SPASH beats Merrill in season debut for Negaard

STEVENS POINT - Some might simply call it a coincidence.

Then again, the return of Maggie Negaard to the lineup may have just been the jolt of energy Stevens Point Area Senior High needed Friday night.

Having missed the first 17 games of the season recovering from a torn anterior cruciate ligament, Negaard offered SPASH a fresh start, and a much-needed boost.

Negaard finished with a game-high 17 points and the Panthers put the clamps on Merrill all night long to romp to a 53-31 Wisconsin Valley Conference win.

“At the beginning of the game I was kind of nervous, but my teammates did a great job of calming me down and reminding me this is just another game; I’ve played a million of them in my life,” Negaard said.

“In the second half, I calmed down a little bit. I’m just really happy and excited to be back. It was definitely hard sitting on the bench watching, but it just feels nice to be back on the court and impacting the game.”

It didn’t take long to make her presence felt.

Negaard picked up a steal on Merrill’s first possession of the game. Strong defense would be a theme all night for the Panthers.

She also knocked down her first shot of the season and accounted for the opening three points of the game for SPASH.

However, it was a 17-0 run sparked by Halle Gregorich, who accounted for eight points, over the final nine minutes of the first half that put the Panthers in complete command at 24-7.

The outcome was in sharp contrast to the first meeting between the teams when the Bluejays romped to a 56-42 victory on Jan. 5 behind 27 points from junior guard Patience Pyan.

“Theye were playing with energy with Negaard back and that helps (them) a little bit. Now they have another offensive threat that we could not stop,” Merrill coach Joelene Weix said. “I thought defensively we worked her over pretty well, but she’s got a great first step and can put the ball in the basket.”

SPASH made it very clear from the opening tip-off that it wasn’t about to let Pyan go off the second time around.

A trio of players — Halle Pavelski, Gregorich and Abby Germza — spent the entire night literally in the face of Pyan.

Focused entirely on face-guarding the dangerous scoring threat, the trio paid no attention to anyone else on the court. As a result, Pyan was limited to just six shots and four points.

No one was able to pick up the slack for the Bluejays, who were held to just seven points over the opening 18 minutes of actions. A performance that brought a smile to the face of the Panthers head coach.

“I’m really happy with how we played defense tonight. That’s really my No. 1 take away from this game,” SPASH coach Derek Kirklewski said. “I’ll tell you what. If we play defense like we did tonight, we’ll be able to stay in the game with anybody we play.

“We need to figure out how to do that every game.”

Having Negaard back is another reason for Kirklewski to be smiling.