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When Nick Krull called a timeout early in the second half of Wednesday's non-league contest at Marshall, his Deerfield Demons were on the wrong end of the scoreboard and the wrong end of Krull's expectations.

After trailing 34-29 at intermission, Deerfield fell behind even further when Krull called his timeout. 

Krull, in his third year as the Demons' coach, was unhappy with his team settling for too many outside shots.

Like a light switch turned on, the Deerfield players immediately took the advice of their head coach to heart. Receiving solid scoring balance from inside and outside the arc over the final 14 minutes of the contest, Deerfield roared to a 79-58 victory by outscoring their neighborhood foe 50-24 in the second half.

Deerfield pulled within 46-44 with 11:11 left and then made four three-point shots and several layups the rest of the way to improve to 7-2 on the campaign.

The Demons outscored Marshall, which fell to 3-3, 30-6 from outside the arc.

In addition to the big advantage from deep, Deerfield also received a big second half from star senior Cal Fisher. The 6-foot-0 point guard and Florida State baseball recruit scored 17 of his 19 points in the second half to help spark the Demons' impressive rally.  

"We put four shooters around Cal (Fisher) and told our guys to be ready to shoot it and we did that in the second half," Krull said. "A lot of our shots came off our motion offense and Cal is smart enough to find the open shooters once he gets into the lane. 

"We knew Marshall would be physical and they did a good job of keeping Cal out of the lane in the first half. But he got into the lane in the second half and either got all the way to the hoop or found our open shooters." 

A four-year varsity performer and two-time first-team all-Trailways South Conference selection, Fisher has now scored 1,331 career points for the Demons. 

"Fisher puts a lot of pressure on your with his ability to get into the lane," Marshall coach Dan Denniston said. "They shot lights out in the second half. They got the ball in the lane whenever they wanted to and when we helped on defense, they got the ball to the shooters and they knocked down shots."

Junior Martin Kimmel (5-10) also turned in a huge performance for Deerfield. 

The skilled wing guard netted a career-best 21 points, making four three-points and all five of his foul shots in the process.

"Kudos to Martin," Krull said. "He does a lot for us defensively, but tonight we needed him more offensively and he stepped up to the challenge."

Quick senior guard Tommy Lees (6-0) and sophomore reserve Ben Wetzel (5-9) also scored in double figures for Deerfield with 15 and 10 points, respectively.

Deerfield returns to action next week by taking on Monroe in the New Glarus Tournament. 

Denniston knew there would be some ups and downs in 2022-23 after the Cardinals graduated five starters from a club that finished 22-7 and lost to Roncalli in the semifinal round of the WIAA Division 4 State Tournament. 

After opening with an impressive win over highly regarded Lake Mills, Marshall lost to Watertown Luther Prep, defeated Jefferson, lost to Lodi, beat Poynette and then lost to Deerfield. 

"I think we are a team that can beat almost anyone or lose to almost anyone," Denniston said. "Our lack of efficiency on offense is a big concern. It is really lacking right now."

Marshall played well on offense in the first half and then opened the second half strong. But over the final 14 minutes of the game, the execution with the ball was not there for the Cardinals.

"It's a bit of a roller coaster ride," Denniston said. 

One player who has helped make the ride enjoyable thus far this winter is sophomore guard Kenyon Miggins.

The 5-foot-9 dynamo is quick as a speedboat on the court and his ability to push the ball in transition and make mid-range jump shots was a problem for Deerfield, especially in the first half when Miggins scored 12 of his career-best 20 points.

"Kenyon is a talented player," Denniston said. "He can score in transition and make mid-range shots, but our shooting percentage as a team is very low this year. We've got to improve our shooting, especially our three-point shooting."

Junior Jaxon Hornby (5-10), a two-year varsity player entering the season, made one of the two triples for Marshall and scored nine points.

Senior Peyton Kleinheinz (6-5), who saw action as a reserve last season, hit the other triple for Marshall and scored 13 points.

Marshall hopes to get back on the winning track next Friday with a non-league contest at Hustisford.

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