Two seconds, two mentions for Rib Lake in Marawood vote

ALL-MARAWOOD NORTH BOYS BASKETBALL

Wudi gets team’s All-Defense nod

All five of Rib Lake’s starters were honored in one way or another in the selection process for the 2022-23 All-Marawood North boys basketball teams.

Senior Tanner Vlach and junior Jackson Blomberg are part of this year’s seven-man second team, senior Michael Borchardt and junior Dominic Quednow earned honorable mention and junior Andrew Wudi is Rib Lake’s representative on this year’s All-Marawood North Defensive Team. This is the second year the conference has created that team in each division.

The awards follow Rib Lake’s 13-13 season under second-year head coach Todd Henderson. The Redmen went 6-10 in Marawood Conference games, including a 6-4 mark against North Division opponents. The Redmen went 0-6 in crossovers with the Marawood South.

Rib Lake won its first WIAA Division 5 regional game, winning at eighth-seeded Turtle Lake 87-79 as the ninth seed on Feb. 28. The Redmen ran into top-seeded and top-ranked McDonell Central in Chippewa Falls and lost 66-41 in a March 3 regional semifinal.

Vlach was Rib Lake’s All-Defensive representative last year. This is his first placement on the All-North second team. It’s also the first All-North basketball award for Blomberg.

Blomberg led Rib Lake in scoring this year by averaging 14.1 points per game. He added 5.9 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.1 steals per outing. He and Vlach were Rib Lake’s deadliest shooters from 3-point range. Blomberg was 58 of 176 from behind the arc (33%). In 16 Marawood games, Blomberg averaged 13.5 points, 6.0 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game. He shot 38% from the field overall.

In conference play, Blomberg’s highlights included a 24-point night at league champion Athens on Jan. 31. In that close 63-56 loss, Blomberg hit six of 12 3-point shots and was nine of 18 overall from the field and he had four rebounds. He had a 10-point, 12-rebound double-double in Rib Lake’s season-opening 68-53 win at Phillips on Nov. 29, hit 10 of 22 shots in a 23-point, seven-rebound outing in a 6348 win over Abbotsford on Feb. 17 and scored 22 points and had 11 rebounds in a 76-49 win at Abbotsford on Dec. 20.

Blomberg also had a strong outing at Marawood South champion Marathon on Dec. 9, scoring 17 points with three 3s in an 80-51 loss. He scored a season-high 25 points in a 71-50 non-conference win at Spencer on Jan. 27 and had 23 points while hitting five of 11 3-pointers in a 7461 loss to Eastern Cloverbelt Conference champion Colby on Feb. 21.

Vlach averaged 11.4 points, 4.5 rebounds and team highs of 3.2 assists and 1.9 steals per game. When Rib Lake needed a big play, he often was the guy the Redmen turned to to make it. His Marawood numbers included 11.6 points, 4.6 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.7 steals per game.

Vlach scored a season-high 23 points and hit two big 3-pointers at the end of each half in a 73-70 overtime win over Phillips on Jan. 13. He had four steals in that game. During one of his strongest stretches of the season, Vlach scored 22 points and hit four of seven 3s in the Dec. 20 win at Abbotsford while adding seven rebounds, five assists and three steals. Vlach shot 32.9% from 3-point range this season and 37.9% overall.

He had 17 points in a 91-70 loss to the Division 5 state-qualifying team from Newman Catholic on Feb. 3, 18 points in a 63-51 loss to Wisconsin Rapids Assumption on Jan. 6 and 16 points in a key earlyseason 64-59 North win at Chequamegon on Dec. 13. He had nine points and 10 rebounds in a 62-47 loss at Prentice on Feb. 24. Vlach had a big 20-point effort in the tournament win at Turtle Lake.

Borchardt receives honorable mention for the second straight season. He averaged 7.5 points, 4.7 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.2 steals per game while doing a little bit of everything for the Redmen. He had a nice late-season surge, highlighted by a 19-point outing with three 3s in the tournament win at Turtle Lake, 14 points and three rebounds in the lateseason loss at Prentice, 12 points and seven rebounds in the late-season win over Abbotsford and 11 points on a night where the rest of the team struggled in a 58-45 loss at Stratford on Feb. 10. He had 10 points and three steals in the early win at Chequamegon and 13 points, four rebounds, two assists and two blocked shots in one of Rib Lake’s biggest wins, a 66-61 upset at Owen-Withee in non-conference play Dec. 5. Quednow became a key player for the Redmen in his first full varsity season. The 6-2 forward averaged 7.6 points and 4.9 rebounds and added 1.3 assists and steals per game. After a slow start, he wound up leading Rib Lake’s regulars by shooting 43.9% from the field (75 of 171) and he hit 14 of 40 3-pointers (35%). He was 33 of 52 from the free throw line as well.

One of his top outings in conference play came Jan. 20 in a 78-60 crossover loss at Auburndale. He scored 16 points and hit three of four 3s. He had eight points and 10 rebounds in the Jan. 31 loss at Athens and he had six points, seven rebounds and four assists in the opening win at Phillips. In non-conference play, he had 17 points and nine rebounds in a 55-50 loss at Pittsville on Jan. 2 and poured in a season-high 21 points and added 11 rebounds in a double-double in the late loss to Colby.

Along with Vlach, Wudi was a primary ball handler for Rib Lake in his third varsity season and he provided some scoring punch at times, averaging 8.9 points per game and dished out a teamhigh 3.7 assists per game. Helping him earn his spot on the All-Defensive team, Wudi was among Rib Lake’s leaders in rebounding at 5.6 per game and he took seven charges. He had 21 steals, just under one per game in his 25 appearances.

Wudi got his year off to a huge start with 19 points, including five 3s, four rebounds and five assists at Phillips, 16 points and seven rebounds in a tough 61-57 overtime loss to Edgar in game two on Dec. 1 and 15 points, 11 rebounds and six assists in the win at Owen-Withee. He ended with an 18-point outing against the tough McDonell defense in the regional semifinal. He had season highs of 14 rebounds at Spencer and 13 rebounds in a 59-50 win over Tomahawk on Jan. 30. He had nine assists in the Tomahawk win and a season-high three steals in the loss to Assumption.

This year’s five-member All-North first team came by unanimous decisions from the league’s coaches.

Powerful post players Aiden Janke of Athens and Isaiah Deitz of Chequamegon were repeat choices to the first team and were named Co-Players of the Year. Connor Sheahan of Athens, Nate Belan of Phillips and Ashton Makovsky filled out the all-senior first team. Jeramie Penney of Athens was named Coach of the Year for the third straight season after leading Athens to a 13-3 Marawood record and a 20-6 overall mark. The Blue Jays went 10-0 against the North.

Athens was upset by Port Edwards 53-49 in its WIAA Division 5 regional semifinal. Second-place Prentice (7-9, 1412), a six-seed, made the farthest run of any Marawood North team, reaching a WIAA Division 5 regional final, which it lost 75-69 in overtime to Hurley, who was a number-two seed.

Tanner Vlach Second Team

Michael Borchardt Hon. Mention

Dominic Quednow Hon. Mention

Andrew Wudi All-Defense