This story is sponsored by Victory Apparel
By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
MARSHFIELD – The Marshfield girls basketball team has struggled to start out the season, so Friday night’s game against winless Wausau East was exactly what it needed.
The Tigers used a 13-0 run to end the first quarter and rolled from there, cruising to a 57-24 win over East at The Boson Company Fieldhouse at Marshfield High School.
Caitlin Michaelis hit a 3-pointer to start the run and Ellie Kummer and Martha Kupfer each had three-point plays in the final 20 seconds to give Marshfield a 20-7 lead after the first quarter.
The Tigers (2-4, 2-1 Wisconsin Valley Conference) pushed the lead to 31-12 at halftime and went up by 23 in the third after a basket by Kailey Hubler in the final minute.
“These kids hung in there,” Marshfield coach Heidi Michaelis. “I thought they played a good game against a team we should have done that to, but after this week, I didn’t know what was going to happen. To come out and do that, it was big for them.”
After the loss at D.C. Everest on Tuesday, two players left the team, leaving the lineup in flux. Sophomore McKayla Scheuer stepped into the starting lineup and scored eight of her nine points in the first half.
Marshfield forced 16 turnovers, held a 39-19 rebounding advantage and limited the Lumberjacks (0-6, 0-2 WVC) to 7 of 29 shooting in the victory.
Caitlin Michaelis finished with 13 points, Hubler added 12 and Ellie Fehrenbach pulled down 16 rebounds for Marshfield.
In all, eight Tigers scored and 22 of their points came from their five reserve players.
“We’re trying to find our identity,” Heidi Michaelis said. “That full-court (defense) gets us some easy ones at times, but it also puts us at a disadvantage. I thought we changed it up, got some steals off of it, but also pretty well in the half court. We need to continue to get better at it.
“When things happen, it presents opportunities for other people and that’s happening to this team now. A lot of people stepped up and took advantage. They’re smiling and they got a win tonight and it’s a good one for us.”
Marshfield will host its annual Marshfield Tiger Holiday Tournament on Dec. 27-28. Wausau Newman Catholic will take on La Crosse Logan and Marshfield will play Auburndale in first-round games next Friday. The consolation and championship games will be next Saturday.
Both Marshfield games will be broadcast on WDLB-AM 1450 and wdlbwosq.com.
Tigers 57, Lumberjacks 24
Wausau East 7 5 6 6 – 24
Marshfield 20 11 10 16 – 57
WAUSAU EAST (24): Kali Faith Sather 2-6 1-2 5, Breanna Urmanski 0-0 2-4 2, Baylee Luedke 0-2 0-0 0, Olivia Zipperer 4-9 3-6 14, Jorie Meyer 0-7 0-2 0, Ellcia Myles 0-2 0-0 0, Naomi Murphy 0-0 1-2 1, Hannah Euting 1-3 0-0 2. FG: 7-29. FT: 7-16. 3-pointers: 3-7 (Zipperer 3-5, Sather 0-2). Rebounds: 19 (Myles 6). Turnovers: 16. Fouls: 14. Fouled out: none. Record: 0-6, 0-2 Wisconsin Valley Conference.
MARSHFIELD (57): McKayla Scheuer 3-10 1-2 9, Caitlin Michaelis 4-11 3-4 13, Natalie Zuelke 3-10 2-4 8, Lauren Gilbertson 0-0 0-0 0, Martha Kupfer 2-3 3-3 7, Ellie Kummer 1-7 1-1 3, Ellie Fehrenbach 1-5 0-2 2, Kailey Hubler 6-7 0-0 12, Julia Urban 0-0 0-0 0, Emma Fehrenbach 1-2 1-2 3. FG: 21-59. FT: 11-18. 3-pointers: 4-20 (Michaelis 2-8, Scheuer 2-7, Kummer 0-4, Kupfer 0-1). Rebounds: 39 (El. Fehrenbach 16). Turnovers: 11. Fouls: 16. Fouled out: none. Record: 2-4, 2-1 Wisconsin Valley Conference.