Kelly O’Day
Sports Editor
After a season of close calls and near misses, the Merrill boys basketball team finally pulled out its first WVC win in six tries on Friday. That it was by a 61-53 tally on the road at Wis. Rapids just made it all the more satisfying.
“It feels like we’re starting to crack the code on what to do to be successful,” MHS coach Kurt Soderberg said. “That’s always fun.”
The Bluejay and Raiders battled to a 30-30 tie by halftime, but Merrill turned up the heat in the second half.
“We played smart and got the ball where we needed to get it,“ Soderberg said. “Scott (Wallace) had a really good game with six assists and just two turnovers. We made free throws at the end and he made 11 of 12.
“The way we defended in the second half was the difference. Rapids made some nice adjustments to our zone later in the first half, but we played with much more consistency in the second half, and mixed in some man-to-man. It was a ‘want-to’ attitude on defense.
“We’ve worked really hard on our communication since the Marshfield game, and the guys really did a good job of that on Friday.”
The Jays hit 83% (19-23) of their free throws to put the game away, after canning 47% (8-17) of their three-pointers.
The Jays were paced by Wallace (18 p, 3 r, 6 a), Zack Mootz (15 p, 5 r), Riley Sutton (13 p, 3 r, 3 a), Austin Reissmann (6 p, 3 a), Jared Ollhoff (4 p, 4 r) and Drew Hoff (5 p).
Mer– 25 – 21 – 46. FG- 17-35 (49%), 3-pt- 8-17 (47%). FT: 19-23 (83%).
Mar– 35 – 25 – 60. FG- 22-44 (50%), 3-pt- 4-17 (24%). FT- 5-6 (83%).
Powerful Panthers
Merrill played a heck of a game in a 78-52 loss to top-ranked SPASH (D1) – the 18th-ranked team in the nation – at home on Tuesday.
“Our kids played smart,“ Soderberg said. “They played aggressive, they made shots, they played really good defense. We made SPASH slow down a little bit in their half-court offense.
“With six minutes left in the half, we were down just 24-18, so we feel pretty good about that. That’s a good team. Our kids showed a lot of resiliency, and they played without fear. We hope this will be a springboard for better play.”
Point did work the margin to 44-29 by halftime and out-scored Merrill 34-23 in the second half. The Jays did drill 63% of their three-pointers in a 48% shooting night from the field.
The Jays were led by Mootz (14 p, 3 r), Wallace (9 p, 8 a), Hoff (9 p, 3 r, 3 a) Sutton (6 p, 5 r), Austin Reissmann (7 p), Jared Ollhoff (4 p) and Payton Pyan (3 p).
SP– 44 – 34 – 78. FG- 32-56 (57%), 3-pt- 12-29 (41%). FT- 2-3 (67%).
Mer– 29 – 23 – 52. FG- 19-40 (48%), 3-pt- 10-16 (63%). FT: 4-8 (50%).