The Bluejay boys fell behind 13-8 in the first quarter of Tuesday’s Valley opener, and still trailed D.C. Everest 28-26 at halftime. Merrill rebounded all the way into a 36-34 lead in the third, but the Evergreens pulled out a 43-40 victory with a 9-4 margin in the fourth.
The Bluejays received contributions from Austin Reissmann (13 points, 2 steals), Jake Anderson (11 p, 4 rebounds), Chaz Mootz (9 p, 6 r, 3 assists, 2 st), Scott Wallace (4 as, 2 st) and Drew Hoff (5 p).
MHS–FG: 15-32 (47%). 3’s: 7-18 (39%). FT: 3-5 (60%). DCE–FG: 13-30 (43%). 3’s: 4-12 (33%). FT: 13-18 (72%).
Hawks on the rise
Visiting Shawano controlled Friday’s 54-34 victory.
“They played well from start to finish and certainly earned the win,” MHS coach Kurt Soderberg said. “They returned three starters from a year ago when we beat them on a last-minute shot. We got beat by a better team.”
The Hawks turned a close 19-15 contest into a solid win with 13-7 and 9-3 quarters in the middle of the game.
“They’ve got a big kid inside and they established him early,” Soderberg said. “We tried to adapt to that and then they went 10-of-19 (53%) from three point territory. That’s tough to contend with.
“We cut it to one point in the second quarter then on the next three trips they hit threes. That pushed them out front again.”
The Jays were paced by Mootz (11 points, 5 rebounds), Anderson (5 p, 7 r, 2 blocks, 2 steals), Hoff (3 p, 4 r), Keenan Stellingworth (4 p), Reissmann (3 p), Wallace (3 r) and Tyler Butler (3 r).
MHS–FG: 13-50 (26%). FT: 5-11 (46%). SHS–FG: 20-44 (46%). FT: 4-10 (40%).