Tigers finish season 16-9

By Paul Lecker

Sports Reporter

APPLETON — The Marshfield boys basketball team did all it could to stay with No. 1-ranked Oshkosh North, but the Tigers were just not able to get over the hump in the second half.

North used a 17-5 run in the second half to take the lead and finished off the Tigers’ season with a 67-54 victory in a WIAA Division 1 boys basketball sectional semifinal Thursday night at Appleton North High School.

Oshkosh North (25-0) moves on to a sectional final against two-time defending D-1 state champion Stevens Point (21-4) at 4 p.m. Saturday at the Marshfield High School. Point beat Eau Claire North 62-55 on Thursday at Eau Claire Memorial.

Oshkosh North pulled out to a 22-12 lead before Marshfield (16-9) stormed back to take a 27-25 lead by halftime.

Oshkosh North’s run pushed it into the lead, and despite Marshfield cutting it to two at 54-52 with about three minutes to go, the Tigers could not get back to even.

“The kids did everything I asked of them,” Marshfield coach Scott Scheuer said. “We had to have less than 10 turnovers. I think we had seven or eight. We have to make free throws. We missed a few, but we did that well. We didn’t rebound as well as we needed, but they left everything on the floor.”

Sophomore Reed Miller led the Tigers with 20 points.

After a 2-6 start to the season, including a season-opening loss to Oshkosh North and another to Stevens Point, the Tigers rallied to play their best basketball down the stretch.

Marshfield had its nine-game winning streak snapped with the loss, finishing the season on a 14-3 run after the tough start. Two of those losses, again, were to Oshkosh North and Stevens Point.

“Anybody and everybody that was on the floor played all out, and that’s what it took to stay close,” Scheuer said. “We needed to make a few shots to keep it at a basket or two and couldn’t do it.

“It was a great crowd. The students were electric. It was a really fun basketball game. We were right there. They did everything I asked all season.”

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