This story is sponsored by Forward Bank
By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
MARSHFIELD – After a slow start, the Marshfield boys basketball team used a big run to grab control of the game and with it, take a stranglehold on the Wisconsin Valley Conference championship race.
D.C. Everest scored the game’s first seven points before Marshfield surged ahead with 12-straight points of its own and cruised to a 56-42 win Friday night at the Chips Hamburgers Fieldhouse at Marshfield High School.
With the victory, Marshfield’s 11th in a row, the Tigers improve to 13-4 overall and 7-0 in the Wisconsin Valley Conference, opening up a two-game lead over Stevens Point (5-2) and are now 2½ games ahead of D.C. Everest (12-5, 5-3 WVC).
Marcus Hall hit a 3-pointer and Casey Stuedeman scored twice to help the Evergreens out to a quick 7-0 lead.
Marshfield, after adjusting to D.C. Everest’s defensive game-plan, quickly got back in it with back-to-back 3-pointers from Braxton Kurth and Owen Hanson, sparking a 29-9 run that would put the Tigers in control.
A 3-pointer from Cade Felch gave Everest a 16-15 lead after Marshfield briefly went ahead on a three-point play by Brooks Hinson, and the Tigers would march on a 12-0 run as Hanson scored six points and Hinson and Chris Pohl had 3-pointers to give Marshfield a 29-16 lead.
The Tigers took a 31-20 lead into halftime and led by at least nine throughout the second half.
“They came out in a triangle-and-two to try to take Brooks (Hinson) and Luke (LeMoine) out of it, and it took it maybe four or five possessions to recognize what to do and to get ourselves organized,” Marshfield coach Chris Fischer said. “Braxton hit a 3, Owen hit a 3 and we got better at spacing them out and attacking.
“Owen Hanson was really active tonight cutting without the basketball. We had a lot of energy both offensively and defensively. Defensively, it might have the best as far as us being locked in and understanding what we’re trying to do.”
Marshfield went up by as much as 15 early in the second half after a basket by Kurth, and following a Hall 3-pointer cut the Tigers’ lead to 41-32, Marshfield scored five points in a row and the outcome was not in doubt the rest of the way.
Hanson had 18 points and five rebounds, Hinson finished with 12, making all five of his free throw attempts, and Pohl, a freshman, came off the bench to score nine points and grab four boards for Marshfield.
“We had a lot of energy tonight and I like to think that we’re trying to do in terms of physical conditioning,” Fischer said. “I thought we had energy from start to finish. We only went about seven deep, but the seven we had played really, really good. Chris Pohl, the poise he plays with as a freshman, really stands out.”
Hall, a University of Wisconsin-Green Bay recruit, led D.C. Everest with 21 points and eight rebounds. Stuedemann added 13 points and eight rebounds as well.
Marshfield will play its next four games in a row at home with its next contest Tuesday against Wisconsin Rapids. D.C. Everest hosts Mosinee for a nonconference game on Tuesday.
Click here to view the Wisconsin Valley Conference boys basketball standings.
Tigers 56, Evergreens 42
D.C. Everest 20 22 – 42
Marshfield 31 25 – 56
D.C. EVEREST (42): Conner McFarlane 1-10 0-0 2, Colin Ebersold 0-2 0-0 0, Cade Felch 1-3 0-1 3, Marcus Hall 7-13 4-4 21, Cohen Priebe 1-5 0-1 3, Owen Soehl 0-0 0-0 0, Casey Stuedemann 5-5 3-4 13. FG: 15-38. FT: 7-10. 3-pointers: 5-23 (Hall 3-8, Priebe 1-3, Felch 1-3, Ebersold 0-2, McFarlane 0-7). Rebounds: 24 (Stuedeman 8, Hall 8). Turnovers: 10. Fouls: 16. Fouled out: Stuedemann. Record: 12-5, 5-3 Wisconsin Valley Conference.
MARSHFIELD (56): Luke LeMoine 3-9 2-3 8, Braxton Kurth 3-5 0-0 7, Brooks Hinson 3-8 5-5 12, Landon Lee 1-4 0-0 2, Sam Meverden 0-2 0-0 0, Chris Pohl 3-4 2-2 9, Owen Hanson 8-12 1-3 18. FG: 21-44. FT: 10-13. 3-pointers: 4-14 (Pohl 1-2, Hanson 1-3, Hinson 1-3, Kurth 1-3, Lee 0-1, Meverden 0-1, LeMoine 0-1). Rebounds: 26 (LeMoine 6). Turnovers: 6. Fouls: 15. Fouled out: none. Record: 13-4, 7-0 Wisconsin Valley Conference.