SHS boys fall to Merrill play at Hermantown tonight

The Superior High School boys basketball team wrapped up play in the Big Rivers Conference/Wisconsin Valley Conference Challenge with a 54-49 loss to Merrill Thursday afternoon at Eau Claire Memorial.

The Spartans opened the event with a 44-31 win over Wausau West on Wednesday.

Derek Kontny led Superior with 18 points, followed by Cody Hunt, 13; Erick Tunell, 10; Spencer Urban, five; and Jordan Hughes, three.

The Spartans (5-3) made seven 3-pointers, including three by Kontny, two by Tunell and one each by Hughes and Urban. They were also 12-of-17 from the free-throw line.

Merrill (3-6) was led by David Jesperson’s 17 points. Jared Wardall added 12 points and Ben Anderson and Adam Smith each had seven.

The Bluejays made four 3-pointers, two by Jesperson and one each by Paul Theorin and Anderson. They were 14-of-27 from the free-throw line.

“It was just one of those games of momentum, and when it turned good for them they took advantage of it,” SHS coach Dave Kontny said. “Their size allowed them to look over a lot of our traps and get some easy baskets. We just couldn’t get going offensively until late in the game when we cut the lead to one point, but then we missed a few bunnies and they made their free throws down the stretch.

“We battled the entire game, and with a young team, I thought our kids showed composure making the run in the fourth quarter. It’s not easy to travel two days in a row and play, but you have to do it late in the season, so it was a good lesson for us.”

The Spartans are at Hermantown tonight and host Duluth Denfeld on Jan. 12.

“It’ll be nice to play at home in a week or so,” Kontny said. “We’ve been on the road seven out of eight games so far and that’s not easy.”

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