By Paul Lecker

Sports Reporter

MARSHFIELD — The Marshfield girls basketball team shook the jitters after a sluggish first quarter and blew out Eau Claire North 65-44 in a WIAA Division 1 regional semifinal Friday night at The Boson Company Fieldhouse at Marshfield High School.

Marshfield (17-6) moves on to a Division 1 regional final at Chippewa Falls (22-1) at 7 p.m. Saturday. The Tigers lost at home to Chippewa Falls 59-53 back on Jan. 6.

The Tigers went 4 ½ minutes without scoring during the middle part of the first quarter, and the score was tied 11-11 heading into the second.

McKayla Scheuer hit a 3-pointer in the opening minute, and the Tigers clamped down defensively, forcing North to miss its first eight shots, and they started to pull away.

Baskets by Caitlin Michaelis, Scheuer, and Ema Fehrenbach followed by a 3-pointer from Michaelis and four points from Ellie Kummer sparked a dominant 18-5 run over the first seven minutes of the second quarter.

Marshfield led 32-18 after another 3-pointer by Kummer, who scored a game-high 22 points, and the Tigers went into halftime with all the momentum.

“Coming out, we were a little jittery,” Caitlin Michaelis said. “The first tournament game is always hard to come out. We really focused on our defense and what we’ve been practicing for our plays. We executed and came out on top.”

North never threatened as Marshfield opened the second half on an 8-4 run and pushed the lead to 20 after a basket by Natalie Zuelke late in the period.

After making 6 of 12 from 3-point range in the first half, the Tigers went to their inside game in the second half. Fehrenbach scored 10 of her 13 points after halftime with four baskets coming inside.

“I thought we did a good job of taking advantage of what they gave us,” Marshfield coach Heidi Michaelis said. “Early on we hit shots from the outside, and then in the second half we still could take those shots, but we had a size advantage on the inside, especially when they subbed out. I thought our kids did a good job recognizing.”

In the previous meeting against Chippewa Falls, Marshfield trailed 39-37 after three quarters before the Cardinals were able to pull away. The game was a physical one with Marshfield making 23 of 32 free throws and Chippewa Falls going just 14 of 27 from the line.

“That’s a game that we let get away,” Heidi Michaelis said. “We did not deal well with their pressure. You have to deal with their relentless pressure in the full court and the half court traps. It’s something we’ve worked on since then. There hasn’t been a game since then where I had all three of my guards not handle the pressure. It’s really what it comes down to.

“We have a size advantage, and I think we can score on the inside as well as the outside with our guards. It’s just a matter of dealing with their guards.”

Saturday night’s game will be broadcast on WDLB-AM 1450 and wdlbwosq.com at 7 p.m.

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

Tigers 65, Cardinals 44

Eau Claire North 11 7 12 14 – 44

Marshfield 11 21 17 16 – 65

EAU CLAIRE NORTH (44): Carcyn Wathke 0-0 0-0 0, Mariah Kent 2-3 0-0 3, Mattea Peplinski 2-6 0-0 4, Haley DeSouza 0-5 1-2 1, Megan Olson 0-0 0-0 0, Brianna Banks 0-3 0-2 0, Brooke Thompson 0-0 0-0 0, Megan Kirchman 0-0 0-0 0, Emma Fischer 0-4 1-4 1, Kylea Davis 2-7 2-2 6, Alaina Quaranta 4-5 2-2 10, Nikki Kilboten 4-9 6-8 14, Markeysha Hazelton 2-6 0-0 5. FG: 16-48. FT: 12-20. 3-pointers: 2-16 (Hazelton 1-2, Kent 1-3, Fischer 0-2, Banks 0-2, Peplinski 0-3, DeSouza 0-4). Rebounds: 29 (Kilboten 7). Turnovers: 19. Fouls: 21. Fouled out: none. Record: 12-11.

MARSHFIELD (65): McKayla Scheuer 3-6 0-0 8, Meg Bryan 0-1 1-2 1, Caitlin Michaelis 2-11 2-2 7, Ana Jensen 0-0 0-0 0, Sara Dasler 0-0 1-2 1, Natalie Zuelke 1-2 1-2 3, Maddie Nikolai 1-1 0-0 2, Jenny Scheppler 0-0 0-0 0, Martha Kupfer 2-4 1-2 5, Ellie Kummer 6-10 7-8 22, Ema Fehrenbach 5-7 3-6 13, Hannah Meverden 1-3 1-2 3. FG: 21-45. FT: 17-26. 3-pointers: 6-15 (Kummer 3-6, Scheuer 2-3, Michaelis 1-6). Rebounds: 33 (Michaelis 7). Turnovers: 18. Fouls: 16. Fouled out: none. Record: 17-6.