Kelly O’Day
Editor
The Bluejay boys basketball team opened the season with a pair of losses, albeit both of them close and both on the road.
Merrill lost a 50-45 opener at Shawano last Tuesday, then fell 65-62 at Medford on Friday.
“We’re not where we want to be,” MHS coach Kurt Soderberg said. “The reality is you get what you pay for, and we haven’t paid for a win, yet.
“It’s not big gaping things. Just little things stacked on top of each other. Once we clean that up, we’re going to be a good team. We will be that in time.”
The Shawano defeat was keyed by a rough start at shooting, with 36% on all field goals and 16% from long range. Merrill trailed just 28-26 after the first half, and Shawano put it away with a 22-19 second half.
“We didn’t shoot the ball well at all, especially from three-point range,” Soderberg said. “I thought that would be a real strength of ours, and I still think it will be.
“Watching the tape, we didn’t pass the ball well into the paint, so we didn’t get the easy opportunities. When we did get the ball in there, we were successful.
“Even though we shot poorly, we were still in the ballgame. We just gave up too many free throws. We didn’t play well at all. You could see glimmers of it here and there, but it was not a good night.”
Shawano connected on four fewer field goals but held a 17-of-25 to 3-of-5 advantage at the free throw line.
The Jays were paced by Riley Sutton (6 p, 8 r, 4 st), Scott Wallace (9 p, 5 a), Austin Reissmann (6 p, 4 r), Zach Mootz (8 p), Jon Gruetzmacher (4 p, 3 r), Payton Pyan (6 p) and Drew Hoff (4 p).
MHS–FG- 19-53 (36%), 3-pt- 4-25 (16%), FT- 3-5 (60%); Shaw–15-37 (41%), 3-9 (33%), 17-25 (45%).
Raided
Medford grabbed a 37-29 lead by halftime, then held up against a 33-28 MHS edge in the second. Prep basketball features two 18-minute halves this year.
“Against Medford, the defense let us down,” Soderberg said. “We made it too easy getting to the basket. We worked on shutting down the lanes in practice (after the game).
“We shot the ball better, but we’re not getting to the free throw line as often as our opponents are. We need to get to the rim and draw contact.”
The Raiders held a 24-to-9 margin in made free throws as both teams shot in the high 50s for percentage.
The losses didn’t cloud the performance of a couple of players for Soderberg.
“Both nights Riley (Sutton) did a great job on both ends of the floor,” he noted. “We count on him and the energy he brings to the floor. Ben Tabor was also someone we could depend on. Those two were definitely a bright spot for us.”
Leading Merrill were Mootz (18 p, 7 r, 4 a), Sutton (12 p, 8 r), Tabor (7 p, 6 r, 4 bl), Reissmann (8 p, 3 r), Wallace (5 p, 4 a), Hoff (7 p, 3 r), Kade Bonnell (3 r) and Pyan (3 p).
MHS–FG- 19-53 (36%), 3-pt- 4-25 (16%), FT- 3-5 (60%); Shaw–15-37 (41%), 3-9 (33%), 17-25 (45%).