By Jared Schmeltzer
Reporter
On Tuesday night the Merrill girls basketball team hosted Northland Pines for the Bluejays senior night. The Bluejays took care of business as they beat the Eagles by a score of 68-50.
The Jays had a very nice night moving the ball around as 11 differnt players were able to score. “The points scored were throughout our lineup, which was fun to see and we shot very well from the floor.” Comments head coach Joelene Weix.
The first half of the game was controlled by Merrill as they were able to outscore Northland Pines 40-23. The girls caused a lot of havoc for the Eagles with their full court press and were able to get many steals and easy buckets as coach Weix points out saying, “We were able to apply full court pressure which helped us create a decent lead.”
In the second half Northland Pines was able to compete a little more as the Jays only outscored them 28-27 on their way to a victory. Maddix Bonnell led the Bluejays in scoring as she put up 13 points. Bonnell also had three assists and five rebounds. Madi Weix had a solid game as she finished with 12 points, a rebound and a steal. Madi shot 83% from the floor as she hit five of her six shots, including two three pointers. Patience Pyan ended her night with 11 points, an assist, six rebounds and three steals. Lindsey Casper had six points on the night to go along with her five assists, two steals and one rebound. Molly Weix would end the game with six points and five rebounds. Kate Peterson finished with five points and did some nice work on defense coming up with a block and a steal.
Coach Weix was pleased with how the game turned out saying, “It was Senior Night against Northland Pines and all our Seniors played very well.”
The Lady Jays will be back on the court on Friday as they hit the road to take on Wisconsin Rapids, with tip off at 7:15 p.m.
Jays lose to SPASH
On Thursday (Feb. 1) the Lady Jays basketball team headed south to take on the SPASH Panthers. The Bluejays fought hard and stayed with the Panthers for most of the game, but would come up short as SPASH took the 64-48 win.
In the first half of action the Bluejays played hard and took it right to SPASH as coach Joelene Weix points out saying, “We came out in the first half and did a nice job getting to the basket. Our defense held up well in the first half making Point work hard to get all of their points.”
SPASH would outscore Merrill in the first half but only by two points as the score was 29-27 going into halftime.
As the second half of the game started the Panthers started to extend their lead. SPASH outscored Merrill by a score of 35-21 in the second half on their way to the 16 point win. “Second half, Point did a nice job getting rebounds and pushing up the floor for easy transition baskets.” Comments coach Weix, continuing to say, “We had some defensive break downs in the second half and we turned cold from the floor. Bad combination for us in the second half.”
Maddix Bonnell led the Jays in scoring for the game with 17 points. Bonnell played a well rounded game also coming up with four assists, six rebounds and two steals. Patience Pyan would finish her night with eight points, an assists and two steals. Kate Peterson turned in a solid performance scoring six points, dishing out three assists, getting a steal and grabbing four rebounds.