Varsity Boys fall short in two Holiday Classic basketball matchups

On Dec. 29, 2025, the Merrill Varsity Boys Basketball Team traveled to compete in the Menomonie High School Holiday Classic, facing New Richmond in a hard-fought contest that ended in an 80-73 loss despite a commanding first-half performance.
“In the first half, we probably played our best half of basketball this year,” said Merrill Varsity Boys Basketball Head Coach Troy Pieper. “New Richmond is a very good team, and the style and pace they play with, they score a lot of points. They averaged 94 points per game this year. We executed the game plan perfectly in the first half and had them a little frustrated. They couldn’t play as quickly as they wanted to, and it led to us having a 43-27 lead at the break.”
Unfortunately, the Bluejays’ 16-point halftime advantage evaporated in the second half.
“The second half, they dictated the pace and tempo and forced us into some rushed shots, which plays right into their style, and they saw a few 3’s fall and then just got hot, and we ended up coming up short,” Pieper said. “A frustrating loss for sure, but there are some things we can for sure build off of moving forward. Cooper Wendorf had a nice game, which was nice to see. He’s one of our best shooters and just was in a little slump to start the year. Seeing him break out was nice to see. I also thought Eli Burtman had a nice game. He has been becoming more of a force as of late, and when he dictates things inside, it opens things up outside for us, as he gets more attention inside the more he controls things inside.”
Cooper Wendorf led all Merrill scorers with 25 points. Eli Burtman added 13 points, Payton Zimmerman (14 pts, 5 ast, 5 stl, 3 reb), and Charles Kalinowski (11 pts) rounded out the double-figure scorers.

“We had four guys in double figures, which is the first time this year we had that,” Pieper said. “It was nice seeing a good balance in the scoring column.”
“Payton Zimmerman filled the stat sheet up, and as a Sophomore, you see his confidence grow each game,” he said. “He finished with 14 points, 5 assists, and 5 steals.”
Box Score
Merrill 73 @ New Richmond 80

The following day, Dec. 30, Merrill faced Menomonie in another Holiday Classic matchup, falling 61-57 in a back-and-forth battle.

“This was a back-and-forth game,” Pieper said. “It was a very competitive game against a good team. We got to face two very good teams over break and two teams we very well could play in the playoffs.”
Merrill trailed 36-29 at halftime after a slow finish to the first half.
“We talk all the time about the start and end of halves and how important they are,” Pieper said. “We say win the first 4:00 and final 4:00 of each half. Obviously there is 10 minutes in between that are important, too, but a lot of games, you can look at the start and end of halves to see where the game went well or bad. Tonight we started well but finished the half poorly and faced a seven-point deficit at the break.”
The Bluejays battled back in the second half and took the lead, but couldn’t maintain it down the stretch.
“We battled in the second half to take the lead, and it was back and forth from then,” Pieper said. “We just didn’t make enough plays down the stretch to pull off the win. We turned it over four out of the final five possessions. That just can’t happen if you want to win close games.”
Payton Zimmerman (16 pts, 5 FG, 3 3pt, 3 FT, 2 reb, 2 ast, 5 defl) and Eli Burtman (15 pts, 6 FG, 3 FT, 6 reb, 1 ast) led the scoring for Merrill.
“Payton had another great game,” Pieper said. “Seeing him grow each game and become more and more comfortable is fun to see.”
“Eli also was very good again,” he said. “His confidence is growing each game. We will need to make sure we keep feeding him in the paint to keep that confidence growing.”
Box Score
Merrill 57 @ Menomonie 61

Looking ahead, Coach Pieper acknowledged the team’s current record while remaining focused on improvement.
“We head into January sitting at 3-6, which is a bit frustrating when you look at [during] four of our losses, we had leads down the stretch,” Pieper said. “Sure, we could easily be sitting at 7-2 right now, but we aren’t. You don’t make excuses for that. Our record is what it is. All we can do is learn from those four losses and find ways to finish better and execute better down the stretch of games. We are close to being a really good team, but we are still searching for that complete game. We’ll get there. I’m confident in that.”