By Jared Schmeltzer
Reporter
On Friday night the Merrill girls basketball team traveled to Wausau West for a conference game against the Warriors. With Merrill losing to West in their last meeting, the Bluejays were able to get their revenge as they took down the Warriors by a score of 63-62.
The girls were focused right from the start of the game.
“Great game for us. We played hard right from the tip. I saw a lot of fight in the girls,” head coach Joelene Weix pointed out.
Merrill’s offense was clicking as they shot for a very high percentage from deep, hitting 56% of their three pointers. Coach Weix was impressed with the shooting of her team.
“We know we are a good shooting team and we have been streaky all season. The girls shot very well throughout the game especially from the 3-point line which kept us in the game.”
The Lady Jays went into halftime holding a two point lead after outscoring the Warriors 29-27 in the first half.
In the second half of play, the game stayed just as close as it was in the first half. Coach Weix points to the defense down the stretch as the difference maker in the game.
“Some big plays were made on the defensive end. A crucial five second call, a charge, and we pressured an over and back. This was all in the last three minutes of the game when we made a charge to tie it.”
After making that late charge to tie things up, Molly Weix found herself at the free throw line with four seconds left in the game. Molly knocked down her free throw to give Merrill the 63-62 lead which would hold up at the buzzer.
Patience Pyan led the way for the Lady Jays on offense as she scored 25 points, knocking down five three pointers. To go along with her scoring, Pyan had one assist, one block and three steals. Lindsey Casper also did a nice job shooting the ball as she hit four three pointers on her way to 16 points, eight assists, three rebounds and three steals. Maddix Bonnell finished the game with 12 points, four assists, six rebounds and three steals. Kate Peterson would end her night with nine points, two assists and two rebounds.
Merrill will hit the court again on Thursday as they host the SPASH Panthers for another conference battle tipping off at 7:15 p.m.