Late run puts away Wausau West; Raiders rout Red Robins

MEDFORD BOYS BASKETBALL

Joey Sullivan wasn’t far off from a triple-double and Logan Baumgartner wasn’t far behind Tuesday in leading the Medford Raiders to a 67-43 non-conference win at Wausau West.

The Raiders turned in another solid defensive effort that forced the Warriors to work for most of the points they got and turned them over 25 times. Offensively, the Raiders got off to a strong start, slowed for a stretch mid-game and then blew it open with a game-ending 35-11 run.

Medford sits at 11-5 overall with eight games remaining, five of which are Great Northern Conference games. West, who has been playing without first-team All-Wisconsin Valley Conference performer Amillion Buggs, fell to 9-9.

Sullivan’s quickness and aggressiveness allowed him to get to the rim countless times and he led all scorers with 21 points. He added nine rebounds, seven assists and three steals while making 10 of 18 shots from the field. Baumgartner was steady as well, hitting eight of 16 shots while scoring 19 points to go with nine rebounds, four assists and four steals as he closes in on the 1,000-point milestone for his career.

Key contributions again came from several sources as Medford won its third straight game and improved to 7-2 against non-conference opponents.

Wausau West took its only lead of the night at 7-6 with a Cole Nelson 3-pointer, but Medford answered with a 9-0 run that included two buckets from Sullivan and two from Baumgartner, including a 3-pointer. Baumgartner hit another long 3 and Tanner Hraby scored inside to extend the lead to 22-12 before West got on a run to close within 24-22. Zach Rudolph cooled West’s mometum with a 3-pointer from the right side and Charlie Kleist closed the first half with a nice post move in the paint to put Medford ahead 29-24.

Nelson’s corner 3 tied the game at 32-32 with 14:45 left, but Medford gradually took control in the next five minutes before blowing it open late.

The Raiders broke the tie when Baumgartner got a steal and pushed the ball ahead to Sullivan for a lay-in. Kleist got a putback off a Hraby miss and Baumgartner scored for a six-point lead. Sullivan attacked the rack to answer a Jack Berens 3 and Rudolph hit his second big 3-pointer of the night to open up a 43-35 lead. His six points in 15 minutes off the bench were key.

More 3-point shots from Sam Blair and Hraby pushed the lead to 55-39 and Baumgartner got another steal and assist to Sullivan for a three-point play that made it 58-39 with 4:33 left. Quinton Tlusty scored on a tough drive and his deflection led to a Chubs Guden runout and Blair capped his six-point night with a three-point play with 1:33 left for the final margin.

Hraby finished with seven points for the Raiders and Kleist wound up with four points. Guden had two points and three steals.

The Raiders scored 38 of their points in the paint and 25 of their points following Warrior turnovers. While both teams had 29 rebounds, Medford turned 11 offensive rebounds into 14 second-chance points. West had just two second-chance points. Medford turned the ball over only five times while crisply moving the ball against West’s man-to-man defense.

Berens led West with 16 points. No other Warrior scored more than six.

Medford is in Antigo tonight, Thursday, to make up a Dec. 10 postponement and is back on the road Friday at Tomahawk. A key home game Tuesday against Rhinelander starts a stretch of three games against GNC teams that beat the 4-3 Raiders the first time around.

All three upcoming games tip at 7:15 p.m.

Medford 91, Antigo 41

On Friday, the Raiders clicked offensively no matter who was on the floor in a 91-41 blowout win over visiting Antigo.

The Raiders produced at an excellent rate of 1.51 points per possession, shot 60.7% from the field overall and were an incredible 25 of 29 on two-point shots in the win. They scored 50 points in the paint, yet hit 12 3-pointers and grabbed 14 offensive rebounds despite an obvious size advantage the Red Robins have.

“Antigo plays really hard and they’re big and they hustle,” Medford head coach Ryan Brown said. “They were getting a lot of offensive rebounds and against Mosinee (in a Jan. 21 loss) and we said we just need to come out with the intensity and urgency that’s necessary, like we’re playing playoff basketball.

I was really happy with how we set the tone. Right off the bat Charlie got some offensive rebounds, guys defended at a great level, communicated and when we got out on the break, we really shared the ball well.”

Twelve of Medford’s offensive rebounds were secured in the first half. Kleist and senior Steve Hraby both had three of them, while Tlusty had two. One could sense Medford’s energy rise which each rebound that led to points as the Raiders turned an early 7-4 lead into a 33-8 bulge and, eventually, a 51-13 halftime lead.

“That’s a testament to coach (Garett) Shipman,” Brown said. “He sits right in the middle of the guys and he’s always in their ears about the little things. We talk about those things that win games. Winning the turnover and rebounding battle are two major factors. He’s always in Charlie’s ear and Sam’s ear, telling them to just get us a couple more. It’s awesome to see Charlie go out and do that and Steve when he came in. Everybody builds on that and just goes for those boards.”

Medford shot 53.8% from the first half and then really took off in the second half, making 16 of 22 shots, including 11 of 12 two-point shots and five of 10 long balls, and building a lead that got as high as 53. Baumgartner got a backcourt steal and dunk for a 67-21 lead. Ty Metz came off the bench to score eight points on four-of-four shooting. Tlusty dropped in back-to-back 3s for his six points on the night and he had five assists. Nick Steliga scored five late points, including a 3, and senior Nick Buchan added his first 3-pointer of the season.

“We tried to do a lineup with all of our younger guys,” Brown said. “We tried to get our seniors in there. These kids come and they work hard every day in practice and they buy into what we do. They’re OK with their roles as long as it makes us better. So it’s really nice to see them rewarded. Not only did they get time, but the production out there was great. They were scoring points and playing good defense.”

Baumgartner led Medford with 22 points, four assists and four rebounds. Tanner Hraby hit three triples and had a team-high six assists while scoring 15 points. Kleist was three of three from the field and added five rebounds and three steals. In a season-high 13 minutes, Steve Hraby had four points, five rebounds and an assist.

“He made a couple nice cuts, played great defense and just did a great job,” Brown said.

Rudolph scored five points, Blair had four and Guden had a bucket and three assists. Medford had 24 assists on 37 made field goals.

Mason Gray led Antigo, who fell to 1-6 in the GNC and 2-13 overall with the loss, with 13 points.

MATT FREY/THE STAR NEWSMedford’s Logan Baumgartner throws one down after a steal in the backcourt during the second half of Friday’s 91-41 rout of Antigo at Raider Hall.