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Girls get big shot late to tie West; boys fall 7-1

Girls get big shot late to tie West; boys fall 7-1 Girls get big shot late to tie West; boys fall 7-1

MEDFORD CURLING

A clutch final throw from skip Lyza Brandner allowed the Medford girls curling team to turn what appeared to be a likely loss to Wausau West into a tie Tuesday night at the Medford Curling Club.

The Warriors, who had just three available players Tuesday, pulled ahead from what had been a back-andforth tight game by scoring three rocks in the fifth end to take a 5-3 lead. After Medford’s team of Lyza Brandner, Karlee Westrich, Anya Apfelbeck and Erica Brandner got one back in the sixth, West added two more in the seventh end to go ahead 7-4.

Head coach Stu Amundson said teammates convinced Lyza Brandner on her last throw to come in from the outside and use the shooter to push another Medford rock into position to possibly give the Raiders three scorers.

“They said to try this, what do we have to lose. Let’s give it a try,” Amundson said. “She hit it right on.”

From the viewing area, Amundson said it looked like Medford had two certain scoring rocks but it was close as to whether the Raiders had the third. The teams shook hands leading the coaches to think West had still won by one, but the girls reported Medford did have three scoring rocks to tie it and they ended it there.

The Raiders now sit at 3-1-1 in Northern Division play and 5-4-1 overall.

Wausau West earned its third victory this season over Medford and second in divisional play with a 7-1 win. The Raiders boys were also down to three players for this game –– Brett Lundy, Dalton Casar and Alex Wilson.

This was a tighter game than the score may indicate as West just seemed to get the shot or break they needed to score one or two in each end. In fact, the Warriors were on the verge of breaking it open by possibly scoring four in the fifth end, but Lundy perfectly placed his last rock near the center of the house to give the Raiders their only point of the match. That made it 6-1 at the time.

Medford is still seeking its first win on the boys side, falling to 0-5 in divisional play and 0-9 overall.

Medford heads to Stevens Point today, Thursday, and will host Wausau East Tuesday at 3:45 p.m. The Raiders are at D.C. Everest Feb. 3.


Medford’s Anya Apfelbeck (l.) and Erica Brandner guide a rock thrown by Lyza Brandner (middle) into position for a raise maneuver, knocking a Medford rock into a better position. The Raiders scored one rock in this second end to take a 2-0 lead in what wound up being a 7-7 tie with Wausau West Tuesday.MATT FREY/THE STAR NEWS
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