The Bluejay girls saw another winnable game slip through their grasp when they fell 49-43 in Ashland on Saturday.
“We played hard,” MHS coach Ross Reincke said. “We built a nice lead and then gave away some goofy turnovers and they were able to take advantage. I wish it was more than that, but breaking down the film, that’s exactly what it was. Maybe we were running a play a little faster than we should have, or we were trying to make passes to positions that weren’t open.”
The Jays worked a 10-10 tie in the first and pushed their edge to four in the second before settling for a 22-20 halftime lead.
The Oredockers surged ahead 31-28 in the third, then put it away with an 18-15 margin in the fourth.
“In every game the third quarter has been a killer and it happened again,” Reincke said.
The Jays cut it close in the fourth by fouling and rebounding Ashland free throw misses until the Oredockers converted theirs at the end.
“The girls never quit,” We were taking good shots but had a cold spell that hurt, but that can happen to anyone. Our defense got a little sloppy.”
Merrill dipped to 2-7 overall heading into Friday’s game at Marshfield.
The Jays were led by Morgan Marnholtz (14 p, 3 a), Mariah Turenne (7 p, 4 a), Morgan Pettit (4 p, 7 r), Maddix Bonnell (6 p, 3 r), Emily Page (3 p, 3 r), Hannah Marrier (5 p), and Starr Krenzke (3 p).
MHS–FG: 13-49 (27%); 3 pt: 5-19 (26%). FT: 12-21 (57%).