On Tuesday night the Merrill girls basketball team hosted the SPASH Panther for their first conference meeting of the year. The Jays were able to stay within striking distance for most of the game, however SPASH would eventually pull away for a 66-50 win.
The first half was tightly contested early, with the Jays leading the Panthers 17-16 with 10 minutes to play in the half. An Elizabeth Iribarren bloody nose would sideline her for a few minutes, meanwhile SPASH would go on a 18-7 point run to end the half, capping it off with a last second shot to make it a 34-24 game.
Coming out of the locker room the Panthers would go on a 13-4 run to lead the Jays 47-28. Merrill refused to give up and later went on a 15-4 run of their own to cut the SPASH lead to 51-43. Merrill’s comeback effort ran out of fuel as SPASH went on a 15-7 run to finish the game and take the 66-50 victory.
Merrill was led by post player Ashley Prebeg who had 10 points in the game to go with 10 rebounds, two blocks and two assists. Courtney Krueger had a nice game, finishing with 11 points, seven rebounds, and an assist. Elizabeth Iribarren had 10 points and eight rebounds and Dalie Thomas ended the game with 11 points, four rebounds and two assists.
The Jays will be back on the court on Friday as they travel to Mosinee for a non conference game at 7:15 p.m.