TINA L. SCOTT
EDITOR

The Merrill Girls Varsity Basketball team played Wisconsin Rapids Girls on Friday, Jan. 22, but despite having the home court advantage, the Bluejays lost to the Red Raiders by 18 points. Claire Drew (5 FG, 3 3 pt, 6 FT, 4 ast) put up 19 points and Courtney Krueger (4 FG, 1 3pt, 5 FT, 5 ast, 1 stl) put up 13 points in the game. Three other girls worked hard and put up 5 points each – Alayna Pozorski, Nicole Zoellner, and Prayla Pyan, respectively – but it just wasn’t enough to pull it out in the end.

Box Score
Wisconsin Rapids 71 @
Merrill 53

On Monday, Jan. 25, the Merrill Lady Jays played against Wausau East at Wausau and came away with a win, beating the Lumberjacks by 13 points. Krueger and Drew were again the high scorers in the game, along with Zoellner. Courtney Krueger scored 22 points (6 FG, 2 3pt, 8 FT, 3 ast, 5 stl), Claire Drew scored 12 points (4 FG, 1 3pt, 3 FT, 1 ast, 1 stl), and Nicole Zoellner scored 6 points (3 FG, 1 ast).

“I don’t think we played our best basketball or played up to our capability,” said Adam Smith, Merrill Girls Varsity Basketball Coach. “Luckily, with our low scoring in the first half, our defense kept us in the game and we were able to go on a run late in the second half to seal the game with about 2 minutes left to play.”
“We will look to work on some things this week, continue to improve, and battle Everest on Friday for senior night,” Coach Smith added.

Box Score
Merrill 44 @
Wausau East 31

The Merrill Lady Jays will play the DC Everest Evergreens, and again have home court advantage, this Friday night, Jan 29, at 7:15 p.m. in the Merrill High School Fieldhouse, court 2.