The Bluejay girls continued to struggle putting the ball in the hole and it hurt more than usual with quality opponent Kimberly on tap.

The host Papermakers locked down a 53-19 win behind a 24-4 first half.

“We just can’t connect on the offensive end,” MHS coach Melissa Yuska said. “It’s been the common theme the first three games of the season. If you can’t connect it’s going to be a struggle to win games. The scores have been lop-sided because we aren’t able to finish. The competition has been decent. That’s not going to hurt us in the future.

“We’ve got to find someone to step up and finish on a more-consistent basis, and it’s got to be more than one person. The potential to do that is there. We’re only three games into the season. We have a number of new players and a lot of the girls are still getting to know each other on the court. Hopefully some girls can find their rhythm with their shooting.”

Kimberly grabbed a 10-2 lead in the first quarter and stretched it to 24-4 by the half. Merrill pulled within 13-7 and 16-8 in the final two quarters.

Jourdyn Mootz gave 7 points and 4 boards, and Renee Sladek pulled down 5 rebounds. Andi English and Mariss Bartz also had 4 rebounds. Six players (Emma Sowija, Lindsay Krueger, Aly Brandvold, Bartz, Sladek and English) scored two points apiece.

Merrill hit 7-of-40 field goals (18%) and 5-of-11 free throws (45%). Kimberly made 17-of-26 foul shots (65%).

The Jays committed 19 turnovers.