By Paul Lecker

Sports Reporter

MARSHFIELD — After shooting 60 percent and opening up an eight-point lead in the first half against Marshfield, it was hard to figure that Chippewa Falls could continue to shoot at that pace.

However, the Cardinals did not cool off as they made eight of their first nine shots in the second half to build on their lead and roll to a 64-48 victory over Marshfield on Tuesday at the Wisconsin Valley-Big Rivers Challenge at Marshfield High School.

The Cardinals made 12 of 20 shots from the field in the first half and used a 7-0 run early in the second quarter to open up a 23-14 lead.

Jake Sperry scored the final five points of the half for Chippewa Falls (5-2) to give it a 30-22 lead at intermission.

Aaron Knez hit three 3-pointers and scored 11 of his game-high 24 points in the third quarter as the Cardinals built a 50-34 advantage.

Marshfield coach Bill Zuiker said the Tigers failed to execute their defensive plan. The Cardinals finished 23-for-37 shooting (62 percent).

“They were good, and we were bad,” Zuiker said. “They had more purpose on both ends of the floor. We did not get accomplished, defensively, what we wanted to do. It was in our game plan to switch their screens and prevent (Knez) from getting it in shooting position. Obviously, we did not do a very good job of that. Our communication was off. I don’t think we didn’t have effort, but our energy and focus was certainly not there.”

Alec Hinson hit three 3-pointers in the first quarter for Marshfield, which trailed 14-11 after the opening period. Hinson finished with nine points to lead the Tigers.

A bright spot for the Tigers came from their group of five reserves that played for a 2-minute stretch in the third quarter and the final 4 1/2 minutes of the game. Zach Shortess scored eight points, Ethan Voss had seven, and Tyson Slade had five for Marshfield in just more than 6 minutes of action.

The five Marshfield starters combined to shoot just 7 of 22 and had 18 of the team’s 48 points.

“We knew what kind of defense they were going to play, and they played it well,” Zuiker said. “You have to be patient, and you have to explore the entirety of your offense and make them be in positions they don’t want to be in. We weren’t interested in that. We wanted to take the first shot we thought was a good one, and we aren’t as good of shooters as they are.”

Marshfield is off until Jan. 9 when it plays at Merrill in a Wisconsin Valley Conference game.

(Hub City Times Sports Reporter Paul Lecker is also the publisher of MarshfieldAreaSports.com.)

Cardinals 64, Tigers 48

Chippewa Falls 14 16 20 14 – 64

Marshfield 11 11 14 12 – 48

CHIPPEWA FALLS (64): Bryce Meade 0-0 0-0 0, Brett Olson 1-2 0-0 2, Dawson Mathwig 0-0 0-0 0, Aaron Houle 2-4 0-0 6, Bryce Daniels 0-0 0-0 0, Clayton Biddle 0-0 0-0 0, Jake Sperry 3-3 2-4 10, Justin Czech 4-6 1-1 10, Sam Mayberry 4-7 2-4 10, Aaron Knez 8-13 4-4 24, Nolan Johnson 1-2 0-0 2. FG: 23-37. FT: 9-13. 3-pointers: 9-15 (Knez 4-7, Sperry 2-2, Houle 2-3, Czech 1-3). Rebounds: 24 (Czech 6). Turnovers: 11. Fouls: 11. Fouled out: none. Record: 5-2.

MARSHFIELD (48): Caleb Alexander 0-2 0-0 0, Tanner Boson 1-5 0-0 3, Derek Coffren 0-0 0-0 0, Zach Shortess 2-2 2-2 8, Tyson Slade 2-3 0-0 5, Kegan Fassler 0-1 0-0 0, Alec Hinson 3-10 0-0 9, Isaac Huettl 0-0 0-0 0, Will Spindler 3-4 0-3 6, Ethan Voss 3-3 0-0 7, Jordan Schlinsog 1-6 0-0 3, Adam Fravert 3-4 0-0 7. FG: 18-40. FT: 2-5. 3-pointers: 10-24 (Hinson 3-10, Shortess 2-2, Slade 1-2, Boson 1-3, Voss 1-1, Fravert 1-1, Schlinsog 1-5). Rebounds: 17 (Fravert 7). Turnovers: 9. Fouls: 9. Fouled out: none. Record: 4-6.