PLAYER OF THE YEAR

Kuhn earns award again; 3 more Raiders, Brown honored

The accomplishments were many –– a school-record 24 wins, two straight undefeated seasons in the Great Northern Conference and a league winning streak that sits at 27 games, three straight December wins over state-ranked teams and a new all-time school scoring leader to name a few.

It was a season no one wanted to see end.

Unfortunately, it did end on Feb. 25 with a tough-to-stomach 52-51 loss to Rice Lake in a WIAA Division 2 sectional semifinal, but the reflections of what the Medford boys basketball team accomplished in the 2020-21 season will last for some time.

The team’s success has resulted in several individual postseason honors, starting with a strong showing in the voting for this season’s All-Great Northern Conference team. The Raiders had two unanimous picks for the five-man first team in Pey- ton Kuhn and Logan Baumgartner, a second-team pick who played like a first-teamer down the stretch in Brady Hupf and an honorable mentionee in Ty Baker, who was, in many ways, as valuable to his team as any of the league’s more highly-regarded players.

The success was guided by head coach Ryan Brown, who was named the GNC’s Coach of the Year for the second straight season and for the third time since he took over the job midway through the 2014-15 season.

Kuhn added another big honor last week, earning honorable mention in the voting for the Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association’s Division 2 All-State team. He’s Medford’s first all-state mentionee since Osy Ekwueme was listed by the Associated Press after the 2016-17 season.

The individual accolades follow a 24-3 season that included a 12-0 mark in the GNC and a WIAA Division 2 regional title.

Kuhn, a 6-foot senior guard, won the Player of the Year award for the second straight season and leaves the Medford program as its all-time scoring leader with 1,464 points, well ahead of 1991 graduate Steve Russ (1,341) and its alltime leader in 3-point field goals with 201, three ahead of 2018 graduate Cam Wenzel.

This season, Kuhn led the GNC in scoring, averaging 22.1 points in the 12 league games, and in 3-point shooting by making 3.3 per game. He also ranked third in the conference in steals with 2.4 per game. He topped the 20-point mark in nine GNC games.

Overall, Kuhn played in 25 of Medford’s 27 games and averaged 19.1 points, 2.8 rebounds, 2.2 steals and 1.8 assists per game. He shot 43.8% from the field overall, 34.1% from 3-point range (72 for 211) and 72.2% (70 of 97) from the free throw line.

A four-year letter winner with the Raiders, Kuhn began his year with a bang, surpassing the 1,000-point mark for his career with a 33-point outing against Antigo on Dec. 4. He hit eight of 13 3-point shots in the game, an 89-51 win, and scored 29 points in the first half alone. He also had six steals. He tormented the Red Robins again on Jan. 22, scoring 26 points on 12-of-19 shooting in an 83-36 win.

Kuhn’s biggest night came on Feb. 8 when Medford clinched the GNC title with a 76-53 win over Northland Pines. He went off for a career-high 37 points on 15-of-27 shooting that included five-of-13 from the 3-point line. He had four steals and four rebounds in that win. He had a 29-point night at Lakeland on Jan. 15 that included five steals, three rebounds and two assists as the Raiders crushed the TBirds 92-69.

He came up big in some of Medford’s key non-conference wins as well. He had 30 points and six rebounds in an 80-49 win at Merrill Jan. 9; was six of 13 from long range and 25 points in Medford’s 6953 win over the seventh-ranked Tomah Timberwolves on Dec. 21 and 26 points in a 74-65 win at eighth-ranked Appleton Xavier on Dec. 28. Xavier won a Division 2 sectional championship. He had 25 points while making six of 13 3-point shots in a hard-fought 48-43 win over Wausau West on Feb. 2.

About the only thing that slowed him down was a late-season ankle injury that knocked him out of a regional semifinal against Merrill and limited him in the regional final against Rhinelander and the loss to Rice Lake. Still, he had 14 points against Rhinelander and three assists in a 64-54 win.

After earning honorable mention last year as a freshman, Baumgartner’s development took a big step forward in 2020-21.

He finished fourth on the GNC’s scoring list at 14.7 points per game in 11 league games played and ranked fourth in free throw percentage at 76.1% (35 of 46). He was second in the league in steals at 2.5 steals per game. He hit 21 of 66 3-pointers in GNC play (31.8%) and 53 of 119 shots overall (44.5%).

Overall, the 6-3 guard averaged 15.5 points per game in 24 games played, 4.3 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 2.1 steals. He also was slowed by a late-season ankle injury that kept him out of three games in late January and early February. He returned earlier than expected and scored a team-high 14 points in a key 54-50 win at Rhinelander Feb. 5.

Other showings that helped Baumgartner solidify his first-team status included 27 points, six rebounds and four steals in a 77-33 win at Tomahawk Dec. 11; 20 points, five steals, three rebounds and two assists in the Dec. 4 win over Antigo; 19 points and three steals in an 83-47 blowout of runner-up Rhinelander on Dec. 18 and 19 points, four steals and three assists in a 62-51 home win over Mosinee on Jan. 8.

Baumgartner had a couple of huge performances in non-conference play. He scored 32 of Medford’s 47 points, made five of 12 3-point shots and had five rebounds in a 57-47 loss to Chippewa Falls on Jan. 11 and 27 points and three assists while making six of 10 3s in the win over Tomah. He also came through in the regional game against Merrill that Kuhn missed, scoring 24 points and making all 10 of his free throws in the 66-52 win.

