Jared Schmeltzer
Reporter
Following some time off for Christmas, the Merrill girls basketball team stepped back on the court on Friday, Dec. 27, for a tournament in Menomonie. The Jays kicked off the tournament with match-up against Saint Croix Central, where despite a tough shooting night Merrill pulled out a 45-36 win.
“Saint Croix Central was not a very fluid game,” said Merrill head coach Joelene Weix. “We really did not shoot well from the floor throughout the game, but we did enough at the end of the game to pull away. Courtney Krueger had a really nice first half for us, scoring 19 points. Ashley Prebeg did a very nice job on the boards for us.”
Krueger’s first half of play led the Jays to a slight 21-19 lead at the break, with Krueger scoring all but two of Merrill’s first half points. Despite Krueger’s hot hand, the Jays would need to get others involved in the second half to hold on to their lead.
In the second half Ashley Prebeg started to get into the offensive flow, scoring nine points. One three-pointer and some good free-throw shooting for Claire Drew resulted in eight second half points for her, as the Jays outscored St. Croix 24-17 to hold on to the win.
Leading performers for the Jays incldue: Courtney Krueger (21 pts, 5 reb, 2 stl), Ashley Prebeg (9 pts, 11 reb, 2 stl) and Claire Drew (8 pts, 6 reb, 2 ast).
Merrill falls to Menomonie
The Bluejays would return to Menomonie on Saturday, Dec. 28, for a showdown with the host team. The Jays would jump out to a hot start grabbing an early 9-0 lead, however Menomonie would heat up from deep and eventually squeeze passed Merrill for a 56-54 win.
We started off fast, which was nice to see,” stated Merrill head coach Joelene Weix. “We jumped ahead 9-0, but then Menomonie settled in and got hot from the perimeter. The game had a bunch of momentum switches. Their pressure created too many turnovers that really hurt us.”
After taking the early lead the Jays would slow down on the offensive end while Menomonie began to turn up the heat. Menomonie erased the Jays nine point lead and took a four point lead of their own into the halftime break.
The second half of action saw Menomonie control the pace for the most part and even built a nine point lead with five minutes remaining in the game. The Jays never quit fighting however, as they were able to cut that lead to just two points but were unable to complete the comeback, falling 56-54.
“I give our girls credit, we really stuck in the game when we could have folded,” added coach Weix. “Menomonie went up by 9 with about five minutes left. We did a great job with creating some stops and battling on the offensive end to get the game to two points. We had a shot at the end to tie and we just couldn’t get it to fall. I was very happy with the effort!”
Merrill’s top performers include: Courtney Krueger (26 pts, 6 reb, 7 stl), Ashley Prebeg (8 pts, 11 reb, 2 stl), Claire Drew (9 pts, 6 reb, 2 ast) and Erin Murray (7 pts, 1 blk, 4 reb).
The Lady Jays will be back on the court on Thursday, Jan. 9, as they play host to conference foe Wisconsin Rapids. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:15 p.m.