Kelly O’Day
Sports Editor
The Bluejay boys basketball team finally got over the winning hump when Ashland came to town on Saturday.
Merrill had fallen to 0-7 with last Wednesday’s 67-51 defeat at GNC leader Mosinee. But the Jays’ offense exploded in a 84-56 triumph over the Oredockers.
“It’s a big relief is probably the best way to put it,” MHS coach Kurt Soderberg said. “You just keep plugging away and you finally get one. Plus the kids played really well the whole game. We’ve had issues where we played well for a half or two-thirds of the game, and then lose down the stretch. We were getting good looks and we were knocking down our shots. We want to do whatever we can to keep that going. Hopefully it happens more consistently now.”
Merrill worked a 43-32 lead by halftime, then put the game away with a 41-24 second.
“We finally shot the ball well,” Soderberg said. “The defense let us down a little in the first half, but when you score 43 and 41 in halves, that means you’re doing well.
“We had a high number of assists and a low number of turnovers. Our shooting percentage was where it should be. A lot of guys contributed.”
The Jays were boosted by Scott Wallace (19 p, 5 r, 7 a, 5 st), Mootz (20 p, 4 r), Reissmann (11 p, 7 r), Riley Sutton (7 p, 4 r, 3 a), Drew Hoff (9 p), Jared Ollhoff (5 p, 4 r), Ben Tabor (4 p, 3 r), Jon Gruetzmacher (6 p) and Payton Pyan (3 p).
Ash– 32 – 24 – 56. FG- 19-49 (39%), 3-pt- 9-25 (36%). FT: 9-18 (50%).
Mer– 43 – 41 – 84. FG- 26-52 (50%), 3-pt- 8-23 (35%). FT- 24-35 (67%).
Hot streak
The Bluejays fell behind Mosinee 28-13 by intermission, then hung with the Indians 39-38 in the second half.
“That was a tale of two halves,” Soderberg said. “We did not shoot the ball well in the first half at all. With 10 minutes left, it was 11-9, Merrill, and they started to shoot the ball well and we did not. In the second half, we played even with them, but we just cannot put ourselves in a hole like that.
“We were out-sized at just about every position, but our kids did a really good job battling for rebounds.”
Merrill was paced by Mootz (11 p, 6 r), Sutton (7 p, 8 r), Reissmann (14 p), Wallace (10 p, 4 r), Ollhoff (3 p, 5 r), Tabor (5 r) and Hoff (4 p).
MHS– 13 – 38 – 51. FG: 18-50 (36%), 3-pt- 5-25 (20%). FT: 10-17 (59%).
Mos– 28 – 39 – 67. FG- 24-39 (62%), 3-pt- 5-8 (63%), FT- 14-21 (67%)
Hodag rally
MHS dropped to 1-8 with a 48-35 Monday loss at Rhinelander that held the potential for another win.
The Jays had jumped out to a 24-18 lead in the first half, but were out-scored 30-11 in the second.
“We have to find a way to avoid scoring droughts and eliminate mental errors on both ends of the floor,” Soderberg said.
Production came from Hoff (14 p, 4 r), Sutton (5 p, 7 r, 2 bl), Wallace (4 p, 3 r, 4 a), Mootz (5 p) and Reissmann (5 r).
MHS– 24 – 11 –35. FG: 11-35 (31%), 3-pt- 3-16 (19%). FT: 10-15 (67%).
Rhi– 18 – 30 – 48. FG- 13-36 (36%), 3-pt- 5-12 (42%), FT- 17-20 (85%)