Hodags blasted, setting up big championship battle Friday

Central outlasts Medford once again

The Medford Raiders came up short in one highly-anticipated game at Raider Hall this week, but they’ll get another chance on Friday.

Medford’s 64-42 win at Rhinelander Tuesday combined with a 59-58 comefrom- behind win by Northland Pines over Mosinee has set up a Great Northern Conference boys basketball championship showdown for Friday night between the Raiders and Eagles.

At 10-0 in the GNC, Medford is still in the driver’s seat and would clinch the program’s third outright championship in four years with a win Friday. But the tables would turn with a Northland Pines win. The Eagles are 8-1 in the GNC and would pull even with Medford in the loss column with a win. They could end up being outright champions if Medford would also lose at Mosinee on Feb. 17.

Medford won the first matchup between the teams 59-50 on Jan. 6. The Eagles have gone 7-1 since, losing only at Waukesha Catholic Memorial on Jan. 21.

Mosinee fell to 7-3 in the GNC with Tuesday’s loss and is now out of championship contention.

Tip time Friday at Raider Hall is set for 7:15 p.m. for the varsity game.

Medford’s win Tuesday was clinched early as the Raiders got off to a whitehot start and took a 27-4 lead just eight minutes in. Tanner Hraby drilled three 3-point shots, Ty Metz had one and Logan Baumgartner added two, including one on a four-point play. Baumgartner added a tip-in of a Hraby miss and a drive to the hoop for 13 points in the big opening run.

Baumgartner led all scorers with 27 points in the win. Hraby finished with 16.

The Raiders’ lead never dipped below 21 in the first half and got as high as 29 on a Baumgartner score in the post that made it 44-15. The Raiders led 46-21 at the break.

Medford’s play did get a bit ragged after they built their big lead and Rhinelander whittled the deficit down to 21 in the later stages of the second half at 55-34. Rhinelander outscored Medford 21-18 in the second half and got a big game from forward from James Heck, who scored 17 points on eight field goals, all of which came in the paint. Will Gretzinger added 10 for the Hodags, who fell to 3-6 in league play and 5-13 overall. Rhinelander actually wound up shooting noticeably better from the field at 46.5% (20 of 43) compared to Medford’s 40.7% (24 for 59).

The Raiders, though, hit eight of 23 3-point shots, while Rhinelander was one for 15. Medford scored 23 points off 22 Rhinelander turnovers. Medford had 10 turnovers, seven of which came in the first half after the hot start.

Metz scored nine points for Medford, Charlie Kleist scored four and Nick Steliga and Owen Stockwell both finished with two. Baumgartner had nine rebounds, Kleist had six and Zach Rudolph grabbed four. Hraby had six assists, while Rudolph had three. Baumgartner had six steals.

After Friday’s big matchup, the Raiders (16-4) will host D.C. Everest Tuesday in non-conference play before concluding GNC play with their key battle at Mosinee.

Central 67, Medford 58

Saturday’s much-anticipated sectional final rematch with La Crosse Cen-tral went much like that final from last March as the Riverhawks used an early second-half surge to create some separation, the Raiders made a run to make it a one-possession game, but could get no closer in a 67-58 loss in a high-energy atmosphere at Raider Hall.

Henry Meyer, a 6-3 junior who played only two minutes in Central’s 56-47 sectional final win over Medford in March, was the difference maker Saturday, pouring in 27 points and grabbing nine rebounds for the Riverhawks, who now sit at 14-5 after blowing out Holmen Tuesday and are in good position to earn at least a two-seed in the WIAA Division 2 sectional half-bracket. Meyer scored 23 of his points in the second half.

“It was very similar (to last year), a four- or five-point game,” Medford head coach Ryan Brown said after the loss. “Obviously they’re a really tough team when you get behind to come back on because they’re so good at what they do. They don’t turn the ball over much. I thought we actually did a good job of creating some turnovers. They take great shots and they make sure the right guys are taking those shots. To be able to come back, even from a small lead, is tough because they’re going to be very efficient with what they do.”

Medford clearly won the turnover battle, getting 13 from the Riverhawks and turning them into 17 points. The Raiders coughed up the ball just seven times against Central’s strong defensive club. Central had a 34-21 edge in rebounding, which was key. But, to Brown’s point, maybe the biggest statistic was Central making 16 of 24 second-half shots from the field (66.7%) and the Riverhawks had just five of their turnovers after halftime.

