BY TINA L. SCOTT
EDITOR
Last Friday, Jan. 5, the Merrill Boys Varsity Basketball Team traveled to Stevens Point for a game and knew they were in for a challenge.
“SPASH is about as legit as it gets right now in our conference,” Merrill Boys Varsity Basketball Head Coach Troy Pieper said. “They and Marshfield are well oiled machines.”
“We were without Sam (Reimann), one of our starters, as he was out with an illness which has been making its way through the school and team lately,” he said. “That didn’t help matters, not having his athleticism, but in the end Point just couldn’t miss from the three-point line to start the game, and we got down big in a hurry.”
“The thing with them is they have many shooters and are very unselfish,” Pieper said. “They made the extra pass all night and that led to them hitting 14 threes on the night.”
By halftime, Merrill was down 13-42. And in the second half, while Merrill more than doubled their points on the board, it just wasn’t enough because Point was piling it on, too. Final score: A Merrill loss 31-75.
“We are in a bit of a rough stretch right now losing three in a row,” Pieper said, “But we have a big week coming up. We go to Rapids on Tuesday [Jan. 9], another team that when they are shooting it well from the outside can be a very dangerous team. Then we host Everest on Friday, and on Saturday we have our Hall of Fame Game against Ashland, so all we can do is pick ourselves up, learn from the game, and move on.”
And let’s take a look at the positive. “I thought Tyson Ott (7 pts, 2 FG, 2 3pt, 1 FT, 2 stl) had his best game of his young high school career,” he said. I’ve been waiting to see that aha moment, and for him to have that against one of the best teams in the state is a good thing to see. I could see him gain more and more confidence and have a big second half of the season.”
Carter Baade (11 pts, 4 FG, 2 3pt, 1 FT, 1 ast, 1 stl) was the Merrill team’s high scorer, but Ott was right behind him. EJ Weix (6 pts, 2 FG, 2 FT, 2 ast) also scored 6 points for Merrill.