Raiders ground Eagles and Red Robins to go to 3-0

MEDFORD BOYS BASKETBALL

Ty Baker and Brady Hupf both came up one rebound shy of a double-double as four players got into double-figure scoring in the Medford Raiders’ 66-41 nonconference win over Auburndale Tuesday at Raider Hall.

Baker scored all 13 of his points in the first half as Medford raced out to a 33-17 halftime lead. He finished with nine rebounds, four steals, two blocked shots and an assist and was seven of nine from the field. Hupf had 12 points, nine boards and a steal while hitting five of nine shots in the win.

Peyton Kuhn led Medford with 15 points and Joey Sullivan chipped in with 11 as the Raiders improved to 3-0. Auburndale slipped to 1-1. The senior trio of Baker, Kuhn and Hupf offensively sparked an early run that quickly put Medford ahead by double digits. The Raiders’ defensive positioning in the first half was also solid, leading to 11 turnovers and nine points off of those turnovers. Because of those turnovers, the Eagles only took 17 shots from the field in the half, making just seven.

Baker got the game started with a steal and score. His putback off a missed free throw by Hupf followed by his drive to the basket put the Raiders up 8-4. Kuhn then got on a roll, hitting a trio of 3-pointers and Baker scored in the post off a Nate Retterath assist to open up a 21-8 lead. The Eagles got within 27-17 on two Hunter Wright free throws with 2:39 left in the half, but a Hupf free throw, Baker’s 3-point shot from the left wing and a pull-up jumper by Sullivan with four seconds left extended the lead to 16.

Medford quickly put the game out of reach in the second half as Logan Baumgartner scored off a turnover, Baker got a steal and fed Kuhn for a layup and Hupf got a layup off quick passes from Baker and Nate Retterath for a 39-17 lead. Hupf got a couple of buckets down low as the lead got as high as 27 at 57-30. Reserve Sam Blair capped off the victory by dropping in two runners in the final minute.

Baumgartner had nine points and Owen Wipf added a bucket for Medford. Baumgartner had five rebounds, four assists and five steals. Sullivan added four rebounds and three assists. Retterath had five assists, two rebounds and two steals.

Medford shot a solid 52.8% from the field (28 of 43), including 23 of 35 on two-point shots. Forty-two of Medford’s points came in the paint. The Raiders outrebounded the Eagles 37-24 and forced 18 turnovers while committing 17.

Wright scored 11 points and had nine rebounds and three assists to lead the Eagles, who shot just 34.1% from the field (15 of 44).

Medford will leave the friendly confi nes of Raider Hall for the first time this season when it visits Tomahawk Friday for a Great Northern Conference contest that tips at 7:15 p.m. The Raiders go to Rice Lake for a key non-conference game Monday before hosting Rhinelander on Dec. 18.

Medford 89, Antigo 51

The Raiders put Friday’s Great Northern Conference opener with Antigo away quickly with a barrage of forced turnovers and 3-point field goals as they rolled to an 89-51 win at Raider Hall.

Kuhn did much of the first-half dam- age, scoring 29 of his 33 points before halftime. His 15th point of the night marked the 1,000th of his career. He hit eight 3-point shots in the half, but didn’t sink any more in the second half, unfortunately leaving him one shy of the single- game school record.

“We got stops and turnovers,” Medford head coach Ryan Brown said of the team’s hot start, which resulted in a 24-3 lead. “We got after it, getting into passing lanes, getting turnovers, which led to some easy points. When we did run our offense, Peyton does such a good job of getting open in our offense and our guys did a good job of screening for him that he got a lot of open shots. Even when teams focus on him, if we’re screening for him and mixing our actions he’s going to get his opportunities and so will the rest of our guys. That’s how we jumped out on them.”

Antigo turned the ball over on its first three possessions and Medford took advantage with Baumgartner scoring off a steal and Kuhn making one of two free throws and then his first triple of the night. Baumgartner got a putback following a Retterath steal, Baumgartner swished a 3-pointer and Kuhn drilled a trey from the top of the key to make it 14-1.

Kuhn hit another 3-ball and drove to the rack for a hoop, putting him at 12 points. After Antigo turned the ball over and called a timeout with 12:08 left in the half and Medford leading 19-3, the stage was set for Kuhn to enter the Raiders’ 1,000-point club.

“I was three points away,” Kuhn said. “Coach drew up a play for me to come off a double screen to the top and I hit the 3.”

That 3, followed by another by Baumgartner and a steal gave Medford a 21-point lead. The lead got as high as 37 in the opening half before the Raiders settled for a 56-21 halftime lead.

The lead got as high as 43 on a couple of occasions in the second half, though Medford wound up with just a 33-30 scoring advantage in the last 18 minutes, some of which was played with a running clock.

Medford forced 30 turnovers from the Red Robins, who were playing their first game of the season under new head coach Cory Reetz, while the Raiders cut their turnovers in half to 12 following their Dec. 1 win over D.C. Everest. Antigo actually wound up with a better shooting percentage (52.8% to 51.7%), but the lost possessions due to turnovers did the Red Robins in.

Medford made 20 of 35 two-point shots and 11 of 25 3s, which was an improvement over their five-of-23 effort from long range in game one.

“Eleven is a lot,” Brown said of the 3-pointers. “Eight came from Peyton. We have to get Baumy and Joey (Sullivan) and those guys not only just rolling, but getting them those same looks, being able to run within our offense and I think that will happen. Tonight, there just happened to be a lot of the openings we were getting were from Peyton coming off of screens.”

Kuhn finished 12 of 19 from the field, including eight of 13 from long range. He added six steals and three rebounds. Baumgartner scored 20 points on eightof- 13 shooting and had five steals, three rebounds and two assists. Hupf chipped in with 15 points while hitting six of 11 shots inside. He had eight rebounds, three steals and two assists.

Baker had seven points, six rebounds and three steals. Sullivan and Caleb Guden scored four points apiece. Wipf, Tanner Hraby and Brigham Kelley had two points each. Retterath had four assists and four steals. Sullivan had three assists.

Cole Musolff led Antigo with 16 points. Alex Samolinski had 11 and Kaden Steckbauer added 10.

While forcing 30 turnovers was obviously a good thing, Brown said the halfcourt defense remains a work in progress after just two games. But it is important for the Raiders to get better on that end of the floor with a tough stretch in the schedule rapidly approaching from midto late December and into early January.

“We have to start to lock down defensively,” he said.