This story is sponsored by Forward Financial Bank
By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
WAUSAU – The game couldn’t have started any better for the Marshfield boys basketball team. However, Saturday’s WIAA Division 1 sectional final quickly turned course and Neenah was the dominant team throughout.
Marshfield started on a 7-2 run but couldn’t buy a basket for most of the game and lost 54-31 at Wausau West High School.
Neenah (25-1) moves on to the 2014 WIAA State Boys Basketball Tournament and will play Mukwonago (18-8) in a Division 1 semifinal Friday night at the Kohl Center in Madison.
Marshfield, which set a school-record for victories this season, finishes with a 19-7 record.
Matt Oestreich had a steal and basket and followed with a 3-pointer, and Jeff Allison scored inside to put the Tigers up 7-2 2:05 into the game.
From that point, the Tigers struggled mightily on the offensive end.
Marshfield missed eight straight shots and had six turnovers as Neenah turned the game around quickly.
The Rockets ripped off a 24-7 run over the final 13:55 of the first half to pull ahead 26-14 at halftime. Marshfield had four free throws, but only one field goal in the stretch.
Alex Strege’s 3-pointer with 2:07 left in the half ended the shooting struggles for the time being, but it would continue in the second half as well.
Meanwhile, Neenah’s 6-foot-10 junior center Matt Heldt scored 16 of his game-high 24 points in the first half.
“We talked before the game about being deliberate but aggressive and I thought we just took some poor shots,” Marshfield coach Bill Zuiker said. “What surprised me was we seemed to have lost our feel for who we wanted to shoot it and where and when. You go through a whole season and you know who your playmakers are, but for one reason or another, we didn’t find them and we didn’t capitalize when we did find them.”
Marshfield’s top scorer, Luke Zuiker, made his only field goal of the game in the first minute of the third quarter to make it 29-16 before Neenah scored 10 straight points.
As Marshfield collapsed on Heldt, Alec Becker, Trevor Entwisle and Adam Pohlman each hit 3-pointers as the Rockets went up 39-16.
The Tigers only made two more field goals over the next 14 minutes before both teams emptied their benches late in the fourth quarter.
“We weren’t able to get easy baskets and when we were trying to jar something out of there down 12-14 points, they just shot the heck out of it and it was just an avalanche in the second half,” Bill Zuiker said.
Marshfield ended up just 10 of 36 from the field and 2 of 17 from 3-point range.
“I couldn’t be prouder of my guys,” Bill Zuiker said. “People may look at the score and say ‘They didn’t belong to be in the sectional final.’ Baloney. We’re a good group, they’re really good. Who knows, they may have a shot at the whole enchilada. Our kids don’t need to hang their heads. We won more games than our school has ever won. It’s tough, because it takes the shine off when you get beat like that, but hats off to them, they are really tough.”
Note: Marshfield senior Luke Zuiker finished his stellar career Saturday with 1,074 career points, placing him third on the school’s all-time boys basketball scoring list. He ends up 96 points shy of the record set by Charlie Aslakson from 1958-61, and 58 points short of second place on the list that is held by Joe Imhoff (1991-94).
Rockets 54, Tigers 31
Neenah 11 15 19 9 – 54
Marshfield 7 7 4 13 – 31
NEENAH (54): Taulvish McCray 3-4 2-3 9, Alec Becker 1-2 0-0 3, Trevor Entwisle 4-6 0-0 10, Jacob Aijala 0-1 0-0 0, Adam Pohlman 2-7 0-1 6, Isaac Quella 0-1 0-0 0, Adam Pronschinske 1-3 0-0 2, Malik Travis 0-1 0-0 0, Christian Dieck 0-0 0-0 0, Joe Jung 0-1 0-0 0, Matt Heldt 10-16 4-7 24, Harold Boccheciamp 0-2 0-0 0, Ty Heeg 0-2 0-0 0, Jonah Matulla 0-0 0-0 0. FG: 21-46. FT: 6-11. 3-pointers: 6-19 (Entwisle 2-4, Pohlman 2-5, McCray 1-2, Becker 1-1, Aijala 0-1, Quella 0-1, Jung 0-1, Boccheciamp 0-2, Heeg 0-2). Rebounds: 29 (Heldt 12). Turnovers: 8. Fouls: 17. Fouled out: none. Record: 25-1.
MARSHFIELD (31): Jeff Allison 1-2 2-2 4, Zach Shortess 1-2 0-0 2, Jace Krasselt 0-0 2-2 2, Luke Zuiker 1-9 3-5 5, Tanner Boson 1-3 2-2 4, Austin Gilbert 0-0 0-0 0, Matt Oestreich 3-9 0-0 7, Will Spindler 2-3 0-0 4, Kegan Fassler 0-1 0-0 0, Jordan Schlinsog 0-1 0-0 0, Alex Strege 1-5 0-1 3, Devan Wrege 0-1 0-0 0. FG: 10-36. FT: 9-12. 3-pointers: 2-17 (Oestreich 1-4, Strege 1-5, Allison 0-1, Shortess 0-1, Boson 0-1, Fassler 0-1, Schlinsog 0-1, Zuiker 0-3). Rebounds: 19 (Zuiker 7, Spindler 5). Turnovers: 10. Fouls: 14. Fouled out: Allison. Record: 19-7.