By Paul Lecker
For Wausau Pilot & Review
MARSHFIELD – The game could not have started any better for D.C. Everest, but unfortunately for the Evergreens, they couldn’t maintain it.
D.C. Everest jumped out to a 16-2 lead before Marshfield roared back and dominated the second half to pull away for an 80-64 victory in a WIAA Division 1 regional semifinal Friday night at the Chips Hamburgers Fieldhouse at Marshfield High School.
Marshfield (19-4), winners of 11 games in a row and 19 of its last 20, will host Kimberly (17-8) in a D-1 regional final at 7 p.m. Friday. The game will be broadcast live at zaleskisports.com. D.C. Everest finishes the season with an 11-14 record.
D.C. Everest started 6-for-6 from field and Marshfield was 0-for-6 as the Evergreens went up 16-2 just 3:35 into the game.
Brooks Hinson finally broke the drought with a 3-pointer and his brother Chase Hinson took over from there.
Marcus Neve came off the bench and delivered a number of hustle plays with two steals and an offensive rebound, and Chase Hinson hit 3-pointers on three-straight possessions to finish off a quick 12-0 run to get the Tigers back in the game.
“It almost seemed that as soon as we put Marcus Neve in the game, it almost immediately turned for us,” Marshfield coach Chris Fischer said. “If a team starts 6-for-6, the law of averages tells you it’s going to be tough to sustain that. Marcus Hall is a good as it gets in the state as a scorer. Our body language suffered a little bit, but there was no panic. We kept our composure, the ball started to go in the basket for us, and we were able to put a little more pressure on them.”
Marcus Hall scored nine points in a 15-9 run to end the half for the Evergreens, who took a 38-37 lead into intermission after shooting 67 percent (14-for-21) in the half.
Everest scored the first four points of the second half on two free throws from Hall and a basket by Ben Prunuske ad Marshfield missed four-straight 3-pointers.
Luke LeMoine converted a three-point play and Brooks Hinson drilled a 3-pointer to wake up the Tigers’ offense.
After a basket by Conner McFarlane gave D.C. Everest a 44-42 lead with 14:30 remaining, Marshfield ripped off a 21-6 run to take control.
Chase Hinson hit two more 3-pointers, and Brooks Hinson and Gavin Fravert made shots from long range as well.
LeMoine, who scored all 12 of his points in the second half, added another three-point play and a basket inside to cap the run and put the Tigers up 64-50 with 9½ minutes left.
Marshfield put it away with a 12-0 run that included eight-straight free throws and gave the Tigers a 22-point lead with 4:37 left.
Chase Hinson finished with 32 points on the strength of eight 3-pointers, which ties a school record. Brooks Hinson also scored 12 and Marcus Neve finished with 11 points, five steals and four rebounds for Marshfield.
Hall led D.C. Everest with 28 points as the Wisconsin Valley Conference Player of the Year finishes the season with 718 points for an average of 28.7 per game.
McFarlane added 12 points and Prunuske 10 for the Evergreens.
Tigers 80, Evergreens 64
D.C. Everest 38 26 – 64
Marshfield 37 43 – 80
D.C. EVEREST (64): Conner McFarlane 5-11 0-0 12, Colin Ebersold 0-0 1-2 1, Seth Vercimak 0-0 0-0 0, Joey Rombalski 3-5 0-0 8, Nathaniel Nemitz 0-0 0-0 0, Owen Soehl 0-1 0-0 0, Marcus Hall 11-14 4-4 28, Adam Brost 1-1 0-0 2, Wyatt Miles 1-2 0-0 3, Jayden Zoesch 0-0 0-0 0, Ben Prunuske 4-5 2-3 10, Arlin Sangster 0-0 0-0 0. FG: 25-39. FT: 7-9. 3-pointers: 7-21 (Rombalski 2-3, Hall 2-5, McFarlane 2-7, Miles 1-2, Soehl 0-1, Priebe 0-3). Rebounds: 20 (Hall 7). Turnovers: 22. Fouls: 18. Fouled out: none. Record: 11-14.
MARSHFIELD (80): Marcus Perkins 0-0 0-0 0, Chase Hinson 9-15 6-6 32, Gavin Fravert 1-7 6-6 9, Carson Kvernen 1-2 2-2 4, Luke LeMoine 5-6 2-3 12, Trevor Foemmel 0-0 0-0 0, James Ketterer 0-0 0-0 0, Jeff Marsh 0-0 0-0 0, Braxton Kurth 0-0 0-0 0, Brooks Hinson 4-12 0-0 12, Carston Freis 0-2 0-0 0, Marcus Neve 4-6 3-3 11. FG: 24-52. FT: 19-20. 3-pointers: 13-32 (C. Hinson 8-13, B. Hinson 4-10, Fravert 1-7, Freis 0-2). Rebounds: 25 (Fravert 5, B. Hinson 5). Turnovers: 16. Fouls: 12. Fouled out: none. Record: 19-4.
