Varsity Bluejays celebrate two Boys Basketball wins, earn playoff bye

The Merrill Varsity Boys Basketball Team hosted the Antigo Red Robins on Friday, Feb. 20, 2026, and came away with a convincing 72-52 win.
“It was a solid effort; I wouldn’t say we played our best ball of the year, but we played a good, solid, clean game for the most part,” said Merrill Varsity Boys Basketball Team Head Coach Troy Pieper.
Four Bluejays finished in double figures on the night. Payton Zimmerman (17 pts, 6 FG, 3 3pt, 2 FT, 3 ast, 6 stl) led Merrill in scoring and put on a standout defensive performance as well.
“Payton Zimmerman had a really nice game, led us in scoring and finished with six steals. He’s closing in on breaking our school steals record, which has stood since 1992-93, so that would be a pretty impressive record to see broken,” Pieper said.
Tyson Ott (16 pts, 7 FG, 1 3pt, 1 FT, 8 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl) and Cooper Wendorf (15 pts, 6 FG, 2 3pt, 1 FT, 1 reb, 3 ast, 4 stl) also had strong outings, with Samuel Hagemeister (11 pts, 5 FG, 1 3pt, 2 reb, 1 ast, 2 stl, 1 blk) rounding out the double-digit scoring effort.

“We had four guys score in double figures, which is always nice. It shows the ball was moving well and the guys played confidently,” Pieper said.
Depth was also on display throughout the game.
“We were able to get everyone some good minutes, which is nice, and the guys who got some extended minutes did a pretty good job, which was nice to see,” he said.
Box Score:
Antigo 52 @ Merrill 72

Senior Night
Thursday, Feb. 26, was Senior Night for the Merrill Bluejays, with Merrill hosting Lakeland for the final game of the team’s regular season. The Seniors celebrated their last night of playing for the regular season with an exciting 63-53 win. Coach comments were not available at press time. Next up, the Bluejays turn their attention to the playoffs.
Box Score:
Lakeland 53 @ Merrill 63

Bluejays earn first-round bye, head to Menomonie this Friday

The WIAA Division 2 Boys Basketball Tournament bracket was also announced this week. Merrill earned the No. 6 seed and a first-round bye, and will travel to face No. 3 seed Menomonie on Friday, March 6, at 7 p.m.
“I like the seed we got. It’s the first time since we’ve been coaching here that we won’t host a playoff game; however, it’s the first year we were able to get a bye, so we do get a full week of prep for a solid Menomonie team,” Pieper said.
The two teams have already met once this season, giving the Bluejays some useful frame of reference heading into the matchup.
“We played at Menomonie earlier in the year over Christmas break. We lost by four, but played a back-and-forth game, and we didn’t have a current starter when we faced them, so we know it’s a team we can play with — if we execute, I feel confident we can go there and get it done,” he said.
A Merrill win would set up a potential Sectional matchup against the winner of No. 7 seed Wausau East and No. 2 seed Rhinelander, also on March 6.