loss.
“We really worked hard tonight,” Varsho said. “Our effort was one that we hadn’t seen all year. We’re getting over that hump. Statistically we shot 28 percent overall and they shot well over that.”
The Raiders did start out shooting 6-for-13, which is just fine, but Marshfield missed its first 12 shots, got behind early and played catch-up the rest of the night. The Tigers’ 3-for-21 first half from the field was hardly anything to write home about and they trailed 17-10 at intermission.
Both teams tallied 10 field goals in the second half, but since Hudson didn’t have to do any “bulk” shooting in order to catch up, the Raiders’ percentage was stellar hoisting just 15 shots.
Desirae Weisenberger did get the Tigers to within two at the 11:58 mark of the second half. Weisenberger was fouled as she took the ball to the basket and made the first free throw. A brief discussion ensued and the Hudson coach was issued a warning and then a technical foul to clear the free throw lanes. Weisenberger made her next free throw, hit the first technical but missed the second making it 23-21.
From there, the defenses took over until Kaydee Johnson brought the Tigers back to within 3 at the 3:20 mark, but that was as close as the home team would get.
“At the end of the day our defense was really good tonight,” continued Varsho. “We played man most of the game and they out-sized us in every area. They’re tall, they’re lengthy. I thought Quincy Lang was awesome battling down low. Some of our players got back to who they are. Attack mentality. We’ve just got to come back ready tomorrow.”
Livi Boily and Audrey Hatfield led the Raiders with 14 and 10 respectively, while Weisenberger was the only Tiger in double digits with 11.
Raiders 43, Tigers 35
Hudson 17 26 – 43
Marshfield 10 25 – 35
HUDSON (43): Kira Young 1 0-0 2, Grace O’Brien 2 0-0 4, Sophia Jones 2 5-6 8, Livi Boily 6 2-3 14, Audrey Hatfield 4 2-4 10, Grace Johnson 2 2-2 6. FG: 16-35. FT: 11-17. 3-pointers: 0-7. Turnovers:13. Fouled out: none. Record: 6-4.
MARSHFIELD (35): Kaydee Johnson 2 1-2 6, Maddie Michaelis 2 0-0 4, Danielle Minsaas 3 1-1 7, Desirae Weisenberger 3 5-7 11, Paige Preston 2 1-1 5, Quincy Lang 1 0-0 2. FG:13-47. FT: 8-11. 3-pointers: 1-16. (Johnson). Turnovers: 12. Fouled out: none. Record: 2-4.