Raiders build tourney momentum, clinch 2nd-place tie with close win

MEDFORD GIRLS BASKETBALL

The more meaningful of back-to-back matchups between Medford and Rhinelander was Tuesday in the opening round of WIAA Division 2 tournament play, but Friday’s regular-season finale meant something to the Raiders, who pulled out a 43-41 thriller at Raider Hall.

The win put Medford at 7-3 in the final Great Northern Conference standings, good for a second-place tie with Lakeland. The teams finished two games behind 9-1 Mosinee. The win also evened the score after Rhinelander won the first meeting 41-38 on Jan. 12 and gave the team a shot of confidence going into Tuesday’s game, which won 59-55 in overtime.

“We definitely wanted it,” sophomore Bryn Fronk said moments after making a key defensive play in the final seconds that preserved the win. “We worked hard for it, for sure. We had to overcome some difficult losses, but we’re here and it’s a good feeling.”

Marissa Fronk led the Raiders on her Senior Night with nine points, four steals and she added four rebounds. But foul trouble was the story of her night as she fouled out with 4:11 left. Making it more frustrating was almost every call came on plays where the foul could’ve gone either way and she never got the benefit of the doubt.

When she exited, Medford led 34-29. Just 42 seconds later, the game was tied. The Raiders, however, regrouped and outscored the Hodags 9-7 in the final three minutes to improve to 10-8 overall.

“Our mindset was to just pick it up as a team and do it together especially for our senior on Senior Night,” junior Autumn Krause said. “That was very important. With her not being able to play, we just picked it up as a team.”

“I was mad,” Bryn Fronk said. “I was like, you’ve got to be kidding me. Her last conference game and they foul her out. So that’s when I was like, ‘OK, we’re winning this.’” “I thought everybody played well,” Medford head coach Greg Klapatauskas said. “Marissa is our leader. When she’s in there it’s a calming presence. I guess we had to figure it out at the end and we did.”

After Rhinelander tied it at 34-34 with 3:29 left on a three-point play by Annika Johnson, Katie Brehm sank two free throws with 2:56 left. The Hodags turned the ball over and Medford took advantage with Rynn Ruesch grabbing an offensive rebound. When the Hodags miscommunicated and left her alone, she nailed a wide-open left elbow jumper to make it 38-34.

Another Hodag turnover gave Medford a chance to build on the lead, but Rhinelander’s standout Rebecca Lawrence got a steal and score at the 1:50 mark. Bryn Fronk answered with a clutch drive down the lane and bucket for a 40-36 lead with 1:22 left. The Raiders couldn’t take advantage of an offensive foul on Rhinelander with 1:14 to go and Lawrence hit one of two free throws with 32 seconds to go.

Ruesch made a free throw, but Lawrence drove to the rack, scored and got fouled with 21.7 seconds left. She missed the free throw, but the Hodags were within two. Laurissa Klapatauskas made a free throw, then Johnson scored inside for the Hodags to make it 42-41.

Bryn Fronk missed two free throws with 7.6 seconds left, but she knocked Rhinelander’s outlet pass out of bounds, leaving the Hodags 70 feet from the basket with 5.6 seconds left. Two quick passes got the ball to Lawrence with momentum toward the rim, but Fronk got her paws on the ball and got a held-ball call with 2.4 seconds left. The arrow favored Medford, Fronk hit one of two free throws with 1.1 seconds left and Lawrence’s 70-foot heave at the buzzer was well short.

“That was scary because they blew the whistle, so I was wondering was it a foul,” Fronk said. “I didn’t know. Then they called the jump and I was just happy. We were both just smacking into each other, arms wrapped around each other, so it could’ve gone both ways.”

Medford’s defense on Lawrence throughout the game was key. She scored 34 of Rhinelander’s 41 points in the first meeting. Lawrence scored 21 Friday, but she didn’t dominate this time as the Fronk sisters and Martha Miller did their best to slow her down.

“We switched into a man instead of a zone because she just broke through it (last time),” Krause said. “We knew we had to stop her because that’s what they revolve around. Shut her down, it shuts the team down.”

“Our help defense definitely got a lot better,” Greg Klapatauskas said. “We moved our feet. We were calling out screens. Overall, I loved our defensive effort. That’s what won us the game.”

Lawrence scored the game’s first seven points, but Medford went on a 14-2 run and never trailed again. Krause hit two 3-pointers in the run and Marissa Fronk and Martha Miller each hit one. Miller’s jumper in the final seconds gave Medford a 19-14 halftime lead.

Both defenses continued to make life tough for the offenses in the second half. Medford got on one little run that made it 32-22. Bryn Fronk’s 3-pointer with 9:25 left capped the run. But the Hodags got 3s from Lawrence and Johnson to get right back in it.

Bryn Fronk scored eight points, Krause and Ruesch scored seven apiece and Miller had five for Medford. Brehm and Klapatauskas added four and three points respectively. Ruesch had five rebounds, Brehm had four and Krause had

four assists.