BY RICK ARGALL
MMC STAFF
Merrill returned to conference play on Friday night, Jan. 19, 2024, hosting Marshfield at the Merrill High School Field House. The Lady Jays entered the contest with a Wisconsin Valley Conference record of 1-3 while the first place Lady Tigers were atop the conference with a 5-0 mark.
The first half tipped off and both teams remained scoreless until Marshfield broke the ice with a free throw with 15:49 remaining in the half. That lead grew to 8-0 before Freshman Grace Reimann (4 pts, 2 FG) put Merrill on the scoreboard at the 13:04 mark of the half. Mia Ott (14 pts, 2 FG, 1 3pt, 7 FT) scored to pull the Lady Jays closer 10-4 with 11:55 remaining in the half. Marshfield built their lead to 12-4 before Maddie Ott (7pts, 2 FG, 1 3pt) hit a key basket that closed the gap to 8 points at 14-6. Another basket by #5 Grace Reimann kept Merrill close, but Marshfield closed out the half on a 9-2 run as both teams headed to the locker room for halftime with Marshfield leading 25-10.
Maddie Ott opened the scoring in the second half with a long 3-pointer to tighten things up at 25-13. After trading baskets, #15 Ava Detert (6 pts, 2 FG, 2 FT) scored 2 consecutive hoops to pull Merrill to within 30-19. Marshfield started to pull away midway through the second half before #24 Brenna Jirovec (5 pts, 1 FG, 1 3pt) and #12 Sophie Wendorf (6 pts, 2 3pt) hit clutch 3 point baskets prompting Marshfield to call timeout while leading 42-28. The Lady Tigers started to pull away again late in the game and built a 54-33 lead with 4:59 remaining. Mia Ott hit a 3-pointer and added some free throws for the Lady Jays down the stretch, but the clock wound down and the final score ended 64-44 for a Marshfield victory.
Merrill was led by Mia Ott (14 pts), Maddie Ott (7 pts), Sophie Wendorf (6 pts), and Ava Detert (6 pts).
Box Score
Marshfield 64 @ Merrill 44
