Shots don’t fall, so Raiders do in home loss to Ashland

MEDFORD GIRLS BASKETBALL

What was once a four-game winning streak is now a three-game slide the other way for the Medford girls basketball team, who suffered a disappointing 3934 home loss to the Ashland Oredockers Tuesday night.

Facing a team that only went six players deep and packed in a 2-3 zone the entire night, the Raiders simply couldn’t shoot their way past that zone and Ashland got 15 hard-earned points from senior guard Brynn Erickson to push its way past the Raiders and to a 5-8 record for the season.

The Raiders fell to 4-7 and left the gym knowing they’ll have to keep working in trying to find their shooting strokes.

“We just have to make shots,” head coach Chad Fronk said after the loss. “Both our man-to-man offense and our zone offense are giving us good looks.”

The Raiders fought back from an early 8-0 hole to hold a brief lead late in the first half. The run started with a Rylee Hraby 3-pointer from the right corner for Medford’s first points of the game just over six minutes in. Brooke Rudolph got a steal and score and then assisted on a Rachel Wesle out of a short-corner set to pull Medford within one.

Wesle’s second bucket was followed by an Erickson basket that gave Ashland a 10-9 lead, but Rudolph scored and Bryn Fronk hit a triple to put Medford in front for the first time 14-10 with 6:20 to go in the half. Fronk scored on a steal for a 16-12 lead, but Ashland got a key four points in the last five seconds when Hannah Bochler scored and was fouled. She missed the free throw, but Erickson found her way to the rebound and scored to tie it at 16-16.

Defensively the Raiders played well enough to give themselves a shot, holding Ashland to a low shooting percentage from the field and forcing several turnovers. But Ashland put together one little scoring surge in the second half and that wound up being the difference.

After Rudolph hit a free throw to open the scoring in the half, Ashland got a 3-pointer from Bochler and a score from Morgan Anderson to go up by four. Aliyah Pilgrim sank a 3 for Medford, but the Oredockers scored 12 of the game’s next 14 points to go up 31-22.

Medford made a late run, getting another trey from Pilgrim, drawing two offensive charge calls on the Oredockers and getting two inside scores from Rudolph to pull within 31-30 with 2:47 to play. But Anderson was fouled on a 3-point shot and made two of the free throws with 2:35 left. After Toryn Rau made a free throw for Medford with 1:55 to go, Anderson got a three-point play of an offensive rebound at the 1:45 mark to give Ashland a five-point edge.

Hraby swished a 3-pointer with 1:13 left to cut Ashland’s lead to two and Fronk forced a turnover to give Medford a chance to tie or take the lead with 39.5 seconds left. But Rau’s 3-point try missed, Erickson grabbed the rebound and got the ball to Anderson who scored a breakaway basket with 12 seconds left. Pilgrim missed a 3 for Medford and that ended any hopes of the Raiders stealing it at the end.

Rudolph led Medford with 11 points. Pilgrim and Hraby each hit two of Medford’s five 3-pointers to finish with six points apiece. Fronk finished with five points, Wesle scored four and Rau added two free throws.

Medford’s Monday game at Crandon was postponed due to icy weather and will now be played on Feb. 16.

The Raiders face a tall task Friday when they host Great Northern Conference- leading Lakeland at 7:15 p.m. The Raiders will go to Rice Lake for a nonconference contest Tuesday before taking a third shot this year at hosting Hayward on Jan. 26 and then getting their second matchup of the year with Antigo a night later. That game is also at Raider Hall.