By Jared Schmeltzer
Reporter

On Thursday night the Merrill girls basketball team hosted Wausau East in a conference match up. Merrill was able to build a big lead in the first half and would hold on to it in the second half on their way to a 52-35 win.

Merrill would lead East 8-3 early on before going on a 13-6 run to put the Jays up 21-9 with five minutes to play in the first half. The final five minutes saw the Jays outscore East 9-8, taking a 30-17 lead into halftime.

The second half of play was tightly contested with neither team able to go on any significant scoring runs. Merrill would ultimately outscore the Lumberjacks 22-18 in the half, on their way to their second Wisconsin Valley Conference win of the season.

The Jays were led by Dalie Thomas and Claire Drew who each scored 11 points. Thomas would also add four rebounds, two assists and a steal to her stat line, while Drew had 12 rebounds and a steal. Rylee Mrachek had 10 points, two rebounds and an assist. Ashley Prebeg, Courtney Krueger and Ally Tabor rounded out the Merrill scoring, each scoring six points.

The Jays will be back in action on Tuesday as the travel to Northland Pines for some non conference action.