By Paul Lecker

Sports Reporter

MARSHFIELD – Two big runs in the middle quarters were enough for Marshfield to separate from Auburndale and defeat the Apaches 58-45 in the championship game of the Marshfield Tigers Girls Basketball Invitational on Saturday afternoon at Marshfield High School.

A 7-0 run in the second quarter and an 8-0 run late in the third proved to be the difference for the Tigers, who improve to 9-1 after winning their fifth game in a row. Auburndale drops to 9-2.

After a high-scoring first quarter, the Tigers jumped out to a 20-16 lead behind eight points from Caitlin Michaelis and seven from Makayla Scheuer.

Auburndale was able to hang around as they dominated the offensive boards. The Apaches finished with 22 rebounds, 14 coming on the offensive end which translated into 14 second-chance points.

Baskets by Cheyenne Karl and Paiton Richardson cut Marshfield’s lead to 28-22 before Marshfield ripped off seven points on three possessions to open up a double-digit lead.

Two free throws by Ema Fehrenbach, a fast break layup by Ellie Kummer and another 3-pointer from Michaelis put Marshfield up 35-22. The Tigers led 37-24 at halftime.

“We know what Auburndale does and that they are going to do a good job crashing the boards and beat us up a little

Auburndale’s Taylor Gotz goes up for a shot over Marshfield’s Hannah Meverden during Saturday’s game at Marshfield High School. (Paul Lecker photo)

bit, and they did,” Marshfield coach Heidi Michaelis said. “Overall, we did a lot of really good things. We were fairly efficient. Anytime you can beat a good team like Auburndale, we are happy coming out of this tournament feeling pretty good about ourselves, and hope to build on that.”

Taylor Gotz, who had 12 points and eight rebounds for the Apaches, hit a pair of baskets early in the third quarter, and Richardson netted three points as Auburndale closed the gap to 41-33 with 4:28 to go in the period.

Marshfield’s second big run was enough to put the Apaches away.

Fehrenbach hit inside and Scheuer and Kummer connected on back-to-back 3-pointers to give the Tigers a 49-33 lead with 2 minutes left in the third. Marshfield finished 8 of 15 from 3-point range, including 3 of 4 in the third quarter.

“When a team shoots 3s like that, you just hope you can catch them on an off night,” Auburndale coach Scott Meidl said. “You take that stretch out and we basically hung with them for three quarters. That’s something the girls need to be proud of. They’re a great team and a veteran team, and they know how to handle the ball and handle the pressure.”

Auburndale was just 3 of 8 shooting in the fourth and couldn’t make up much ground as the Tigers made 7 of 10 shots from the free throw line.

Fehrenbach led Marshfield with 16 points, making 10 of 14 free throws. Michaelis added 15 points, Scheuer had 14 and Kummer 11 for the Tigers.

“It doesn’t always go well and when it didn’t go well, I thought we found ways to respond,” Heidi Michaelis said. “We didn’t hang our heads or get upset. I am happy with our leadership and the way we are responding when things aren’t going our way.”

Marshfield hosts Chippewa Falls in a nonconference game Tuesday, while Auburndale plays at home against Marathon in a battle of two of the top teams in the Marawood Conference South Division. Marathon is 9-0 overall and 4-0 in the conference, while Auburndale is in third place at 3-1 in the Marawood South.

“I told the girls that even though we lost, this is one of the best games we’ve played this year,” Meidl said. “It’s definitely something positive to look at going into the rest of the year. They need to take the intensity they played with tonight and take that into every single game. We’ve got a tough game coming up with Marathon this week and we need to come out with the same fire and intensity, and work our butts off.”

The all-tournament team consisted of Hudson’s Christie Carli, Wausau Newman Catholic’s Lauren Fech, Yahnke, Kummer and Michaelis.

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

Tigers 58, Apaches 45

Auburndale 16 8 11 10 – 45
Marshfield 20 17 12 9 – 58
AUBURNDALE (45): Allison Linzmeier 4-10 0-0 8, Cheynne Karl 5-11 0-0 10, Jeanette Pelinski 0-2 0-0 0, Slyviann Momont 0-0 0-0 0, Paiton Richardson 2-5 1-3 5, Shannon Yahnke 2-5 6-8 10, Taylor Gotz 6-12 0-1 12. FG: 19-45. FT: 7-12. 3-pointers: 0-4 (Karl 0-4). Rebounds: 22 (Gotz 8). Turnovers: 13. Fouls: 9. Fouled out: Yahnke. Record: 9-2.
MARSHFIELD (58): Makayla Scheuer 4-6 4-4 14, Meg Bryan 0-0 0-0 0, Caitlin Michaelis 5-9 1-2 15, Ana Jensen 0-1 0-0 0, Sara Dasler 0-0 0-0 0, Natalie Zuelke 0-0 0-0 0, Maddie Nikolai 0-0 0-0 0, Martha Kupfer 0-0 0-0 0, Ellie Kummer 4-10 1-2 11, Ema Fehrenbach 3-5 10-14 16, Hannah Meverden 1-2 0-0 2. FG: 17-33. FT: 16-22. 3-pointers: 8-15 (Michaelis 4-6, Kummer 2-5, Scheuer 2-4). Rebounds: 19 (Michaelis 4, Fehrenbach 4). Turnovers: 11. Fouls: 13. Fouled out: none. Record: 9-1.