Raiders rejuvinated with two strong efforts
MEDFORD BOYS BASKETBALL
Back in front of the home fans, the Medford Raiders got back into the win column Tuesday night and were feeling like they were back on track following their 46-33 non-conference win over the Menomonie Mustangs.
Joey Sullivan had a dazzling offensive performance with 19 points, most of which simply came from aggressively attacking the rim whenever the opportunities presented themselves, Logan Baumgartner added 17 and lockdown first-half defense held the Mustangs to nine first-half points.
The Raiders snapped a three-game losing streak to improve to 7-4 overall heading into two key Great Northern Conference games this weekend at Raider Hall. The momentum, though, started Saturday when the Raiders took La Crosse Central, the state’s thirdranked team in Division 2, down to the wire in a six-point defeat.
“That’s a huge win,” Medford senior Chubs Guden said. “That’s one we needed, especially for seeding. It feels good to get back in the win column, especially a defensive game like that. Those are fun to win those defensive ones.”
Guden drew the initial assignment of guarding Menomonie’s top weapon, 6-10 senior forward Noah Feddersen. Guden did his part and Baumgartner got his one-on-one chances too later in the game as the Raiders held Feddersen to 10 points, including two dunks, and the Mustangs to 40% shooting from the field.
“I thought we set the tone really well,” Medford head coach Ryan Brown said. “We started 5-10 Chubs Guden on 6-10 Feddersen and he did a heck of a job. He really did a good job of trying to keep him off the block. When he was on the perimeter, he really challenged him. The whole team made it tough for them to get into their sets. When they did get the ball inside, our rimline was good and we forced them to try to skip it. Especially in the first half we were really rotating on air time well to be able to recover on their perimeter players.”
“Our team is like one body, we’re all united,” Guden said. “We all knew what to do and when to do it and we all executed what we were supposed to do. It was a lot of fun. It’s a little intimidating (guarding Feddersen) at first, but you just have to have confidence going into the game. You have to trust your teammates that they’re going to be there at the helpline if you get beat.”
On the offensive end, Sullivan had eight first-half points, six of which helped the Raiders get out to a 15-2 lead in the first 13-plus minutes. Zach Rudolph hit a big left-corner 3-pointer and Baumgartner added a pair of 3s in the half, the last of which he banked in from about 23 feet out as time expired to give Medford a 20-9 halftime lead. The Mustangs had fouls to give and were trying to do just that, but contact from Feddersen wasn’t called, allowing Baumgartner to get the last shot off.
Baumgartner swished a triple to open up the second half and push the lead to 14, but Menomonie made a run, clawing back within 25-21 before a Tanner Hraby steal led to a Baumgartner bucket. Sullivan hit a pull-up jumper out of a timeout to push the lead back to nine. Medford answered a Clayton Fanetti 3 with two scores from Baumgartner and then a highlight-reel crossover dribble-drive to the hoop from Sullivan resulted in a three-point play and a 3624 lead with 7:03 left. Menomonie (6-7) got within 36-28, but other than that, the lead remained in double digits.
“I was having a good time,” Sullivan said. “Things were falling outside, but sometimes I like going to the basket and getting those tough jumpers. Those are nice.”
“He brings the energy to the team,” Guden said. “He’s so electric. He is all over the place. People simply cannot guard the man. It’s a lot of fun watching him.”
Hraby and Rudolph finished with four points each and Guden got the last bucket in the final seconds.
Medford outrebounded Menomonie 26-21 and got 14 of those on the offensive end. Baumgartner led Medford with six rebounds. Sullivan, Hraby and Guden had four each. Brigham Kelley had three. Brown said that was a factor certainly not to be overlooked.
“It was Chubs, it was Zach Rudolph, it was Big Rig,” Brown said. “It was so many different guys just going and getting boards, which I thought was huge because with their size you would’ve thought that would be a struggle. In both halves we got a lot of loose balls and offensive rebounds.” The Raiders host Lakeland Friday at 7:15 p.m. for their second meeting of the year with the T-Birds, who they beat 56-39 on Dec. 3. Their first matchup of the year with a strong Northland Pines squad comes Saturday in a game that’s been moved up to 5 p.m.
