Fronk lands on second team despite injury; 2 seniors also mentioned

She only played in five Great Northern Conference games, but Medford junior guard Bryn Fronk did enough to impress the league’s coaches to earn a spot on the All-GNC girls basketball secondteam for 2021-22.

Fronk is one of three Raiders to earn post-season All-GNC awards. Two of Medford’s senior leaders, Rynn Ruesch and Laurissa Klapatauskas both earned honorable mention. Ruesch gained mention for the third time in her career to add to her second-team award of a year ago. It’s the first All-GNC award in basketball for Klapatauskas.

The awards follow Medford’s 8-16 season that included a 6-6 mark and fourthplace finish in the conference under second- year head coach Greg Klapatauskas. Before going down with a seasonending knee injury in a non-conference game against D.C. Everest on Jan. 14, Fronk averaged 8.6 points per game in her five GNC appearances and had 24 rebounds, 17 steals, seven assists and a blocked shot. Overall in 10 games, Fronk averaged 6.4 points, 5.1 rebounds, 2.5 steals and 1.3 assists per game for the Raiders in what would have been her second full varsity season. Fronk was an honorable mention choice last winter as well.

Fronk was Medford’s primary ball handler and an outside shooting threat as she knocked down six 3-point shots in her short season.

She had just come off an 11-point outing against conference champion Mosinee when she was injured. She had 13 points, nine rebounds, five steals and two assists in a 63-51 loss to league runner-up Lakeland on Dec. 3 and had 13 points, four rebounds, seven steals, two assists and a blocked shot in one of Medford’s better all-around performances of the year, a 58-27 win over Antigo on Dec. 20.

Fronk had a 10-point, 14-rebound, four-steal double-double in a 46-39 nonconference loss at New London on Dec. 7.

Fronk is joined on this year’s second team by Mosinee seniors Adalyn Lehman and Jenna Placek, Northland Pines senior Samantha Huelskamp and Antigo junior Sophie Schlieve.

This year’s first team features three unanimous choices –– Mosinee seniors Lexi Freiboth and Kate Fitzgerald and Lakeland junior Julianna Ouimette –– as well as Lakeland freshman Kristina Ouimette and Rhinelander senior Audrey Schiek.

Julianna Ouimette repeats as the GNC Player of the Year after leading the conference in scoring (20.9 points per game), assists per game (7.7), steals per game (7.4) and free throw percentage (.756). Schlieve led the league in rebounding at 12.8 per game, Placek was the field goal percentage leader (.585) and Kristina Ouimette led the league with 2.6 made 3-pointers per game.

Ouimette is now a three-time firstteam selection. Freiboth and Fitzgerald are two-time first-teamers.

Mosinee’s Scott McKellips was the repeat winner of the GNC Coach of the Year award after leading the Indians to a perfect 12-0 record in conference play and a 25-2 mark overall. The Indians were upended by Lakeland 58-56 in a WIAA Division 2 sectional semifinal on Thursday. The post-season run for Lakeland (10-2, 19-9) ended one win short of state in a 56-44 loss to Menomonie Saturday in the sectional final played at Hayward.

Ruesch and Klapatauskas were consistent performers this year as part of Medford’s seven-member senior class.

Ruesch averaged 7.4 points per game in 12 league games and added 57 rebounds, 20 steals and 19 assists. Overall, her numbers included a team-best 7.4 points per game along with 4.8 rebounds, 1.5 steals and 1.5 assists. She capably lled a variety of roles in the post, on the outside or in the high post on offense and took up more of the ball handling duties as well in Fronk’s absence.

Helping her gain this year’s recognition were a 10-point, eight-rebound, three-assist, two-steal game in a 44-33 win at Northland Pines on Jan. 17 and a 10-point, five-rebound game in the Dec. 20 win over Antigo. She had 11 points and six rebounds at Mosinee on Feb. 18 and 11 points and six rebounds in the Dec. 3 tight game with Lakeland. Ruesch had a season-high 14 points to go with five rebounds at New London. She opened the year with 13 points on four-of-six shooting from the field and five-of-seven shooting from the free throw line in a Nov. 23 win at Merrill and had 13 points, six rebounds and five steals in a 53-46 loss to Wausau East on Feb. 15.

Klapatauskas could be considered one of Medford’s most improved players from a year ago. She averaged 6.9 points while playing in all 12 GNC games and ranked ninth in the GNC with 5.7 rebounds per game. She was fifth in field goal percentage (.456). Overall, she averaged 7.4 points, a team-best 6.1 rebounds, 1.9 steals and 1.3 assists per game.

She had nine points and 10 rebounds in a loss at Lakeland Feb. 3, seven points, six rebounds and six steals in the win at Pines and eight points and eight rebounds in a 43-30 win at Antigo on Jan. 28. She had 10 points, four rebounds and three steals in Medford’s 53-33 win over Northland Pines on Feb. 11.

Klapatauskas had some big non-conference showings as well, including a 13-point, 10-rebound double-double in a 42-39 loss at Hayward on Jan. 25, 12 points and five rebounds against sectional runner-up Rice Lake on Jan. 24 and a season-high 16 points along with six rebounds and three assists in the 66-50 loss to D.C. Everest.