This story is sponsored by Dental Clinic of Marshfield
By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
MARSHFIELD – The good thing for the Marshfield girls basketball team was that it held on for a 49-47 victory over Wausau West, however, Tigers coach Heidi Michaelis said they have to find a way to finish games better than they have been.
Marshfield won for the sixth straight time and improved to 10-2 overall and 5-0 in the Wisconsin Valley Conference with the victory Tuesday night, but struggled down the stretch after building a big lead.
The game was similar to last year’s home game against West when the Tigers nearly blew a 10-point lead in the final minute, but held on for a two-point win.
On Tuesday, Marshfield led 45-36 with 3:23 left but couldn’t put away West. The Tigers made just 7 of 14 free throws and were 3 of 9 from the field in the fourth quarter. Marshfield was 4 of 8 from the line in the final 3 minutes, and the Warriors took advantage.
Amanda Fischer had a three-point play with 1:02 left and nearly had another 22 seconds later, but she missed a free throw that could have cut Marshfield’s lead to two.
Taylor Varsho, who finished with a game-high 23 points, made one of two from the line after an intentional foul call. Leah Ripp missed a pair from the line but West used up the remainder of the 16 seconds on the clock as Johanna Fischer made a basket just before the buzzer to provide the final two-point margin.
“The good thing is we are still in first and we won the game,” Michaelis said. “The bad thing is that we’re not finishing games and that will catch us if we don’t get better at it. I thought in the second half, our offense just went totally south. They played harder than we did in the second half.”
Marshfield built a 29-12 lead in the second quarter behind 13 first-half points from Varsho, and led 31-16 early in the third quarter after a basket by Eleni Seitz.
The Warriors (4-9, 2-4 Wisconsin Valley Conference) responded with a 10-0 run and a 3-pointer by Janelle Huehnerfuss in the final seconds brought West to within seven at 36-29 heading into the fourth quarter.
Amanda Fischer scored 11 of her team-high 17 points in the fourth quarter as the Warriors tried to make a furious comeback, but came up just short.
Varsho said West came out in the second half and looked like a totally different team, something that the Tigers were unable to adjust to.
“I thought they were soft the first half and we definitely took it at them, were aggressive to the hoop,” Varsho said. “In the second half they came out and they went on a run and that hurt us.
“We need to work on holding that lead and scoring when they score. For a team to go as far as we want to go, to go as far as our goals are, we can’t not score on offense.”
Tuesday’s game was the first of a stretch that sees Marshfield play five of six games at home. Michaelis is looking for the Tigers to continue improve.
“(West) finished the game the way I wanted to finish the game,” Michaelis said. “We just have to be better down the stretch and be better in the second half. We have to get back at it, continue to work on things, free throws, and being more efficient on offense. We need people to step up and throw a basket in and help Taylor out. Tonight, perhaps that didn’t happen.”
Marshfield hosts Merrill on Friday before playing West against next Tuesday at West.
Tigers 49, Warriors 47
Wausau West 6 10 13 18 – 47
Marshfield 15 14 7 13 – 49
WAUSAU WEST (47): Shanna King 1-4 0-0 2, Janelle Huehnerfuss 3-9 0-0 7, Kirstin Falk 1-2 1-2 3, Pakou Yang 0-1 0-0 0, Johanna Fischer 2-3 1-2 5, Kierra Kohlbeck 2-7 0-0 4, Amanda Fischer 7-11 3-7 17, Carly Coleman 0-2 0-0 0, Caity Coleman 2-6 4-4 9. FG: 18-45. FT: 9-15. 3-pointers: 2-9 (Caity Coleman 1-3, Huehnerfuss 1-5, King 0-1). Rebounds: 21 (A. Fischer 8). Turnovers: 13. Total fouls: 23. Fouled out: none. Record: 4-9, 2-4 Wisconsin Valley Conference.
MARSHFIELD (49): Mary Wolff 0-0 0-0 0, Taylor Varsho 7-23 9-15 23, Tiffany Stargardt 2-6 2-2 6, Leah Ripp 0-4 3-6 3, Sarah Wolff 0-3 0-0 0, Alyssa Brenner 4-7 0-0 9, Becky Boehning 0-0 0-0 0, Courtney Bauer 0-0 0-0 0, Eleni Seitz 2-3 4-4 8, Brianna Hill 0-0 0-0 0. FG: 15-46. FT: 18-27. 3-pointers: 1-11 (Brenner 1-3, S. Wolff 0-3, Varsho 0-4, Ripp 0-1). Rebounds: 30 (Varsho 7, Seitz 7, Stargardt 6). Turnovers: 12. Total fouls: 19. Fouled out: Seitz. Record: 10-2, 5-0 WVC.