WBCA ALL-STAR GAME - Gierl’s big year ends at WBCA All-Star Game
An outstanding three-sport senior year for Medford’s Charlie Gierl concluded Thursday when he represented the Raiders in the Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association’s Division 2 All-Star Game.
Played at the JustAGame Fieldhouse in Wisconsin Dells, Gierl and the Black squad overtook the White team in the second half, pulling away for a 109-90 win in the Division 2 game.
Gierl scored five points in about 17 minutes of playing time in the NBA-length 48-minute game. That was a factor as the White team had some players pull out of the game, leaving the squad with just eight players, one of which, Ben Jimenez was a late addition from a Division 1 school, Oconomowoc.
“When you have eight guys in that long of a game, it was a factor,” Gierl said. “Toward the end was where we started to pull away.”
The All-Stars got to Wisconsin Dells Tuesday, went through a couple of practices and then tested themselves with two 20minute scrimmages Wednesday. The D2 Black team got its work in against the D1 White and D4 Black teams.
Gierl said it was an easy process for his team to get comfortable with one another.
“It was pretty easy,” Gierl said. “We got there, had two practices and then scrimmages. In the hotel we all just meshed from the start. We had a couple set plays, a little bit of offense that we ran. But mostly it was just, if we move the ball around we’ll get open looks. Everybody was good enough to do their own thing and just go out and score off of each other. It was fun.”
Gierl first entered the game midway through the first 12-minute quarter. His solid screen set up an open 3-pointer for Carter Sullivan of Stoughton, pulling the Black team within 22-20 at the time. Gierl hit a driving shot in the lane with 1:45 left that pulled his team within 25-22. The first quarter ended with White leading 27-24.
The White team played its best basketball in the second quarter, leading by as much as 12 with the final time being 54-42 following a three-point play form Shawano’s Logan Sipple with 2:34 left in the half. Gierl helped turn the momentum by taking a charge on the White’s Brennan Dempsey at the 2:17 mark. Aaron Wolff of Waupaca hit two 3s to help the Black get within five, but Jamison Beasely of Waterford scored at the buzzer to give the White a 57-50 halftime advantage.
“We actually talked at halftime that we weren’t really playing that much defense,” Gierl said. “We weren’t talking that much. After halftime we started to actually play defense. We started getting stops and getting good looks on the offensive end.”
Mason Stieber-Pinter of Greenfield got hot in the third quarter, sparking Black’s second-half surge. He scored off a steal and hit a 3-pointer to tie the game at 57-57. He scored seven more points, capped by a 3, that helped the team open up a 72-64 lead with 5:24 left in the quarter.
Gierl’s 3-point shot from corner with 1:46 left put the Black team up by seven at 78-71, but scores by Sipple and Beasely cut it to 80-77 as the period ended.
It was 81-80 when the Black team made its winning push. Dahir Abdullahi of Greenfield, a first-team WBCA All-State selection in the spring, took over on both ends of the floor with his quickness and the Black team ended the game with a 2810 run.
Gierl felt he played well in his time on the court, other than not quite shooting as well as he’s accustomed to. He was two for 10 from the field, including one of four from long range, and had a defensive rebound in the third quarter.
“I felt comfortable,” he said. “It was as comfortable as anything I’ve ever been in basketball game wise. Everybody is good, so you have to come up to that level. It was fun. It was more of a fun game. We all had a good time. I had a couple of good looks. They felt good off the release. They just didn’t go in.”
Stieber-Pinter led the Black team with 24 points, while Abdullahi added 13. The team put six players in double figures. Sipple led all scorers with 26, while Beasely had 21 for the White.
Gierl was a first-team All-Great Northern Conference selection this school year in football, basketball and baseball. He shared the GNC Player of the Year award in basketball with Mosinee’s Brayden Reinke. His All-Star selection marked the fifth year in a row a Medford Raider has played in the Division 2 game following Peyton Kuhn in 2021, Joey Sullivan in 2022, Logan Baumgartner in 2023 and Tanner Hraby last year.
This fall Gierl is off to UW-Stout to pursue his degree in packaging engineering.
“It was really fun, a great week,” Gierl said. “It was a good experience to play with other guys who are all really good players. Tanner and Bummy I know got chosen and they’re a couple of the greatest Medford basketball players. Getting picked for that was a good cap-off to my career at Medford. It was a great time. I hope more players from Medford get in that. It’s a great opportunity. It’s a fun week just to play with other people than those from Medford.”
