This story is sponsored by Norm E Lane Farm
By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
MARSHFIELD – It took three quarters for the Marshfield girls basketball team to shake off the rust of a long offseason.
However, once the Tigers finally got their offense rolling, it shut down again, and Ashwaubenon took advantage.
The Jaguars overcame a seven-point deficit in the fourth quarter and scored the final six points in regulation to force overtime, then outscored Marshfield 10-5 in the extra period to beat the Tigers 43-38 in a nonconference game Friday night at Marshfield High School.
Marshfield was just 8 of 35 from the field through three quarters but made its first five shots of the fourth quarter – including 3-pointers by Taylor Varsho and Alyssa Brenner – to take a 33-27 lead with 3:08 left.
The Tigers missed their final four shots of the period and Ashwaubenon (2-1) stormed back as 6-foot-4 center Ashley Berth scored three hoops, including one that tied the score with 37 seconds left.
Each team missed shots on the ensuing possessions and Varsho missed a half-court heave at the buzzer, sending the game to overtime.
Brenner made 3 of 4 free throws on consecutive trips to give the Tigers a 38-37 lead with 1:58 left in OT, but they wouldn’t score again.
Hailey Edlebeck made a basket with 1:43 to go to give the Jaguars the lead and Samantha Kraus and Taylor Campbell each made two free throws to ice it.
Edelbeck finished with 13 points and Berth led the Jaguars with 17 points (13 in the second half and overtime) and six rebounds.
“We didn’t take, necessarily, bad shots, but we had missed opportunities,” Marshfield coach Heidi Michaelis said. “We turned the ball over when people were open. We talk all the time about taking care of the ball, making free throws, which we didn’t, and you have to rebound.
“I thought we limited to them to the most part, rebounding was alright, most of all we just didn’t take care of the ball and didn’t take advantage of the opportunities that we had.”
Marshfield trailed 9-5 after one quarter and 13-6 midway through the second quarter as it missed 15 of its first 17 shot attempts.
Varsho scored five straight points and Leah Ripp hit a shot to tie it at 13-13 at halftime.
Varsho eight of her game-high 23 points to account for all the Tigers’ points in the third quarter as Marshfield built a 21-19 lead. It continued to build on the lead through the first 5 minutes of the fourth. After that, the Tigers reverted back to the way they started the game.
Marshfield finished the game shooting just 28 percent from the floor (14 of 50), 8 of 17 from the free-throw line and 2 of 18 from 3-point range.
“When you are up 7 with maybe 3 minutes left, that’s a game that you should win,” Michaelis said. “I felt that we got up then we made mistakes and gave them easy, easy looks down the stretch.
“Some were young mistakes – lots of learning things in there. We have to make them make the mistakes. Even though we were up, they forced us to make mistakes. That’s just a matter of game time, being smart with the ball and finishing strong.”
Marshfield’s next game is at La Crosse Central on Tuesday.
Jaguars 43, Tigers 38 (OT)
Ashwaubenon 9 4 5 15 10 – 43
Marshfield 5 8 8 12 5 – 38
ASHWAUBENON (43): Hailey Edlebeck 6-8 1-2 13, Taylor Campbell 1-4 2-2 5, Samantha Kraus 2-8 2-2 6, Melanie Noskowiak 0-3 0-0 0, Ashley Berth 8-11 1-4 17, Haley Semenak 1-3 0-0 2, Alyssa Bunday 0-4 0-0 0, Morgan Bielski 0-1 0-0 0, Jordyn Mommaerts 0-1 0-0 0. FG: 18-43. FT: 6-10. 3-pointers: 1-10 (Campbell 1-3, Edlebeck 0-1, Semenak 0-1, Noskowiak 0-2, Kraus 0-2, Mommaerts 0-1). Rebounds: 25 (Berth 6). Total fouls: 16. Fouled out: none. Turnovers: 16. Record: 2-1.
MARSHFIELD (38): Taylor Varsho 9-20 4-7 23, Leah Ripp 3-8 0-0 6, Sarah Wolff 0-6 1-2 1, Alyssa Brenner 2-4 3-4 8, Eleni Seitz 0-9 0-0 0, Tiffany Stargardt 0-6 0-0 0. FG: 14-50. FT: 8-17. 3-pointers: 2-18 (Varsho 1-9, Brenner 1-1, Wolff 0-4, Ripp 0-3, Stargardt 0-1). Rebounds: 31 (Seitz 14, Wolff 7, Varsho 6). Total fouls: 12. Fouled out: Seitz. Turnovers: 17. Record: 0-1.