Chi-Hi hits clutch shots to hand 12-1 Raiders first loss

MEDFORD BOYS BASKETBALL

Defense ruled Medford’s Monday test against Big Rivers Conference power Chippewa Falls. Unfortunately for the Raiders, clutch shooting down the stretch by the Cardinals trumped their defensive efforts and led the visitors to a 57-47 win.

Joe Reuter, a 6-5 senior All-Big Rivers standout, was the primary source of frustration for Medford as he scored 24 points, including 12 in the decisive 17-8 second-half stretch that put the Cardinals in front for good. Jacob Walczak, as he did last year in Chi-Hi’s 59-51 win, hit a big 3-pointer late as well as the Cardinals improved to 7-1.

The loss was Medford’s first of the year after 12 straight wins and, while disappointing, was everything head coach Ryan Brown and his team wanted from this mid-season matchup. It’s the first of three Big Rivers tests Medford is scheduled to get in a 15-day span, all of which will let the Raiders know where they need to get better in order to make a run in a tough WIAA Division 2 post-season bracket.

“We knew how much pressure they would put on our defense because of their ability to shoot even with hands in their faces,” Medford head coach Ryan Brown said. “They showed that early. I think they had seven first-half 3s. In spurts, we really brought our defense to the level we needed to. We had seven or eight minutes of really solid defense in that first half that got us back into it. I wish we could’ve extended it more. We missed some good looks.

“The second half was the same way,” he added. “To us to get back into it, we really brought it on the defensive end. But late, they made some big shots. It wasn’t necessarily bad defense.”

Playing their third game in four days, the Raiders spent much of the game playing from behind. They did lead briefly early and, after trailing by as much as 10 in the second half, they evened things three times. But on a night, where everyone except Logan Baumgartner struggled from the field, it wasn’t enough.

Baumgartner scored a career-high 32 points while hitting 12 of 23 shots from the field, including five of 12 3-pointers. He and Reuter went back and forth for a scintillating second-half stretch that was fun for all to watch.

“Logan picked us up,” Brown said. “What I loved about his game is he scored in just about every way possible. He came off screens, he scored in transition, he scored in the post, he scored off our zip cuts taking it to the rim. When you can do that, it’s pretty hard for teams to guard you any specific way.”

Chippewa Falls came out firing, taking an 11-3 lead just two minutes in. Medford then played outstanding defense for a long stretch and the offense scored 12 straight points for a 15-11 lead. Baumgartner hit a 3, Owen Wipf put in an offensive rebound, Ty Baker drove to the hoop, Baumgartner hit a free throw, Peyton Kuhn scored off a Nate Retterath assist and Baumgartner put back his own miss.

But Chippewa Falls controlled the rest of the half, getting two more 3s from Mason Monarski –– who hit two early –– and one from Keion Twyman.

Reuter scored to open the second half and push the lead to 10. It was 37-28 with 11:00 left when Baumgartner hustled to grab the rebound on his own missed 3. The possession ended with him hitting a 3 from the right corner. That sequence sparked the Raiders. Hupf hustled to save a ball on the defensive end to add to the energy and Baumgartner and Wipf knocked down 3s to tie it at 37-37.

Reuter and Baumgartner traded inside hoops. Then they traded 3s to make it 42-42. Reuter scored inside and Hupf made a free throw. With just under four minutes left, Walczak hit his big 3 to make it 47-43. Twyman scored and Reuter answered a Baumgartner bucker with a tough reverse layup. His 3-pointer with 2:30 left made it 54-45 and basically put it away.

“We knew how good (Reuter) was,” Brown said. “The biggest thing for him was being able to hit those shots late when they needed them.”

Baker and Wipf scored five points apiece, Hupf scored three and Kuhn, Medford’s leading scorer coming in, was held to two points. He had the defensive assignment against Reuter most of the night.

“That’s tough,” Brown said. “You have to put that full effort in because you can’t give an inch, otherwise he makes it. Reuter’s ability to both shoot and attack make him tough. I’m proud of Peyton. He really got up on him, the kid just made some shots. Peyton will have better shooting days. It just wasn’t his night.”

As a team, Medford shot just 34% (17 of 50) from the field. The Cardinals connected at a 40.8% clip (20 of 49).

“I’m really happy with most of the shots we got,” Brown said. “Those guys will make them next time we play.”

That next time is Friday in a Great Northern Conference contest at Lakeland. Medford is 5-0 in league play and holds a 1.5-game lead over 3-1 Rhinelander. Lakeland will turn around and come to Medford on Tuesday.

On Monday, Medford will get its next Big Rivers test at Menomonie. The Mustangs handed Chippewa Falls its only loss, 64-59 on Dec. 21.

Medford 80, Merrill 49

A 20-3 run turned a tight 21-20 game into a 41-23 halftime lead and that bulge grew to 30 early in the second half as Medford blew out host Merrill 80-49 Saturday in non-conference play.

Kuhn hit 11 of 20 shots and all five of his free throws while scoring 30 points in the win. Hupf was a perfect six for six from the field and five for five from the free throw line while scoring 17 points.

