This story is sponsored by: Chili Implement
By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
MARSHFIELD – Playing two games in less than 24 hours had its challenges, but once the Marshfield boys basketball got cooking, it was tough to stop.
Marshfield hit six 3-pointers in a stretch of 4½ minutes early in the first half to open up a sizeable lead and essentially played even from there, defeating La Crosse Central 56-45 in a nonconference game Saturday afternoon at the Fredrick Construction Fieldhouse at Marshfield High School.
Maybe sluggish playing an afternoon game Saturday after just playing Friday night contributed to a slow start as the Tigers missed their first five shot attempts, however once Brooks Hinson nailed a 3-pointer to get the Tigers on the board, they soared.
A 3-pointer from Noah Dingel gave La Crosse Central a 7-3 lead only to see the Tigers made 3-pointers on their next five possesions to pull ahead.
Landon Lee hit two from long range, and Chris Pohl, Hinson and Valin Ramberg also connected from deep as Marshfield went on a 21-4 run to take control.
“This was a big test for us,” Marshfield coach Chris Fischer said. “This is similar to what you see in the playoffs in regionals. I love doing the Friday-Saturday games because it gets us ready for that. We had to play games in about 15 hours. Central is one of the premier programs in the state. We’re proud of the effort. We were really good in stretches, and defensively we were really good all game.
“Brant Freis, he takes great pride in his defense and in taking the other team’s leading scorer and try to make his life miserable. He was really good again today.”
The Tigers took a 26-16 lead into halftime, and following a basket by Henry Meyer for the Riverhawks, Marshfield ripped off 12 points in a row to go up by 20.
Hinson hit two more 3-pointers in the run, which was capped by a dunk from Pohl, that made it 38-18 in favor of the home team with 14:20 to go.
Central (1-2) closed to within 12 with 3:35 left but another 3-pointer from Ramberg silenced the comeback and the Tigers were able to finish off an 11-point win.
Hinson hit five 3-pointers in all and finished with a game-high 22 points, while Lee added 16 for the Tigers, who improve to 4-0 to start the season.
Marshfield ended up with 11 3-pointers in all, with 26 of its 43 shot attempts coming from long range. The volume of 3-point attempts was partly necessitated by Central’s defense, Fisher said.
“The 3-point shot can be highly effective because we have a lot of good shooters, and there are times where we might settle for that,” Fisher said. “Brooks and Landon had a good stretch where they were feeling comfortable, and you have to be OK with that because that’s who they are and what their good at.
“Central was over-playing the weak side. At times it was really difficult to get in the paint. When we go in those stretches where we miss three, four, five in a row, we have to take our time a little bit.”
Meyer had 17 points and 11 rebounds for La Crosse Central.
Marshfield’s next game is Friday at home against D.C. Everest at 7:15 p.m.
Tigers 56, Riverhawks 45
La Crosse Central 16 29 – 45
Marshfield 26 30 – 56
LA CROSSE CENTRAL (45): Gabe Servais 1-3 0-0 3, Dane Axness 0-0 0-0 0, Frankie Wilk 0-3 0-0 0, Peyton Strittmater 3-8 0-0 7, Jaylon Calvert 0-1 0-0 0, Joey Pretasky 0-0 0-0 0, Marcione Basley 1-4 2-2 5, Noah Dingel 5-9 2-2 13, Dawson Lapic 0-0 0-0 0, Henry Meyer 8-15 0-0 17, Ali Jackson-Bey 0-0 0-0 0. FG: 18-43. FT: 4-4. 3-pointers: 5-15 (Dingel 1-1, Servias 1-2, Basley 1-3, Strittmater 1-3, Meyer 1-3, Calvert 0-1, Wilk 0-2). Rebounds: 23 (Meyer 11). Turnovers: 12. Fouls: 13. Fouled out: none. Record: 1-2.
MARSHFIELD (56): Chris Pohl 3-6 0-0 7, Joey Ketterer 0-0 0-0 0, Noah Daniels 0-0 0-0 0, Brooks Hinson 6-12 5-6 22, Brant Freis 0-3 0-0 0, Landon Lee 6-14 1-2 16, Valin Ramberg 2-5 0-0 6, Ethan Knecht 2-3 1-2 5. FG: 19-43. FT: 7-10. 3-pointers: 11-26 (Hinson 5-8, Lee 3-9, Ramberg 2-2, Pohl 1-4, Freis 0-2, Knecht 0-1). Rebounds: 23 (Pohl 6). Turnovers: 11. Fouls: 9. Fouled out: none. Record: 4-0.