The Bluejay basketball team is currently in second place in the Valley and playing solid ball, but you can throw that out the window when the state’s top-ranked SPASH is playing the way it did in Friday’s 82-43 Senior Night triumph.
“We’ve talked offensive efficiency and scoring at least a point per possession; that’s good,” MHS coach Kurt Soderberg said. “They were over two (ppp) for the first half. They shot so well they only missed six shots. That’s an impossible situation.
“It was one of those nights where it didn’t matter what we did. We didn’t play poorly. We had 17 turnovers the first time we played them and we only had four on Friday.”
SPASH finished the game with 58% shooting.
Point turned a 27-11 lead into a 47-25 margin by halftime, then out-scored Merrill 25-10 in the third and 10-8 in the fourth.
“We’ve got to shake that one off,” Soderberg said. “We’ve got to play for second place at Rapids (Friday). That’s our focus for now.”
The Jays are 12-9 overall and 6-5 in WVC play. D.C. Everest is 6-4 (12-7) but has road games with SPASH and Rapids, while Rapids is 5-5 (12-8) with the MHS and Everest games left.
The Jays’ production came from Chaz Mootz (14 p, 6 r, 3 a), Austin Reissmann (8 p), Keenan Stellingworth (6 p, 2 r), Drew Hoff (5 p, 2 r), Jake Anderson (2 p, 3 r), Jon Gruetzmacher (4 p), Trey Stevenson (3 p), Riley Sutton (3 p), Scott Wallace (2 p) and Adam Messerschmidt (2 r).
MHS–FG: 17-48 (35%). FT: 5-7 (71%). SP–FG: 30-52 (58%). FT: 7-9 (78%).
Talkin’ T-Birds
The Jays had already defeated Lakeland on the road by four points on January 20. Last Tuesday they turned a 12-11 first-quarter lead into a 25-17 margin by halftime, then never looked back on the way to a 53-44 triumph.
“Early on we played well offensively, but gave up too many easy baskets inside,” MHS coach Kurt Soderberg said. “I thought we left five transition baskets on the floor – so we left 10 points on the floor.
“We played much better in the second half. We had a couple of lapses, but our offensive efficiency was better. We were at one point per possession, which is on goal. We played well enough to win.”
The Bluejays ripped off eight point in 55 seconds – on back-to-back threes from Austin Reissmann and a Keenan Stellingworth baseline drive — at the beginning of the third quarter to grab a 33-19 lead, but watched Lakeland work its way back within 36-30 late in the quarter before a pair of late Chaz Mootz free throws. It didn’t faze the Merrill boys.
“We’ve been in some tight games,” Soderberg said. “At some point you’ve got to put it in the kids’ hands. They’ve got to take care of the ball, make smart passes, play good defense.”
The T-Birds hung around within 6-8 points for much of the fourth but the Jays boosted it to 51-41 with a minute to go on a Drew Hoff fast-break lay-up. Lakeland gave it one last shot with a steal from Mootz, down 51-44 with 20 seconds left, but Mootz immediately stole it back and drove for the lay-up for the final points of the game.
Merrill was led by Mootz (15 p, 7 r, 6 a, 2 st), Reissmann (13 p, 4 r, 2 st), Stellingworth (6 p, 7 r), Jake Anderson (4 p, 4 r), Gruetzmacher (4 p, 4 r), Drew Hoff (7) and Wallace (2 p, 4 r). Lakeland was paced by Levi Herrick (14).
MHS–FG: 21-44 (48%). FT: 7-9 (78%). Lake–FG: 20-43 (47%). FT: 1-7 (14%).