The Bluejays boys let victory escape in a 64-55 loss at Mosinee last Tuesday that, surprisingly for the final tally, ended in overtime.
But Merrill responded in strong fashion by turning a potential blow-out loss into a 55-51 home triumph over Lakeland on Friday.
“Those are the games you can learn from, and to overcome your struggles and win makes it a lot easier to learn,” MHS coach Kurt Soderberg said.
The Jays watched a 12-11 first-quarter lead disappear into a 28-13 hole by the middle of the second. Several long shots didn’t drop.
“Too many times in a stretch from the middle of the first quarter until the a point in the second quarter, for whatever reason, we gave up easy baskets combined with our not finishing,” Soderberg said.
“Too many times we were one shot and done. The good thing is we had the right guys shooting them and it’s not a reflection of how this group shoots the ball. Another good thing is this group found a way to win despite missing those shots.”
An 11-2 run to the end of the half resurrected their chances.
“We finally strung some stops together,” Soderberg said. “It was big to only be down by six at halftime.”
Merrill still trailed 39-33 with just 1:50 left in the third, but it was 39-38 a minute later after an Austin Reissmann three and a Scott Wallace-to-Brandon-Bartz lay-up. A T-Bird put-back made it 41-38 at the break, but a flurry of activity opened the fourth.
A Bartz slashing lay-up, Reissmann steal and Bartz offensive rebound leading to free throws gave Merrill its first lead since 12-11 at 42-41. A Mootz trey with 5:53 left made it 45-45, and drives by Jake Anderson and Bartz made it 49-48 with 4:51 left. Mootz added a pair of foul shots after a defensive rebound and coast-to-coast push.
A Lakeland lay-up cut it to 51-50 but Mootz forced the issue again and connected on both free throws with 3:05 to go. Then the Jays went into clock-killing mode, and pulled it off for two minutes until a Bartz pass was intercepted by a leaping T-Bird. But his fast break was cut short by a Reissmann steal.
“If they score there, that could be the difference of the game,” Soderberg said. “When it happened, I remember one of my assistants said, ‘That was pure hustle.’ That’s what it was. Austin is as athletic a player as we have. He works extremely hard and just loves the game. Friday was big because Austin was able to score and made key defensive stops.”
Bartz was sent to the line with :37.7 left, but Anderson gave new life by rebounding the missed front end of a 1-on-1 free throw situation. The Jays would miss two other front ends, but Nick Peterson rebounded a missed Lakeland shot after the first and Anderson rebounded the second and dished to Bartz in the final seconds for a lay-up.
Key contributions came from: Mootz (21 p, 3 r); Bartz (16 p, 5 r, 3 a); Anderson (4 p, 8 r); Reissmann (7 p, 3 st); and Peterson (5 p).
“What I like about Chaz is if he makes a mistake, he makes up for it on the other end,” Soderberg said. “It’s been since my time at Marquette High that I had a point guard I can count on the way I do with Brandon. Jake has to figure out his role. Last year with David (Jesperson), Jake could be The Man’s best friend. Now we need him to be The Man.”
Merrill–FG: 20-42 (48%); FT: 11-16 (69%). Lakeland–FG: 20-47 (43%); FT: 9-13 (69%).
Evaporating win
The Bluejays gradually edged ahead of Mosinee with quarter steps of 15-14, 27-25 and 38-33, but the Indians used a 19-14 fourth to knot it up. Over-matched MHS gave up a 12-3 OT period.
“We didn’t shut the door in that game, and not just the last free throw to go up by four before they made their tying three,” Soderberg said. “There were other points where we didn’t capitalize at the free-throw line. Also, defensively we weren’t rotating help as much as we needed.
“We had three starters (Bartz, Mootz, Peterson) foul out going into overtime and we just couldn’t recover from that.”
Mosinee’s Aaron Maas led all scorers with 26 points. The Indians hit 10-of-11 foul shots in overtime.
Merrill offerings came from: Mootz (19 p, 3 a); Anderson (13 p, 3 r); Bartz (7 p, 5 a, 3 r); Alex Zettler (5 p); and Matt Rekowski (4 p).
Merrill–FG: 18-34 (53%); FT: 13-24 (54%). Lakeland–FG: 19-34 (56%); FT: 20-24 (83%).
The Jays are at 4-2 overall and 1-0 in the Valley. Mosinee is 5-1.