Basketball Game Preview: Lakeland Thunderbirds vs. Marshfield Tigers

The Lakeland Thunderbirds will head out to take on the Marshfield Tigers at 7:15 p.m. on Monday. Marshfield took a loss in their last match and will be looking to turn the tables on Lakeland, who comes in off a win.

Last Friday, Lakeland humbled Rhinelander with a 63-28 victory. The Thunderbirds have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won six games by 29 points or more this season.

Meanwhile, Marshfield was not able to break out of their rough patch on Friday as the team picked up their fifth straight loss. They were six points away from ending the streak, but they lost a 51-45 heartbreaker at the hands of Stevens Point. While losing is never fun, the Tigers can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Wisconsin basketball rankings (they are ranked 233rd, while the Panthers are ranked 76th).

Lakeland will need focus on slowing down Emma Ridgway, one of several Marshfield players who made an impact when they last played. She dropped a double-double on 13 points and 11 rebounds. Zaida Kolbeck was another key player, putting up 15 points.

Lakeland has been performing well recently as they've won six of their last eight contests, which provided a nice bump to their 10-4 record this season. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 65.5 points per game. As for Marshfield, their defeat was their first in the conference, dropping their conference record down to 3-1 and their overall record down to 4-7.

Lakeland strolled past Marshfield in their previous matchup back in January of 2024 by a score of 72-54. The rematch might be a little tougher for Lakeland since the squad won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.