In the middle of the first half of Friday’s road contest, a pronounced shift beleaguered the Bluejay boys basketball team.
Merrill had held a 13-11 lead after the first quarter, but the second was all Marshfield. The Tigers used the long ball to out-score the Jays 24-10 in the frame and Merrill never recovered in a 67-46 loss.
“I thought we played a really good first quarter,” MHS coach Kurt Soderberg said. “Unfortunately it didn’t continue. They had a big second quarter and hit four threes in a short period of time. It was kind of a carbon copy of our (first) game with (Eau Claire) North, which concerns me. Three of the four threes our kids did a nice job of contesting, but they made the shots, bottom line.
“Marshfield had a couple of kids that really stepped up and played well, give them credit. That second quarter was the watershed moment, if you will. They snuck away and we couldn’t reel them back in.”
The Tigers out-rebounded the Jays 32-19. Merrill was boosted by 16 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists from David Jesperson and 9 points, 5 assists and 3 steals from Paul Theorin.
Merrill fell to 0-2 overall and 0-1 in the Valley.
The Tigers boosted their 35-23 halftime lead into a 50-31 margin by the end of the third quarter. The Jays were edged 17-15 in the fourth.
“I think we identified a few things that we need to do better,” Soderberg said. “Our defensive system is based on all five guys with certain responsibilities and if one or two break down, it’s like a domino effect.”
Andrew Seaman (11 p), Michael Seaman (5 p), Brandon Bartz (5 r) and Nick Peterson (3 r) made contributions.
Merrill-FG: 15-42 (36%); FT: 10-13 (77%). Marshfield -FG: 29-50 (58%); FT: 3-4 (75%).