Defenses ruled for most of the first half, but the offenses warmed up gradually as it progressed. A Baumgartner 3 tied the game at 8-8, Central went on an 8-2 run, but Medford tied it at 16-16 with 3s from Baumgartner and Rudolph. The Raiders got three turnovers with a steal and score from Metz, a Kleist basket off a Baumgartner assist that started with another Metz steal and then a Kleist steal that turned into two free throws for him and a 24-20 Medford lead. Kleist scored inside and hit two bonus free throws with 43.2 seconds left for a 28-24 lead, but Nic Williams scored with five seconds to cut the lead to 28-26 at the half.

The Raiders came out a bit cold after halftime and that’s where the Riverhawks took advantage, scoring nine straight points to go up 35-28, forcing Medford to play catch-up the rest of the way. Free throws by Baumgartner and a Rudolph triple made it 37-34 with 12:57 left, but Central got a tip-in by 6-7 Bennett Fried. Baumgartner’s 3 made it 4037, but Meyer scored. A Charlie Gierl 3 made it 44-42, but Meyer countered with a 3 of his own. Frankie Wilk answered Hraby’s three-point play with a longrange bomb and Meyer scored as well. A Williams steal extended the lead to 54-47, but Medford got bonus free throws from Baumgartner and a triple from their leading scorer after a big hustle rebound from Rudolph to make it a 54-52 game with just over four minutes left. But Meyer scored out of a timeout and, after a Baumgartner miss, Williams capped a patient possession with a driving layup to make it 58-52 with 2:05 to go. The Raiders thought Meyer got away with a pushoff, but there was no call and the play ended with a Fried baseline slam dunk that made it 60-52 with 42 seconds to go and sealed it, though Medford did pull within 62-58 on a Baumgartner 3 with 17 seconds left.

“I loved our effort,” Brown said. “I loved how we had the lead at halftime and were battling on both ends of the floor. I thought there was a period there in the second half where we were really winning our one-on-ones (defensively) and where we didn’t need to have the help come over. If we play them again, that’s going to be huge.”

Baumgartner scored 21 points, Metz had a strong game with 14 points, six rebounds, two steals and two assists and Kleist had 11 points and five boards. Rudolph scored five points and had three assists. Hraby was held to four points but had three assists. Gierl scored three.

Williams added 22 points for La Crosse Central.

“I’m disappointed because I know we’re right there,” Brown said. “You can only have morale victories for so long and stay with these teams. I get it, they’re good, there are a lot of athletic college-level players there, but we have the team to do it. We just have to keep working and take what we can from this and realize now it just makes the road a little tougher. If we get to it, we’re going to be playing those teams on the road (in the post-season).”

Medford 93, Tomahawk 30

Virtually everything went according to plan Friday as Medford jumped ahead of Tomahawk quickly, allowing for ample playing time on Parents’ Night in a 93-30 rout of the Hatchets, who remained winless in the GNC.

Medford hit 17 of 41 shots from the field, including five of 17 3s, turned 13 Tomahawk turnovers into 14 points and outrebounded the Hatchets 27-14 while building a 48-12 halftime lead. Baumgartner scored 18 of his 24 points in the half, while Kleist scored eight of his 13 and Gierl added six in the half.

Medford opened the second half by continuing to experiment with its 1-3-1 zone and was able to get more turnovers and runouts out of that to easily reach the 40-point margin necessary by the nine-minute mark to put the running clock into effect.

Hraby scored 11 of his 16 points in the second half. Gierl finished with 11 and Rudolph hit two of his three 3-pointers in the game at the start of the second half and finished with nine points. Metz scored nine points as well. Nick Steliga hit a first-half 3-pointer, senior Vincent Seidel started the game and hit two early free throws and Anakin Stokes, Carson Carbaugh and Conner Klingbeil added second-half baskets.

Medford shot 50.7% from the field (36 of 71) and held the Hatchets to 27.5% (11 of 40) and forced 24 Tomahawk turnovers. Medford outrebounded Tomahawk 42-24.

Metz led Medford with 10 rebounds, Kleist had nine and Hraby grabbed six. Hraby dished out seven assists and Kleist had three. Kleist and Baumgartner had three assists each.

Gavyn Palmer led Tomahawk with 13 points.

Rhinelander’s Will Gretzinger ducks under the double team of Medford’s Ty Metz and Logan Baumgartner during the first half of the Raiders’ 64-42 win Tuesday night at the Jim Miazga Community Gym. The Raiders improved to 10-0 in the GNC and 16-4 overall with Tuesday’s win.BOB MAINHARDT/NORTHWOODS RIVER NEWS

Rib Lake’s Jackson Blomberg scores after being bumped by Gilman’s Dalton Wisocky on a transition opportunity. Blomberg, who led Rib Lake with 17 points, converted the three-point play for a 61-31 second-half lead.MATT FREY/THE STAR NEWS