This story is sponsored by Forward Bank
By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
MARSHFIELD – The Marshfield boys basketball team suffered through a rough season last year, winning just two games.
Although playing tough against three ranked teams to begin this season, the Tigers lost all three. However, on Saturday the Tigers went into Kaukauna for a nonconference game, made 14 3-pointers, and rolled to a 20-point win.
With the win came a new-found confidence and Marshfield took that into its Wisconsin Valley Conference opener Monday night and pounded Merrill 60-42 at Marshfield High School.
Chase Hinson scored 14 points, Carson Kvernen added 13 points, and Gavin Fravert had 10 points and 13 rebounds for the Tigers, who are now 2-3 overall, matching their win total from 2020-21.
“We found something Saturday night in terms of our confidence,” second-year Marshfield coach Chris Fischer said. “All week last week we had really good practices. It’s amazing what happens to everything when the ball goes in the basket. It gives us a ton of energy.
“We have had some dry spells offensively, but we’re figuring out ways to get through those. We got to the free throw line more tonight, we attacked the post and through the paint tonight. We can’t allow the scoreboard to dictate our energy. We have to make sure we bring it at all times.”
A Fravert 3-pointer gave Marshfield at 14-13 with 8:41 to go in the first half and the Tigers never trailed again.
The 3-pointer sparked an 8-0 run that included a basket by Chase Hinson and a 3-pointer from Brooks Hinson.
After Merrill cut it back to two on back-to-back baskets by Bailey Turrene, who finished with a game-high 21 points, Marshfield closed the first half on a 10-2 run. Chase Hinson book-ended the run with 3-pointers and the Tigers led 29-19 at the break.
Marshfield was just 5-for-15 from 3-point range in the first half, but 6-for-9 inside the arc and Fischer said the Tigers made a concerted effort to try to get the ball inside more in the second half. It worked, helping the Tigers build a 20-point lead after a 14-4 run that all came without a 3-point attempt.
“It wasn’t necessarily to get away from the 3, but before we shoot a 3 let’s get a paint touch,” Fischer said. “I thought Kvernen did a great job, Carsten Freis got his hands on a lot of offensive rebounds, Gavin Fravert rebounded well. We did make an effort we attacked the paint a little bit more.”
A three-point play by Kvernen pushed Marshfield’s lead to 48-26 with 12:02 remaining and Merrill didn’t make much of a run after that, missing 11 of 13 free throw attempts and only getting as close as 15 the rest of the way.
Merrill shot just 32 percent (15-for-46) and were only 3-for-16 from 3-point range in the loss, falling to 1-3 this season.
Marshfield will play at D.C. Everest on Friday.
Tigers 60, Bluejays 42
Merrill 19 23 – 42
Marshfield 29 31 – 60
MERRILL (42): Cayden Diels 0-3 1-2 1, Bradyn Pieper 1-7 0-1 2, Croix Woller 0-0 0-2 0, Bailey Turrene 8-16 4-5 21, Cory Gigl 1-5 0-0 2, Michael McRae 0-0 0-1 0, Jaylin Scott 0-0 0-2 0, Sam Reiman 1-4 1-4 3, Troy Mootz 4-11 3-5 13. FG: 15-46. FT: 9-22. 3-pointers: 3-16 (Mootz 2-5, Turrene 1-4, Diels 0-1, Pieper 0-3, Gigl 0-3). Rebounds: 26 (Turrene 13). Turnovers: 16. Fouls: 19. Fouled out: McRae. Record: 1-3, 0-1 Wisconsin Valley Conference.
MARSHFIELD (60): Marcus Perkins 1-2 0-0 2, Chase Hinson 5-14 2-2 14, Gavin Fravert 3-7 3-4 10, Carson Kvernen 6-10 1-1 13, Luke LeMoine 3-4 0-0 6, Trevor Foemmel 0-0 0-0 0, James Ketterer 0-0 0-0 0, Braxton Kurth 0-0 2-2 2, Brooks Hinson 2-5 0-0 6, Marcus Neve 0-2 6-6 6, Carsten Freis 0-1 1-2 1. FG: 20-45. FT: 15-17. 3-pointers: 5-19 (B. Hinson 2-4, C. Hinson 2-7, Fravert 1-4, Freis 0-1, LeMoine 0-1, Kvernen 0-2). Rebounds: 38 (Fravert 13). Turnovers: 18. Fouls: 21. Fouled out: none. Record: 2-3, 1-0 Wisconsin Valley Conference.