Collin Lueck
Editor
The Bluejay boys basketball team hit the road to visit Green Bay East last Wednesday, coming home with a 59-42 loss to the Red Devils.
Merrill trailed 26-19 at the half and were outscored in the second half 33-23.
“We struggled against their 1-3-1 zone,” MHS assistant coach Adam Smith said. “We had too many turnovers at 16.”
Merrill got just four free throw attempts and made two. The Red Devils were 9 of 19 from the free throw line.
Austin Reissmann led the scoring for Merrill with 17 points, including shooting 5 of 8 from three-point range. Other contributions came from Scott Wallace (5 p, 3 r, 4 a), Will Soderberg (6 p), Riley Sutton (2 p, 7 r, 2 st), Jared Ollhoff (4 p, 5 r, 2 st) Zach Mootz (5 p, 3 a) and Drew Hoff (3 p, 3 a).
“Austin Reissman had a really good game,” Smith said, “especially shooting five of eight from three-point range.
“(Freshman) Will Soderburg came in and played some good minutes for us. He’s getting more comfortable.”
GBE– 26 – 33 – 59. FG- 23-42 (55%), 3-pt- 4-10 (40%). FT- 9-19 (47%).
Mer– 19 – 23 – 42. FG- 15-41 (37%), 3-pt- 10-29 (35%). FT: 2-4 (50%).
Pounded by Point
The Jays lost big to a nationally-ranked Stevens Point team in the SPASH fieldhouse Friday night. The Panthers – who have risen to #8 on the national polls – cruised to a 47-9 halftime lead, then outscored Merrill 37-23 in the second half to post the lopsided 84-32 victory. SPASH scored 22 of its points off turnovers.
Every team that’s stepped foot on the court against the Panthers this season has felt the agony of defeat. Point has crushed all comers, standing at 10-0 atop the Wisconsin Valley Conference standings. Their closest conference game of the season was a 23-point win over Merrill on Jan. 12.
“They’re just a good team,“ Smith said. “It a good experience for us to play them, especially this close to the playoffs when we’re going to see some good teams.”
Facing the Point juggernaut, the Bluejays appeared timid in the first half, Smith noted.
“We played a little scared in the first half and that’s where we committed the majority of our turnovers,” Smith said. “We went back to our game plan and played a lot better in the second half.”
Merrill’s shooting percentages improved dramatically over the opening half. The Blue Jays hit on only 1 of 12 3-point attempts in the first half, while making 4 of 5 in the second.
Leading scorer for the Bluejays was Reissman with 9 (1 r, 1 a), followed by Hoff with 8 (4 r, 1 st). Other contributions came from Wallace (3 p, 2 a, 1 st), Sutton (2 p, 3 r), Ollhoff (3 p, 2 r), Mootz (3 p, 3 a, 1 st) and Jon Gruetzmacher (3 p, 3 r).
SPASH– 47 – 37 – 84. FG- 32-59 (54%), 3-pt- 12-30 (40%). FT- 8-8 (100%).
Mer– 9 – 23 – 32. FG- 10-34 (29%), 3-pt- 5-17 (29%). FT: 7-13 (54%).