Raiders pounce on Panthers, hang with Spartans most of the way

SHEBOYGAN NORTH SHOOTOUT

Medford’s trio of Logan Baumgartner, Joe Sullivan and Tanner Hraby combined for 73 points Thursday night and led the Raiders to a 79-63 win over Plymouth in the consolation game of the twoday Sheboygan North Raider Shootout.

The win got the Raiders back on track after an 80-64 loss the previous night to Oshkosh North, the state’s sixth-ranked team in Division 2, according to last week’s WisSports.net coaches poll.

The Raiders played without head coach Ryan Brown, whose wife Kristyn gave birth to a son, Abraham, the day before the tournament began. But, under the direction of fill-in head coach Garett Shipman, the team held a two-point halftime lead and led by as many as seven in the second half against North and took charge immediately against Plymouth, building a 17-point halftime lead that wasn’t seriously threatened in the second half.

Oshkosh North edged Sheboygan North 79-77 in Thursday’s championship game, while Sheboygan North beat Plymouth 69-48 in the other first-round game Dec. 29.

In the win over Plymouth, Baumgartner scored 30 points and hit six of 14 3-point attempts. He added 10 rebounds to complete a double-double. Sullivan was nine of 13 from the field and poured in 27 points, 15 of which came in the second half. Hraby had 16 points and a teamhigh six assists.

“I was happy with how we played against Plymouth,” Brown said. “Logan had a great tournament, and all of the guys shot the ball well and with confidence. We ran our offense well, especially in the first half. Plymouth is a good team. They’re huge and talented. They beat undefeated Roncalli (Monday) night.”

Jake Steinhardt’s game-opening 3-pointer gave Plymouth its only lead of the night. Baumgartner hit back-toback 3s, Sullivan scored, Hraby knocked down a triple, Caleb Guden scored off a nice transition feed from Baumgartner and Sullivan buried a trey in a 16-0 run that set the tone. Baumgartner and Sullivan added 3s for a 22-8 edge. The Panthers cut the lead to 28-18, but Medford closed the half on a 9-2 run with Sullivan scoring twice, Baumgartner hitting two free throws and a 3-pointer off a Charlie Kleist steal in the final seconds, making it 37-20.

Four points from Hraby and a pair of Baumgartner long balls opened up a 22-point bulge at 47-25, but then Plymouth began to crack what had been airtight defense by Medford in the opening half and made a run, getting within 47-39 following 3-pointers from Andru Miller and Steinhardt, the team’s leading scorer coming into the game. Baumgartner responded with a hoop off a Hraby assist and two free throws with 12:32 left. Miller hit a 3 to pull the Panthers within 5142, but Baumgartner hit a pull-up jumper and then scored off a nice cut and feed from Kleist to push the lead back into double digits, where it stayed the rest of the way.

Sullivan got the hot hand down the stretch, scoring all 15 of his second-half points after Plymouth cut the lead to 55-45. His run actually started when he caught a break, when his deflected pass in the paint came bouncing back to him and he got the hoop and harm. Kleist got a key putback and 3-pointers by Hraby and Sullivan slammed the door on the 4-6 Panthers, making it 73-55.

Kleist scored four points and Guden had two. Both had four rebounds apiece. Baumgartner had four steals, while Sullivan and Hraby had two each.

Dylon Sass led three Panthers in double figures with 18 points as he made eight of 10 shots from the field. Steinhardt finished with 15 points and Miller added off the bench. Jeb Nytes, a 6-9 senior, had nine points and nine rebounds.

The Raiders shot 45.5% overall from the field, including 11 of 30 from 3-point range and they were 18 of 20 from the free throw line. Plymouth shot well too, hitting 44.3% of its field goal attempts (27 of 61), but the Panthers made just seven 3s and only shot three free throws, making two.

Rebounds were dead even at 32 apiece. Plymouth turned the ball over 19 times, including 14 in the first half. Medford had 15 turnovers.

Spartans 80, Raiders 64

The Raiders got into an early hole and dug out of it with some of their most impressive play of the season, but their turnovers and Oshkosh North’s offensive rebounding ultimately led to the Spartans pulling away for an 80-64 semifinal win.

The Spartans scored their 80 points with just one 3-point basket. They scored 62 points in the paint and were 15 of 25 from the free throw line. They wound up shooting 60.4% overall from the field (32 of 53) and when they did miss, they grabbed the rebound 10 times and finished with 14 second-chance points.

The Raiders had no answers inside for 6-5 freshman phenom Xzayvion Mitchell, who scored 30 points while making 14 of 20 shots from the field. He also had nine rebounds, seven steals and five assists. Steven Clark, a 6-5 sophomore, added 27 points on 10-of-16 shooting, six rebounds, two assists and two steals.

“It was great to get an opportunity to play a team of that caliber,” Brown said. “Oshkosh North is a perennial Division 1 power. This year they dropped to Division 2, but they have some of the best athletes in the state.” North built a quick 21-8 lead, but backto- back 3s from Hraby sparked the Raiders’ comeback. They beat North’s 1-3-1 zone with stellar outside shooting and taking advantage of a couple of transition chances. Medford tied the game at 23-23 on Baumgartner’s steal and score and took the lead on Kleist’s putback, Kleist scored again to put Medford up 27-25. A basket by Sullivan broke a 2727 tie and Baumgartner knocked down back-to-back 3s to give Medford a 35-31 lead that was cut in half by Mitchell’s late putback.

“I really liked how we played,” Brown said. “I liked how confidently we shot the ball and attacked their zone the best ways we could and used our advantages. I felt there were just one or two twominute stretches in the second half that hurt us. Otherwise, we were right there. We had a little stretch there where we had turnovers on four straight possession and when we turned it over, they scored.”

Baumgartner had 17 first-half points, including five 3-pointers. He hit a 3 and four free throws to give Medford a 42-35 lead with 16:11 to go, but the Spartans tied the game with a 7-0 run. Hraby hit a pair of 3s to give Medford leads of 45-42 and 48-46. Medford was still within 5754 after a Baumgartner free throw with 7:47 left, but the game gradually slipped away from there as the Spartans started forcing turnovers and allowed Oshkosh North to get some easy transition baskets and Mitchell also got a couple of easy offensive putbacks. Thirteen of Medford’s 21 turnovers came in the second half as did six of Oshkosh North’s offensive rebounds and eight of its second-chance points. North finished with a 22-4 advantage in transition points.

Baumgartner finished with 28 points and sank six of 13 3-point tries. He had six rebounds, two steals and two assists. Hraby, coming off a 22-point night against Altoona on Dec. 21, had 20 in this one while making six of 12 3-point shots. He added four assists and two rebounds. Sullivan had eight points, five assists, three rebounds and two steals. Kleist had six points, two rebounds and two steals and Sam Blair added an early inside score.

Oshkosh North, who was 9-1 after the tournament ended, outrebounded Medford 31-19 and turned the ball over 15 times.