This story is sponsored by: All Insurance of Marshfield
By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
MARSHFIELD – The Marshfield girls basketball team led by 15 points early in the second half and looked like it was well on its way to its second-straight win.
Merrill, however, never gave in and chipped away at the deficit, finally taking the lead in the final minutes and pulled off a 49-48 comeback victory in a Wisconsin Valley Conference game Tuesday afternoon at Marshfield High School.
Marshfield led 31-20 at halftime behind 13 points from sophomore Danielle Minsaas and 12 from senior guard Maddie Michaelis.
Loryn Jakobi made two free throws and Michaelis scored off an offensive rebound to put the Tigers up 35-20 one minute into the second half.
Marshfield suddenly went cold and Merrill was able to chip away at the Tigers’ big lead.
The Bluejays used a 10-0 run to pull to within five. Minsaas’ 3-pointer was Marshfield’s first field goal in eight minutes and pushed its lead back to eight at 39-31 with 9 minutes left.
Merrill had three-point plays from Cyrstal Dearth and Courtney Krueger, and a 3-point basket from Krueger gave the Bluejays their first lead at 47-46 with 2:35 to go.
The lead changed hands three times in the final minutes, with Minsaas’ steal and layup to put Marshfield back on top 48-47 with 38 seconds left.
Krueger made a pair of free throws to give Merrill a one-point lead with 21 seconds left and Marshfield called a timeout to set up a final shot, but Jakobi’s jumper from the free throw line area missed as time expired.
Minsaas finished with 20 points, and Michaelis had 16 points and six rebounds for Marshfield, which drops to 1-7 overall and 1-4 in the Wisconsin Valley Conference.
Krueger had 11 of her 17 points in the second half to pace Merrill (3-1, 1-1 Wisconsin Valley Conference).
Marshfield hosts Oshkosh North at 4 p.m. Wednesday. The game will be live at zaleskisports.com/live-sports.
Bluejays 49, Tigers 48
Merrill 20 29 – 49
Marshfield 31 17 – 48
MERRILL (49): Alayna Pozorski 0-1 0-0 0, Crystal Dearth 4-8 4-4 12, Courtney Krueger 5-13 6-8 17, Nicole Zoellner 2-5 0-0 4, Erin Murray 3-7 0-0 6, Claire Drew 2-7 0-0 5, Prayla Pyan 2-7 1-2 5. FG: 18-48. FT: 11-14. 3-pointers: 2-8 (Krueger 1-3, Drew 1-4, Murray 0-1). Rebounds: 38 (Drew 9). Turnovers: 11. Fouls: 10. Fouled out: none. Record: 3-1, 1-1 Wisconsin Valley Conference.
MARSHFIELD (48): Madison Voss 0-1 0-0 0, Sophia Gruenling 0-1 0-0 0, Maddie Michaelis 6-11 1-3 16, Danielle Minsaas 8-16 0-0 20, Brianna Varsho 0-5 0-0 0, Hannah Halle 0-0 0-0 0, Quincy Lang 1-6 1-2 4, Kaitlyn Abney 0-0 0-0 0, Loryn Jakobi 3-9 2-2 8. FG: 18-49. FT: 4-7. 3-pointers: 8-22 (Minsaas 4-6, Michaelis 3-7, Lang 1-5, Varsho 0-3, Gruenling 0-1). Rebounds: 26 (Jakobi 7). Turnovers: 8. Fouls: 16. Fouled out: none. Record: 1-7, 1-4 Wisconsin Valley Conference.