By Jared Schmeltzer
Reporter
The Merrill girls basketball team traveled to D.C. Everest on Friday for their first conference game of the year. The Bluejays would fall to the Evergreens by a score of 64-54.
Merrill got off to a slow start and ended up trailing by 12 points after the first half.
“We really did not have a good start to the game,” comments head coach Joelene Weix. “We fell behind early by 10 or 12 and made a few dents into their lead, but never got closer than six.”
In the second half Merrill outscored Everest 33-31, however it wasn’t enough as they took the 10-point loss. Coach Weix said, “It was a game of momentum swings. We would go on a 6-0 run and then DCE would go on their run and get the lead back up to double digits. Our turnovers and their offensive boards really were the differences in the game.”
Even though the girls lost by double digits, coach Weix was happy with their effort, saying; “The girls really played hard and physical. Kate Peterson stepped up on the perimeter knocking down three 3-pointers, picking up for Pyan who was face guarded the whole game. Rylee Mrachek gave us a spark off the bench. Bonnell and Casper had solid games on both ends of floor for us scoring and rebounding.”
Threepeat over Red Robins
Last Tuesday (Dec. 5) the Merrill girls basketball team traveled to Antigo looking to keep their winning streak alive. The Bluejays took care of business winning 68-39 to improve their record to 3-0.
Coach Weix was not pleased with the way her team played in the first half, saying, “Our first half was not very smooth. Antigo played more aggressive and seemed to get to more loose balls. There was not much flow on the offensive end either for us.”
Despite all of that, Merrill was still able to build a 10 point lead in the half.
“The second half we played more aggressive with our press and defensive pressure,” Weix noted. “This seemed to spark our offense. We had nice balanced scoring, with Pyan (19), Madi Weix (13), Casper (12) and Bonnell (11) scoring in double digits. Our guards did a nice job on the boards. We had nice contributions from everyone coming off the bench.”
Merrill went on to outscore Antigo 35-16 in the second half to take the 68-39 win. The Bluejays will hit the court again on Friday as they host Wausau West at 6 p.m.