This story is sponsored by Total Electric
By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
MARSHFIELD – The Marshfield boys basketball team fought off every challenge Rhinelander threw at them and posted a 63-53 nonconference win on Monday night in its regular-season home finale at Marshfield High School.
The game was tied at 2-2 and again at 4-4 before Anthony Posteluk hit two 3-pointers and Addison Hill made another to give Marshfield a 13-4 lead and the Tigers led the rest of the way.
Hill finished with 19 points, making 8 of 10 free throws and three 3-pointers, to lead the Tigers. The big game for the senior guard comes on the heels of a game against Eau Claire Memorial on Saturday where he didn’t score, and went a combined 6-for-18 shooting in the past four games after sitting out against Eau Claire North three weeks ago due to illness.
“The guy I was concerned about the last couple of games was Addison,” Marshfield coach Scott Scheuer said. “He’s such a competitor and I know I shouldn’t have played him in the Everest game (Feb. 7). I couldn’t keep him off the floor and you want to have your best guys, he’s a senior. I finally told him he had to take a day off to get right. I was excited to see his performance tonight.”
Marshfield led by as much as 10 at two different spots in the first half. After Rhinelander cut the Tigers’ lead to 21-16, each team scored on its final four possessions of the half and Marshfield took a 30-23 lead into the break.
Joey Goettl had a three-point play and Kyle Tremelling scored inside to push Marshfield’s lead to its largest of the game, at 37-25, early in the second half.
Rhinelander closed to within three at 49-46 after a three-point play by Drake Martin and a 3-pointer from Quinn Lamers, and missed a 3-pointer with a chance to tie the game with about six minutes remaining.
Marshfield responded by scoring on its final seven possessions to finish off the win. Goettl, who had 17 points and nine rebounds, made four of six free throws, and Hill went 3-for-4 at the line in the final six minutes for the Tigers.
Anthony Posteluk made 5 of 7 shots from the field and added 13 points for Marshfield, which improves to 13-8.
Martin had 14 points and Lamers 13 for the Hodags (8-13).
Marshfield will finish its regular-season schedule Thursday at Stevens Point, with the winner securing second place in the final Wisconsin Valley Conference standings. The two teams will meet up again next week, when they play at Marshfield in a WIAA Division 1 regional semifinal on March 6, setting up a unique situation.
“Point is very similar to us,” Scheuer said. “They run motion, they are going to play man (defense). We might put a little more pressure on them, they’ll trap at half court. It will be interesting to see what they do on Thursday. It’s going to come down to execution and making shots.
“I’m excited that we get a home game (in the playoffs). At the beginning of the season we lose Will (Nikolai) and Ike (Isaac Meverden), and we get a seven-seed, I’d take it.”
The game Thursday will be broadcast on WDLB-AM 1450 and wdlbwosq.com, and live-streamed at zaleskisports.com/live-sports.
Tigers 63, Hodags 53
Rhinelander 23 30 – 53
Marshfield 30 33 – 63
RHINELANDER (53): Ross Skeen 1-5 0-0 2, Jacksen Smith 0-3 3-5 3, Jackson Labs 2-5 0-0 6, Quinn Lamers 4-10 4-5 13, Travis Towne 4-6 0-0 9, Peyton Erickson 2-7 0-0 5, Payton Johnson 0-0 0-0 0, Drake Martin 4-5 6-8 14. FG: 17-41. FT: 13-18. 3-pointers: 6-20 (Labs 2-5, Lamers 2-6, Towne 1-2, Erickson 1-4, Skeen 0-1, Smith 0-2). Rebounds: 18 (Martin 5). Turnovers: 11. Fouls: 17. Fouled out: Skeen. Record: 8-13.
MARSHFIELD (63): Addison Hill 4-7 8-10 19, Sam Hinson 1-3 0-0 3, Bennett Koehn 0-3 0-0 0, Anthony Posteluk 5-7 0-0 13, Joey Goettl 4-11 8-11 17, Sam Roherty 1-1 0-0 3, Kyle Tremelling 4-4 0-0 8, Wyatt LeMoine 0-1 0-0 0, Matt Donovan 0-1 0-0 0. FG: 19-38. FT: 16-21. 3-pointers: 9-24 (Posteluk 3-4, Hill 3-6, Roherty 1-1, Hinson 1-3, Goettl 1-5, LeMoine 0-1, Donovan 0-1, Koehn 0-3). Rebounds: 26 (Goettl 9, Hill 8). Turnovers: 14. Fouls: 15. Fouled out: Tremelling. Record: 13-8.