Merrill did not have its leading scorer, senior Nathan Woller, who was out with an ankle injury. The Blue Jays never led but cut an early seven-point deficit to one on a Cayden Diels 3-pointer. But Kuhn scored off a Wipf assist, the Raiders’ amped up their defense a notch after taking a timeout with 6:11 left in the first half and they took off from there.

“(Merrill) did a good job of cutting and moving and attacking real hard,” Brown said. “We were there but just a step slow. Once we settled in defensively I think that’s when it happened. Once we got stops, those led to points and that let us go on that run. They run a swing offense, they run some twists and things out of it. We didn’t get a day to prepare for that. I think once we got used to that and the speed and how we keep our rim line, we settled in good. We were rotating early. Those stops led to scores.”

While it took the defense 12 minutes to settle in, the offense had no such trouble. The Raiders successfully broke down Merrill’s man-to-man defense and its 2-3 zone in the first half with precision cuts and passing and shot 65% from the field (13 of 20) in the half.

The big 20-3 included a Wipf 3-pointer, Kuhn scoring off a long inbound pass from Hupf, five consecutive points from Baker and a Retterath score off a Joe Sullivan assist.

“I think we set the tone against their man-to-man with some hard slips and cuts,” Brown said. “When they went 2-3, I know they were jacked up because it took us a little longer, but eventually I think we hit high post, we found someone on the block or got an open 3 so we did a good job of getting the ball where we wanted to and making them pay.”

Kuhn hit an early 3-pointer and scored off a Baker assist, Hupf scored six points and Caleb Guden took a charge on defense and got free for a score on offense as the lead hit 54-24. Merrill cut into the lead against Medford’s bench and got within 60-39, but the Raiders restored order later in the half and got the lead back up as high as 35 in the latter stages.

Baumgartner added 11 points, six rebounds and three assists. Baker scored nine points and had a team-high six assists. He had six rebounds, two steals and two blocked shots. Guden had four points, two assists and two steals. Wipf had three points and three assists in a solid showing off the bench. Sullivan and Retterath scored two points each. Retterath had five rebounds and four assists. Aiden Gardner had a bucket and four rebounds.

Bailey Turenne led Merrill with 14 points and seven rebounds, while Isaac Sutton added 12 points.

Medford 62, Mosinee 51

Three days after narrowly avoiding a major upset at Northland Pines, Medford faced another spirited effort from a Great Northern Conference foe Friday and held off the Mosinee Indians 62-51 at Raider Hall.

The Raiders turned a 15-11 lead into a 16-point bulge in the first half, took a 33-19 lead into the halftime and then kept Mosinee at arm’s length even though the Indians had momentum at times in the second half.

“We know we’re going to get everybody’s best every night,” Brown said. “We tell the guys that. The target’s on your back. You have to bring your best every night. We have to play as a team, five guys on the floor both on offense and defense rotating and moving together. We have to bring the intensity. We have to encourage one another when things don’t go our way. We just have to keep our mindset on the next play and continue to play the game how we want to play it every single game.”

The key stretch in the first half started with a top-of-the-key 3-pointer from Baker. Baumgartner got a tough bucket inside to make it 20-11. After a free throw by Mosinee’s 6-4 sophomore Davin Stoffel, the Raiders held Mosinee scoreless over the next 4:36 and pushed the lead to 28-12 with 3s from Baumgartner and Sullivan and a Retterath steal and score.

The lead hit 17 at 43-26 on a Kuhn 3-pointer with 14 minutes left. The Indians whittled that lead down to 43-35 before Kuhn hit another big 3 at the 8:50 mark. A Hupf rebound led to a Sullivan 3-pointer that made it 51-38. When Mosinee tried to make things happen late with a 1-3-1 trap in the halfcourt, the Raiders tore that apart and got finishes or free throws to put it away. Medford also got eight of its 12 offensive rebounds in the half.

“I thought it was really good how we took care of the ball and then we found those diagonal passes for the open layups against their pressure,” Brown said.

Baumgartner led Medford with 19 points, four steals and three assists. Kuhn hit four 3-pointers and added 14 points and six boards. Baker added 13 points, while Sullivan and Hupf had six points apiece. Hupf had a team-high four assists.

Guden and Retterath had a hoop apiece. Retterath had a team-high seven rebounds, three steals and two assists in a solid all-around game.

“I think about a couple of the rebounds where we needed a stop or a steal he got where they tried to skip it to the other side, he anticipated that,” Brown said of Retterath. “Those plays are huge. Every game he just has that calming presence. If things are going good or bad, he just stays at the same level and that helps our whole team do the same.”

Mosinee’s high-scoring senior Cyle Kowalski led the Indians but with a modest 12 points. Jake Placek, a 6-5 senior, added 11 points and eight rebounds.

Medford’s Nate Retterath wraps a pass around Mosinee defender Cyle Kowalski that finds Ty Baker (not pictured) in the post during the first half of Friday’s 62-51 win.MATT FREY/THE STAR NEWS

Peyton Kuhn hits this long 3-point attempt for the last of his 30 points during Saturday’s 80-49 win at Merrill.MATT FREY/THE STAR NEWS