Kuhn and Baumgartner joined Rhinelander’s Ross Skeen and Quinn Lamers and Mosinee’s Cyle Kowalski on the first team. Kowalski was second in GNC scoring (19.3) and first in assists (5.6) and steals (2.8). Lamers was second in assists (4.7) and third in 3-pointers per game (2.3) and free throw percentage (78.9%). Skeen hit 2.8 3s per game.

In his third year with Medford’s varsity, one could argue Hupf was the GNC’s best post player.

The 6-2 senior led the GNC by averaging 8.2 rebounds in 12 conference games and made 49 of 89 field goal attempts (55.1%) to rank amongst league leaders. Hupf ranked fifth in free throw percentage at 71.4% (20 of 28) and averaged 10.1 points and 2.3 assists per game in GNC play.

Overall in 27 games, Hupf averaged 10.6 points, 7.8 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.5 steals per game. He added a team-high 21 blocked shots. He led the Raiders with a field goal percentage of 53.2%.

Hupf had three double-doubles and was close to several more. He had 17 points and 11 rebounds in the Jan. 22 win at Antigo and 11 points, 12 rebounds and four assists in the home win over Pines Feb. 8. He had 14 points and 10 boards in a 63-51 non-conference win at Altoona on Jan. 30. His 17 points and seven rebounds helped Medford survive a 56-51 upset threat at Northland Pines Jan. 5. He had 15 points and eight rebounds in the first win over Antigo; 10 points, nine rebounds, four assists and three steals in the home win over Antigo and nine points, nine rebounds and three blocked shots in a 70-65 win at Mosinee in the Feb. 11 regular-season finale.

Hupf played some of his best ball in the post-season. He had a career-high 21 points and nine rebounds in the regional final win over Rhinelander. He had 15 points on seven-of-11 shooting, four rebounds and four assists in the loss to Rice Lake. He had eight points, seven boards, five assists and two steals against Merrill. Another notable outing came in a 64-41 win over Edgar on Dec. 29 when he had 16 points, nine rebounds, five assists and five steals.

Another three-year varsity player, Baker’s statistical contributions varied depending on the game. Whether it was rebounding, defense, assists or scoring, Baker’s energy and effort were constants that were crucial to Medford’s success.

Baker ranked fourth in the GNC in field goal percentage at 53.6% (37 of 69), tied for fourth in steals (2.3 per game) and was 10th in rebounding (5.1 per game). He averaged 10.6 points per game in 10 GNC appearances. He missed two mid-season games due to injury.

Overall in 25 games, Baker averaged 9.1 points, 5.1 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 2.0 steals per game.

He scored a career-high 20 points and added four rebounds and three steals to help Medford hold off Mosinee in the Feb. 11 GNC finale. He also had 13 points and three rebounds in the first game against the Indians. Baker had 15 points, five rebounds, five steals and three assists in the win at Lakeland. The 5-11 senior had 10 points, six rebounds, three assists and three steals in the four-point win at Rhinelander.

In non-conference highlights, he just missed a double-double with 13 points, nine rebounds, four steals and two blocked shots in a 66-41 win over Auburndale on Dec. 8 and had 13 points, four rebounds, four steals and two assists in a 73-60 win at Rice Lake Dec. 14. He had 14 points, four assists and three boards at Altoona and had 12 points, five steals, four rebounds and two assists in the playoff win over Merrill.

Other Raiders to rank among GNC leaders this season included senior Nate Retterath, who tied for fifth at 3.3 assists per game and led the Raiders with 2.7 assists per game overall, and junior Joe Sullivan, who shot 55.1% from the field (43 of 78) in league play. Sullivan shot 52.6% overall to rank second on the team and led the Raiders in 3-point percentage at 41.3% (31 of 75).

Brown’s second straight Coach of the Year award adds to the one he earned in 2016-17 when Medford won its first GNC championship. This year’s team led the conference in scoring offense (73.3 points per game) and scoring defense (48.1 points per game). Brown has led the Raiders to a 104-56 record since he took over, including a 53-27 mark in the GNC.

It’s also been announced that Brown will coach and Kuhn will play in the WBCA Division 2 All-Star Game in Wisconsin Dells, set for Thursday, July 15.

WBCA All-State

Kuhn was one of 26 players to get honorable mention in the WBCA’s Division 2 All-State selection process. Kowalski was on that list as well.

The 11-member first team included senior Zac Johnson of River Falls, who scored 28 points in the Wildcats’ 63-50 win over Medford on Jan. 26, and Mason Dorn of Seymour, who had 38 points in a 72-63 win over the Raiders last season at UW-Green Bay. Both are repeat selections from a year ago, along with Kobe Johnson of Nicolet and Cameron Palesse of Waukesha West.

Divisional selection is based on the original divisional placement for teams prior to the 2020-21 season. Several players and their teams on the Division 2 list actually played in the Division 1 tournament after WIAA assignments were redrawn in January.

The rest of the first team includes seniors Gavin McGrath of Division 2 state finalist Onalaska, Nate Abel of Beaver Dam, Jayden Jackson of Whitefish Bay, and Cade Meyer of Monroe; juniors Marcus Tomashek of Ashwaubenon and Max Weisbrod of DeForest and sophomore Milan Momcilovic of Division 2 state champion Pewaukee.

Logan Baumgartner First TeamBrady Hupf Second Team

Ryan Brown Coach of the Year

Ty Baker Hon. Mention