The Raiders remain at home next week as well, facing another Big Rivers Conference team in New Richmond Tuesday and GNC foe Antigo on Jan. 28.
Central 74, Medford 68
Fans were treated to an outstanding high school basketball game Saturday evening when La Crosse Central, the state’s third-ranked team in Division 2, outlasted the visiting Raiders 74-68.
Snapping out of a team-wide shooting slump that was largely responsible for two straight losses in the Great Northern Conference, the Raiders buried 15 3-pointers, had 21 assists on 25 field goals, shot 47.2% from the field and turned the ball over just five times against a lengthy team that plays excellent defense.
But it wasn’t quite enough as the Riverhawks always hit that key shot that kept them in the lead by a couple of possessions in the second half. Central shot the ball even better than Medford did, knocking down 27 of 50 shots from the field (54%), outscored Medford 14-3 from the free throw line and also turned the ball over just five times.
“You’re walking into the numberthree team in the state’s gym,” Brown said. “We said we have to earn their respect. They’re a top team. They’re wellcoached by coach Todd Fergot. They play great defense. If we want any chance, we have to come out here and do every little thing it takes to win. The things that we haven’t done the last couple games, we need to do and I thought guys just really did a great job.
“That’s one of the best defenses I’ve seen on film,” he added. “All five guys move. We were able to be patient, cut hard and break them down until we got great shots and guys knocked down shots. We were excited that we were there. We’ve played two top-five teams in the state now and been right there with both. But we need to make that transfer to every other game because we know what we can do and what we’re capable of when we have five guys playing together. Now we just have to do it all the time.”
Baumgartner rediscovered the shooting stroke that had him on a late December tear as he hit 10 of 17 shots from the field, including six of 11 from long-range, to score a game-high 29 points. Sullivan was his relentless self, scoring 17 points on seven-of-12 shooting and Hraby (11 points) and Sam Blair (nine points) hit a trio of 3-pointers apiece to offer offensive support. Guden added a last-minute putback.
The Riverhawks showed their impressive balance, putting five players in double figures. Colin Adams, a 6-5 senior, led them with 21 points while making nine of 14 shots. Porter Pretasky, a 6-5 senior forward, made six of seven shots while scoring 15 points. Nic Williams and Devon Fielding added 11 each and 6-6 Bennett Fried added 10.
Strong shooting and solid early defense pushed Medford to an early 16-10 lead. Baumgartner, Hraby and Sullivan all hit 3s in that surge. Central countered with a 9-0 run that Baumgartner ended with a tying 3. From there, the Riverhawks went on a 13-2 run that put them in front for good, though Sullivan sank a 3-pointer and hit one of his patented last-second pull-up jumpers in the lane to shrink Central’s lead to 32-26 at the half.
The Raiders came out firing to start the second half with Baumgartner hitting two shots in the lane, Hraby scoring off a Kelley assist and Baumgartner nailing a triple to close the gap to 37-35 with 15:40 to play. Baumgartner later hit another long ball to pull Medford within 41-39, but that was answered by a Pretasky 3.
Baumgartner scored off a Blair assist to make the score 46-43 near the 10-minute mark, but that’s when Central made its move, going on a 14-3 spurt to open up a 60-46 lead with six minutes to go.
Given room to shoot, Blair took advantage and kept Medford in it with his three triples, the last of which made it 6555. Three-balls by Hraby and Baumgartner cut it to 68-61 with 1:05 left, but Central did not allow the Raiders to get any closer than six in the last minute.
Baumgartner had seven rebounds and Guden grabbed five for Medford. Guden and Charlie Kleist dished out five assists apiece, while Kelley had four. Central outrebounded the Raiders 31-21.
“Even though we lost at Central, no one was really mad about that just because of the team they were and how good we played,” Sullivan said. “It shows that we can play with everybody. It’s a good loss.”
Getting a break from his main assignment of trying to guard 6-10 Noah Feddersen, Medford’s Chubs Guden fronts Menomonie’s 6-5 Reed Styer in the post during the first half of Tuesday’s 46-33 win over the Mustangs.MATT FREY/THE STAR NEWS
