By Jared Schmeltzer
Reporter
On Friday night the Merrill boys basketball team hosted Marshfield for their home opener of the season. After a tight first half the Jays would get some breathing room in the second half, as they took down the Tigers by a score of 64-50.
“I thought the biggest key that we did in the game was defend,” comments head coach Jake Schalow. “It was the first time that we put together a full 36 minutes of solid team defense. Holding Marshfield to 50 points and 42% shooting from the floor is a testament to how hard and well our guys defended.”
The first half of play saw Merrill hold on to a slight lead of 30-25. Chase Bonnell led the Jays offense, scoring 12 first half points. Quinn Steckbauer did his part, scoring seven and Michael Casper had four.
In the second half the Jays extended their lead further, outscoring Marshfield 34-25. Casper got hot in the second half, adding 12 more points to his total. Steckbauer scored eight more points and Bonnell had five more.
Coach Schalow was happy with his team’s performance, adding, “I thought a number of guys made big time plays throughout the game, and we had players step up and hit big shots towards the end to help stretch out our lead and get out with the win.”
The Jays will be back on the court on Friday night as they host Medford in a non conference match up, starting at 7:15 p.m.