PATIENCE PYAN and TINA L. SCOTT
On Dec. 16, 2022, the Merrill Girls Basketball Team played Wausau East at East in a conference game.
The Bluejays kept it close in the beginning, but it didn’t take long for them to pull ahead and stay ahead. The girls played very well overall, and it was a good win to get them back in the groove after a number of losses. Mia Ott led the Merrill Bluejays with 30 pts, followed by Prayla Pyan who made 12 pts, and Alayna Pozorski who added on 11 pts.
Box Score
Merrill 72 @ Wausau East 46
The Merrill Girls then hosted Rhinelander for a non conference match-up on Dec. 20, 2022. The beginning of the game was pretty close and went back and forth for a while. Rhinelander took control for the majority of the first half, and the Merrill Girls led only one time at the beginning of the game. At halftime, the girls were down 32-21 and were letting the Hodags out-tough them.
The second half of the game was a whole different story, as the Lady Jays came out on fire and didn’t let up at all. They inched their way back into the game by going on a 13-2 run to start the half and got up 35-34.
Merrill stayed on top for a while and then went down 48-51, but then went on another run of 11-2 to get ahead again 59-53 late in the second half.
The Hodags couldn’t pull ahead the rest of the game, and the Bluejays stayed on top to win 67-59.
The Merrill Girls were led by Mia Ott who put up 21 pts and shot 10-14 from the free throw line, Maddie Drew who also put up 21 pts with 5 three-pointers, and Prayla Pyan who added 12 points and 13 rebounds.
Box Score
Rhinelander 59 @ Merrill 67
