By Jared Schmeltzer
Reporter
On Friday night the Merrill boys basketball team began their season with an away game at Antigo. The Jays would trail at halftime, however would outscore the Red Robins by 11 in the second half to get the 76-66 win.
“We had some game one jitters that we had to get out of our system,” comments Merrill head coach Jake Schalow. “That showed in our shooting percentage to start the game. We started 0/15 from the floor, and didn’t have a field goal until 9:20 left in the half, which left us in a 16-2 deficit. Even though the shots didn’t fall early, they were all good looks. Once we got the first one to go in, we were able to start pressing and that helped us turn the game around.”
After trailing by 14 at one point in the first half the Jays were able to cut their halftime deficit to one point, trailing 31-32. Quinn Steckbauer carried the offensive load in the first half, scoring 15 points. Michael Casper scored eight first half points and Chase Bonnell had seven.
Merrill would go on to outscore Antigo 45-34 in the second half of the game to get the win. Steckbauer finished the game with 36 points, Casper ended with 13 and Bonnell finished with 16.
The Jays will play again in a tournament on Saturday at Kaukauna High School, game time is to be determined.