Merrill Boys Basketball: Mixed results in recent matchups

On Monday, Feb. 10, 2025, the Merrill Boys Basketball Team played host to Tomahawk and secured a dominant win, 85-24.
“After three tough conference games, it was nice to get outside the conference and take a break from the conference grind,” said Merrill Boys Varsity Basketball Head Coach Troy Pieper.
“I thought we played really well tonight. We did allow them to start on a 5-0 run, but a timeout and a little pep talk got the guys refocused, and we rolled from there,” he said.
“At times it’s tough because when you get big leads, you tend to coast. It’s just human nature, but as we wind down the regular season, I talk about putting in 36 minutes of our style and with the energy we are capable of, and sort of ignore the scoreboard no matter if it’s good or bad. Tonight we did that, I thought. Our defense didn’t lose any focus or energy in the second half, as we allowed less in the second half than we did in the first half,” Pieper said.
“It was a nice night, everyone got solid minutes, and all but one guy was able to get in the scoring column, which is always nice,” he said.

“Kory Page led in a few areas tonight, he shot it well and led us in scoring, but more importantly he had 15 deflections, 7 steals, and 9 rebounds. When he’s filling the box score up like that, we are at our very best,” said Pieper.
Kory Page (20 pts, 9 FG, 2 3pt, 9 reb, 5 ast, 7 stl), EJ Weix (13 pts, 5 FG, 3 FT, 5 reb, 3 ast, 5 stl), and Aidan Houghton (12 pts, 5 FG, 1 3pt, 1 FT, 6 reb, 1 ast, 5 stl) were the high scorers of the game.
Box Score
Tomahawk 24 @ Merrill 85

On Thursday, Feb. 13, the Merrill Boys traveled to Wisconsin Rapids and won 52-37.

“Our defense was locked in all night long,” Pieper said. “We made it very difficult on their guys to get many clean looks—the energy was there, as well as the effort and execution.”
“We did struggle on offense. Especially in the first half, we couldn’t buy a bucket. I thought we were getting good looks, but nothing would fall, but again, thankfully the defense kept us in the game,” he said. “So in the second half, we were able to take the lid off the hoop and find some shots to fall and pull away.”
“Rapids really had no way of stopping EJ Weix tonight,” Pieper said. “He was patient and under control all night, and they just couldn’t stop him no matter what they tried to do. He finished with 28 points on just 14 shot attempts. That is as efficient as it gets.”
EJ Weix (28 pts, 10 FG, 1 3pt, 7 FT, 7 reb, 1 stl), Kory Page (7 pts, 3 FG, 1 FT, 5 reb, 1 ast, 5 stl), and Cooper Wendorf (8 pts, 3 FG, 2 3pt, 2 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl) were the top scorers for Merrill in the game.
Box Score
Merrill 52 @ Wisconsin Rapids - Lincoln 37

On Tuesday, Feb. 18, the Merrill Boys hosted D.C. Everest and suffered a loss, 65-46.
“This was another case of showing we can compete with the bigger and very talented schools, but we didn’t do it for 36 minutes,” Pieper said. “The first half we played very well and went in [to the second half] tied 28-28, but in the second half we lost our way executionwise on defense and allowed their two shooters to get free and hit too many open 3’s.”
“It’s still a game to learn from and build off of. The fact [that] we can play with these teams when we do what we need to do at a high level shows we can be a dangerous team come playoffs, but in the playoffs, everything is about who can do it at a high level for all 36 minutes, and we will get there, I’m confident of that,” he said.
EJ Weix (15 pts, 4 FG, 1 3pt, 6 FT, 4 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl), Kory Page (11 pts, 4 FG, 1 3pt, 2 FT, 3 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl), and Tyson Ott (6 pts, 2 FG, 2 FT, 1 reb, 2 stl) were the leading scorers for Merrill.

Box Score
D.C. Everest 65 @ Merrill 46

On Friday, Feb. 21, the Merrill Boys traveled to Marshfield and lost 53-33.
“Marshfield is one of the top three or four teams in the entire state no matter what division, and playing at their place is never easy, so we knew we really had to be locked in from the start, and we were,” Pieper said. “We held them scoreless for the first 10 minutes of the game. Only problem—we didn’t convert enough of those stops, so we only had a 12-0 lead at that point. Against the best team in your conference, you need to convert at a high level, and we needed that lead to be more like 20-0.”
“I thought the guys battled hard all night. We had a lead at halftime—not many teams can say they were able to do that against Marshfield this year, but again it comes down to doing it for 36 minutes against the top-tier teams. We played solid in the second half, but we just couldn’t get anything to fall on the offensive side, and they found their way on offense, so it got away from us a little bit down the stretch,” he said.

EJ Weix (10 pts, 4 FG, 2 FT, 5 reb, 1 stl), Kory Page (8 pts, 2 FG, 1 3pt, 3 FT, 3 reb, 2 ast), and Charles Kalinowski (7 pts, 1 FG, 1 3pt, 4 FT, 4 reb, 1 ast) were the high scorers in the game.
Box Score
Merrill 33 @ Marshfield 53

Playoffs bracket released

“Now we wrap up the season this week with Rhinelander and Wausau West and then head into the playoffs. We found out Sunday that we will be the 8 seed and host Antigo, the 9 seed, in the first round of the playoffs on Mar. 4 at 7 p.m.,” Pieper said. “It’s the best time of the year. March Madness is a special time where some awesome memories can be made.”

Coach Pieper said he is excited about the opportunity and proud of the guys for keeping the home playoff streak alive.
“This year—I’m not going to lie, I wasn’t sure if the computer would get it right and we’d have a home game or not—the computer is given numbers and that’s it—and the numbers don’t tell the whole story. We are very deserving of a home game, and I’m thankful the computer seeding got it right.”
“This makes it eight straight years of hosting a playoff game,” Pieper said. “That is really something special and worth being proud of. It’s not easy accomplishing that feat for eight straight years. It’s a streak I didn’t want to see end, and I would be lying if I said I wasn’t worried about how the computers would compute the numbers this year.”
“We are ready for the playoffs,” he said. “The Wisconsin Valley Conference gets you ready. If you are able to come out healthy–and at this time we are healthy—we will be ready to make some noise in the postseason this year. I can’t wait to get it going.”