Spartan boys run away from Marshfield

The Superior High School boys basketball team wrapped up play in the Wausau West Tournament Friday night with a 56-44 win over Marshfield.

Superior opened the tournament with a 55-41 win over Wausau East on Thursday.

On Friday, the Spartans led by two after one quarter, then trailed 29-28 at the half and 40-36 after three quarters before outscoring the Tigers 20-4 in the fourth quarter.

“Playing back-to-back nights on the road was not easy, but our kids brought a lot of energy, and that was a huge win for us against Marshfield,” SHS coach Dave Kontny said. “It was a great game. Going into the fourth quarter down by four we knew we had to execute and turn up the pressure, and we did just that.”

Derek Kontny and Jordan Hughes jump started the Spartans by hitting back-to-back 3-pointers and giving them a two-point lead.

“From there on we were off and running,” Coach Kontny said. “Our pressure created turnovers which led to us getting out and running on them, and then our defense got really fired up and gave them no good looks. Down the stretch we got great inside looks and shot our free throws well.”

Superior was 17-for-19 from the line, including 8-for-8 in the fourth quarter.

“Any time you can hold a team like Marshfield to four points and score 20 in a quarter you know you’re playing with a lot of energy and playing smart on the offensive end,” Kontny said. “This team is really playing together, on every night we are hurting teams by our balance, and our defense I thought it was really great.

“A gentleman came out of the stands after the game and said to me, ‘Coach, I have never seen a team play that hard for an entire game, and your team traps more than Daniel Boone.’ That says a lot. I’m proud of our kids; they earned it.”

Eric Tunell led the Spartans with 20 points. Nick Melhum added 10, Hughes had seven points and Ben Erickson and Bryan Sanders each had six.

SPARTAN SPIN: Superior’s junior varsity team also won two games during the holiday tournament, defeating Wausau East 42-36 and Marshfield 38-32.

Superior 13 15 8 20 56

Marshfield 11 18 11 4 44

Superior: Eric Tunell 20, Ben Erickson 6, Derek Kontny 5, Bryan Sanders 6, Jordan Hughes 7, Nick Melhum 10, Anthony Valentine 2.

3-pointers: Kontny 1; Hughes 1; Tunell 1. Free throws: 17-for-19.

Marshfield : Zuiker 21; Schepppler 2; Accola 4; Oestreich 5; Strege 12.

3-pointers: Oestreich 1; Zuiker 3; Strege 1. Free throws: 5-for-7.

Junior varsity results

Superior 42, Wausau East 36

Superior: Johnny Curphy 13; Nate Sanders 7; Jake Libal 5; Connor Gray 6; John Lindberg 3; Jeb Kimmes 3; Devan Rivord 5.

Superior 38, Marshfield 32

Superior: Curphy 4; Sanders 13; Libal 3; Matt O’Shaughnessy 5; Gray 2; Garrett Hobson 2; Lindberg 4; Rivord 5.

Tags: sports, superior, spartans, preps, basketball