The crowd at Tuesday's non-league challenge between the Northland Pines Eagles (Eagle River, WI) and the visiting Merrill Bluejays (Merrill, WI), observed Northland Pines's basketball team knock off Merrill by a score of 61-45.

The Eagles (5-1) will now prepare for their challenge against Rhinelander (Rhinelander, WI). The Hodags come into the Great Northern challenge with a 3-0 record. In their last challenge, Rhinelander prevailed over Wittenberg-Birnamwood (Wittenberg, WI), 63-59, in a non-league challenge.

In their next game, the Bluejays encounter the Wausau East Lumberjacks (Wausau, WI) in a Wisconsin Valley challenge, on Friday, December 13. Merrill will attempt to improve on its 2-2 season record. The Lumberjacks come into the challenge with a 5-0 record after their 89-48 non-league win over Marathon (Marathon, WI).