This story is sponsored by: Chili Implement
By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
MARSHFIELD – The undefeated Marshfield girls basketball team was not about to overlook one-win D.C. Everest on Friday night.
The Tigers came out hot, making eight of their first 11 shot attempts to take a commanding lead and never let up, rolling to a 63-21 victory in a Wisconsin Valley Conference matchup at the Chips Hamburgers Fieldhouse at Marshfield High School.
Dani Minsaas had a pair of 3-pointers, and Ayana Bousum and Ashley Grancorvitz each drilled one as well as Marshfield raced out to a 21-2 lead in the opening 4:45 and led by double digits the rest of the way.
Marshfield is now 7-0 overall and 3-0 in the Wisconsin Valley Conference, while D.C. Everest drops to 1-9 and 1-2 in conference play.
“It’s fun to see the progress since we started the first day of practice to now,” Marshfield coach Taylor Varsho said. “We have a pretty special group here. It’s not about the scorebook, it’s about the scoreboard at the end of the day. We’re 7-0. I’m really proud of how we’re playing and we’re always preparing for that conference championship and that first playoff game.”
Minsaas and Grancorvitz each scored 15 points in the opening half as Marshfield forced 16 turnovers while only allowing 17 shot attempts from the Evergreens. Two late baskets by Grancorvitz gave the Tigers a 42-10 lead going into the halftime break.
Everest scored the first six points of the second half, but only managed five more the rest of the way as the game was never in doubt.
Grancorvitz finished with 20 points and five rebounds, Minsaas had 18 poitns and seven rebounds, and Alyssa Foemmel came off the bench to score five points and grab a team-high eight rebounds for the Tigers.
Braelyn Beiler had 11 points for D.C. Everest, which finished just 7-for-29 from the field and committed 26 turnovers in the loss.
Marshfield hosts St. Croix Central on Saturday at 3 p.m. before returning to WVC action Tuesday at home against Wausau East. The Tigers will also host their annual holiday tournament on Dec. 28-29 playing Hudson and Superior.
“We playing through 2022 at home and our fans have showed up,” Varsho said. “I love that atmosphere. Back when I played here, our student section would be full and I’d love to get that culture back here.
“We started out really good, but came out flat in the second half. We have to figure that out because we are going to play some pretty good teams on the road coming up. January looks tough with Neenah and Kimberly and our tournament will be tough too with Hudson and Superior.”
Tigers 63, Evergreens 21
D.C. Everest 10 11 – 21
Marshfield 42 21 – 63
D.C. EVEREST (21): Kelsey Woolley 0-5 1-2 1, Katie Schulz 2-6 0-0 5, Kirsten Hall 1-5 0-1 2, Braelyn Beiler 3-10 5-6 11, Grace Sandquist 1-3 0-0 2, Tracey Schmidt 0-0 0-0 0, Brianna Cook 0-0 0-0 0, Kali Rutta 0-0 0-0 0, Elisa Chapin 0-1 0-0 0, Megan Zemke 0-0 0-1 0, Lepri Wade 0-0 0-1 0. FG: 7-30. FT: 6-11. 3-pointers: 1-13 (Schulz 1-3, Sandquist 0-1, Chapin 0-1, Hall 0-1, Woolley 0-2, Beiler 0-5). Rebounds: 24 (Sandquist 8). Turnovers: 26. Fouls: 10. Fouled out: none. Record: 1-9, 1-2 Wisconsin Valley Conference.
MARSHFIELD (63): Lauryn Katzenberger 2-4 0-0 4, Alyssa Foemmel 2-8 1-2 5, Sam Kilty 0-2 2-2 2, Zaida Kolbeck 1-11 1-4 3, Kaylie Charron 1-1 0-0 2, Dani Minsaas 7-17 1-2 18, Kaci Abney 0-0 0-0 0, Ashley Grancorvitz 8-12 0-1 20, Ayana Bousum 2-8 2-2 7, Cami Wucherpfennig 1-2 0-0 2. FG: 24-65. FT: 7-13. 3-pointers: 8-25 (Grancorvitz 4-6, Minsaas 3-7, Bousum 1-5, Foemmel 0-1, Kolbeck 0-6). Rebounds: 39 (Foemmel 8). Turnovers: 9. Fouls: 14. Fouled out: none. Record: 7-0, 3-0 Wisconsin Valley Conference.