This story is sponsored by: Chips Hamburgers of Marshfield and Wisconsin Rapids
By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
STEVENS POINT – The intensity was turned up a notch for a meeting of two of the state’s top-10 ranked Division 1 boys basketball teams at Stevens Point Area Senior High.
Nothing came easy for either squad and ninth-ranked Marshfield made the most of its opportunities late to squeeze out a 51-47 victory over No. 4 Stevens Point on Monday night, overcoming a seven-point halftime deficit.
The win, Marshfield’s 11th in a row, pushes its record to 16-1 overall and a perfect 7-0 in the Wisconsin Valley Conference. The Tigers open up a full two-game lead over Stevens Point (16-2, 5-2 WVC) and Wausau East in the conference standings with five games remaining. Click here to view the Wisconsin Valley Conference boys basketball standings
“We didn’t draw up any magic plays, we just kept playing,” Marshfield coach Chris Fischer. “I thought we got a little ‘3’ happy in the first half. I thought we kind of settled a little bit and didn’t have a lot of rim pressure. As soon as we were willing to have body contact on cuts, screens and attacks, I thought we got better.
“Some of the shots we settled for in the first half, we were making in the second half, and then it came down to the free throw line. It was a good test for us both mentally and physically.”
Marshfield was ice cold from the field early in the first half and Stevens Point took advantage, rolling out a 15-3 lead behind 11 points from junior forward Grant Chandonais.
The Tigers started out 1-for-9 from the field before back-to-back 3-pointers from Chris Pohl and another by Landon Lee. Stevens Point countered as Chandonais scored inside and Carter Combs hit a triple and the Panthers held a 20-11 lead.
After four points by Marshfield, Stevens Point scored six in a row before Brooks Hinson closed out the half with two free throws and a layup, the latter just before the buzzer, and the Tigers trailed 26-19 at halftime.
Joey Ketterer connected on a 3-pointer 5½ minutes into the second half to give Marshfield its first lead at 29-28. Another Hinson basket pushed the lead to three, ending a 12-2 run to start the half and from there it was ‘Game on!’
Stevens Point countered with a 7-0 run, which included five more points for Chandonais, the game’s leading scorer with 23.
Marshfield forged a 37-37 tie moments later on a Lee 3-pointer, before the Panthers went back up by four with 5:40 to go.
From there it was all Marshfield. A driving layup and another 3 from Lee gave Marshfield a 42-41 lead and it would never trail again as Stevens Point went to the fouling game during the last 1½ minutes. The Tigers made nine of 12 at the line, just enough to keep SPASH at bay until the final horn sounded.
Fischer pointed to the play of Ketterer off the bench as a key to the victory.
“Our matchups worked better with him on the floor,” Fischer said. “There have been games where our matchups with Valin Ramberg or Ethan (Knecht) worked better, and tonight for us was a ‘Joey game.’ He’s a really good player, a really good athlete. He had a big shot in the first half, a big 3 in the second half, and he defended No. 20 (Jerrin Suehs), one of the best shooters in the state. That made a big difference for us.”
Suehs, who averages 12 points per game and has 58 3-pointers for the Panthers this season, was held scoreless on 0-for-3 shooting.
Hinson ended up with 20 points, Lee 12 and Pohl 11 for the Tigers.
Marshfield will be back in action Tuesday at Wisconsin Rapids before playing at Wausau East on Friday. Both games start at 7:15 p.m.
Tigers 51, Panthers 47
Marshfield 19 32 – 51
Stevens Point 26 21 – 47
MARSHFIELD (51): Chris Pohl 3-9 3-6 11, Joey Ketterer 2-3 0-0 5, Brooks Hinson 5-11 8-8 20, Brant Freis 1-3 0-0 3, Landon Lee 4-13 2-3 12, Valin Ramberg 0-2 0-0 0, Ethan Knecht 0-0 0-0 0. FG: 15-41. FT: 13-17. 3-pointers: 8-28 (Hinson 2-6, Pohl 2-7, Lee 2-8, Ketterer 1-2, Freis 1-3, Ramberg 0-2). Rebounds: 19 (Pohl 6). Turnovers: 11. Fouls: 13. Fouled out: none. Record: 16-1, 7-0 Wisconsin Valley Conference.
STEVENS POINT (47): Amon Konopacki 1-5 0-1 2, Carter Combs 2-3 2-2 7, Noah Marschke 0-6 0-0 0, Grant Chandonais 8-14 4-5 23, Baraka Makalin 3-5 1-2 8, Jonny Ananiadis 0-0 0-0 0, Jerrin Suehs 0-3 0-0 0, Nick Fox 3-5 1-2 7. FG: 17-41. FT: 8-12. 3-pointers: 5-18 (Chandonais 3-6, Combs 1-2, Makalin 1-2, Suehs 0-1, Konopacki 0-1, Fox 0-2, Marschke 0-4). Rebounds: 24 (Konopacki 5, Chandonais 5). Turnovers: 14. Fouls: 23. Fouled out: Combs, Makalin. Record: 16-2, 5-2 Wisconsin Valley Conference.