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By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
MARSHFIELD – A full-court pressure defense deployed by Marshfield proved too tough to handle for Wausau East and the Tigers used it to their advantage to post their fourth-straight win.
Marshfield forced 22 turnovers, 14 in the first half, and cruised to a 70-44 win in Wisconsin Valley Conference boys basketball action Tuesday night at the Chips Hamburgers Fieldhouse at Marshfield High School.
Marshfield is now 4-3 overall and remains perfect at 3-0 in the Wisconsin Valley Conference. East falls to 2-6 and 0-2 in conference play.
After East hit a 3-pointer to start the scoring, the Tigers scored the next 12 points, 11 from senior guard Chase Hinson, and never trailed again.
The Lumberjacks closed to within 14-11 before Marshfield closed the half on an 11-3 run sparked by the play of junior Marcus Neve, who blocked three shots and scored four points as the Tigers took a 35-14 lead into the locker room.
“Marcus Neve was fantastic tonight,” Marshfield coach Chris Fischer said. “In the first half, he was everywhere. He did a great job communicating with his teammates on when to switch. He was getting rebounds, blocking shots, finishing at the rim. He was fantastic.”
Another big run of 13-0, which included a 3-pointer by Brooks Hinson and two baskets by Gavin Fravert, extended Marshfield’s lead to 48-20.
Both teams emptied their benches over the final six minutes as the Tigers cruised the rest of the way.
“They (East) were so good attacking through their posts,” Fischer said. “We didn’t really have the size or strength to matchup with them, so we tried to negate that size by pressuring their guards and everybody. We got a lot of deflections on inbounds passes and that flustered them.”
Fravert finished with 14 points, Chase Hinson had 13, Brooks Hinson 11 and Luke LeMoine 10 to lead the way for Marshfield.
Gabe Napgezek and Noah Stroming both had 10 points for Wausau East.
Marshfield will enjoy a two-week break before returning to action with a WVC game at home against Wausau West on Jan. 7.
Tigers 70, Lumberjacks 44
Wausau East 14 30 – 44
Marshfield 35 35 – 70
WAUSAU EAST (44): Caden Werth 1-6 0-0 3, Nate Murphy 0-1 0-0 0, Nick Sielaff 0-3 2-2 2, Isaac Rozwadowski 1-3 0-0 3, Turner Olson 1-2 0-0 3, Jesse Napgezek 0-1 0-0 0, Nicholai Ogstad 1-3 0-0 2, Jack Cayley 0-1 0-0 0, Noah Stroming 4-8 1-2 10, Gabe Napgezek 3-9 3-4 10, Jayshon Lewis 1-2 0-0 3, Jaydan Garrett 1-4 2-2 4, Abdul Valid 1-2 2-3 4, Dylan Buchberger 0-3 0-0 0. FG: 14-46. FT: 10-13. 3-pointers: 6-20 (Stroming 1-1, Lewis 1-2, Olson 1-2, G. Napgezek 1-2, Rozwadowski 1-3, Werth 1-4, Murphy 0-1, Sielaff 0-1, J. Napgezek 0-1, Garrett 0-3). Rebounds: 30 (G. Napgezek 10). Turnovers: 22. Fouls: 15. Fouled out: none. Record: 2-5, 0-2 Wisconsin Valley Conference.
MARSHFIELD (70): Marcus Perkins 1-2 2-2 5, Chase Hinson 3-10 6-6 13, Matt Trulen 0-1 0-0 0, Gavin Fravert 5-8 3-3 14, Carson Kvernen 1-9 2-2 4, Luke LeMoine 4-4 2-6 10, Trevor Foemmel 1-2 0-0 2, James Ketterer 0-0 0-0 0, Jeff Marsh 0-0 0-0 0, Braxton Kurth 0-0 3-4 3, Brooks Hinson 3-5 2-2 11, Carson Freis 0-4 0-0 0, Marcus Neve 4-4 0-0 8. FG: 22-59. FT: 20-25. 3-pointers: 6-14 (B. Hinson 3-4, Perkins 1-1, Fravert 1-2, C. Hinson 1-3, Freis 0-2, Kvernen 0-2). Rebounds: 27 (Fravert 5, C. Hinson 5). Turnovers: 11. Fouls: 14. Fouled out: none. Record: 4-3, 3-0 Wisconsin Valley Conference.