The Bluejay girls faced vastly different opponents on consecutive-day home games and happily found they rate much closer to the talented.
They routed Wausau East 68-18 in the nightcap of Friday’s co-ed doubleheader, but fell 53-42 the next afternoon to Kimberly, the top-rated D1 team in the state.
Merrill used 14- and 11-point quarters to hang within 25-21 of Kimberly in the first half. But a 16-7 third turned the tide the Papermakers’ way. Merrill managed a 14-12 edge in the fourth.
“The girls came out and played a hard game” MHS coach Melissa Yuska said. “We’re really proud of their efforts.
“I sound like a broken record, but all of our problems came from letting them go off in the third quarter. In all our losses, we’ve done a nice job of matching up with these teams for three quarters, but basketball is a four-quarter game. That’s been our struggle. Without that third quarter, it could have been anybody’s game at the end.”
Dawn Leland led the Jays with 16 points, while Kimberly was paced by 19 from Frankie Wertz, including 15 in the first half.
“Dawn had a nice game offensively, again,” Yuska said. “We adjusted our defense on Wertz in the second half. Regan Byer played really good defense on her, and Morgan Wilde did, too. Unfortunately we let another couple kids go off. That’s going to happen with a good team and Kimberly is a very, very talented team.”
Contributions came from: Renee Sladek (9 p, 9 r, 5 a); Leland (16 p, 4 r); Byer (6 p) and Mariah Turenne (5 p).
Merrill–FG: 17-34 (50%); FT: 3-4 (75%). Kimberly–FG: 20; FT: 12-18 (67%).
Lumberjack chop
Friday’s game was over shortly after it started. The Jays rang up a huge 27-4 first-quarter lead and bumped it to 39-11 by intermission before exploding in a 21-3 third. The fourth closed with an 8-4 Merrill margin.
“The best part was coming out and setting the tone,” Yuska said. “That was kind of our focus. Our girls were really aggressive on defense. We created a lot of problems with our press. They used a box-and-one on Renee and we kicked it out to the open player and connected on our three-pointers.
“We were really able to take control. It was one of those games where everybody got to play solid minutes and contributed. Four girls were in double digits and all but two girls scored.”
Offerings came from: Sladek (13 p, 12 r, 3 a, 2 bl); Leland (18 p, 4 a, 2 bl); Anna Finnell (11 p); Hannah Marrier (10 p); Turenne (7 p, 3 a); Morgan Marnholtz (3 a, 3 st); Starr Krenz?ke (4 r); Lauren Hojan (3 a); and Byer (3 r).
Merrill–FG: 26-48 (54%); FT: 13-21 (62%). WE–FG: 6; FT: 3-10 (30%).
The Bluejays were 7-5 record overall and 2-2 in the Valley before Tuesday’s home game with Marshfield (6-6, 3-1). They go to Wis. Rapids (4-6, 2-3) on Friday.