Guden said. “He’s so electric. ….

Guden said. “He’s so electric. He is all over the place. People simply cannot guard the man. It’s a lot of fun watching him.”

Hraby and Rudolph finished with four points each and Guden got the last bucket in the final seconds.

Medford outrebounded Menomonie 26-21 and got 14 of those on the offensive end. Baumgartner led Medford with six rebounds. Sullivan, Hraby and Guden had four each. Brigham Kelley had three. Brown said that was a factor certainly not to be overlooked.

“It was Chubs, it was Zach Rudolph, it was Big Rig,” Brown said. “It was so many different guys just going and getting boards, which I thought was huge because with their size you would’ve thought that would be a struggle. In both halves we got a lot of loose balls and offensive rebounds.” The Raiders host Lakeland Friday at 7:15 p.m. for their second meeting of the year with the T-Birds, who they beat 56-39 on Dec. 3. Their first matchup of the year with a strong Northland Pines squad comes Saturday in a game that’s been moved up to 5 p.m.

The Raiders remain at home next week as well, facing another Big Rivers Conference team in New Richmond Tuesday and GNC foe Antigo on Jan. 28.

Central 74, Medford 68

Fans were treated to an outstanding high school basketball game Saturday evening when La Crosse Central, the state’s third-ranked team in Division 2, outlasted the visiting Raiders 74-68.

Snapping out of a team-wide shooting slump that was largely responsible for two straight losses in the Great Northern Conference, the Raiders buried 15 3-pointers, had 21 assists on 25 field goals, shot 47.2% from the field and turned the ball over just five times against a lengthy team that plays excellent defense.

But it wasn’t quite enough as the Riverhawks always hit that key shot that kept them in the lead by a couple of possessions in the second half. Central shot the ball even better than Medford did, knocking down 27 of 50 shots from the field (54%), outscored Medford 14-3 from the free throw line and also turned the ball over just five times.

“You’re walking into the numberthree team in the state’s gym,” Brown said. “We said we have to earn their respect. They’re a top team. They’re wellcoached by coach Todd Fergot. They play great defense. If we want any chance, we have to come out here and do every little thing it takes to win. The things that we haven’t done the last couple games, we need to do and I thought guys just really did a great job.

“That’s one of the best defenses I’ve seen on film,” he added. “All five guys move. We were able to be patient, cut hard and break them down until we got great shots and guys knocked down shots. We were excited that we were there. We’ve played two top-five teams in the state now and been right there with both. But we need to make that transfer to every other game because we know what we can do and what we’re capable of when we have five guys playing together. Now we just have to do it all the time.”

Baumgartner rediscovered the shooting stroke that had him on a late December tear as he hit 10 of 17 shots from the field, including six of 11 from long-range, to score a game-high 29 points. Sullivan was his relentless self, scoring 17 points on seven-of-12 shooting and Hraby (11 points) and Sam Blair (nine points) hit a trio of 3-pointers apiece to offer offensive support. Guden added a last-minute putback.

The Riverhawks showed their impressive balance, putting five players in double figures. Colin Adams, a 6-5 senior, led them with 21 points while making nine of 14 shots. Porter Pretasky, a 6-5 senior forward, made six of seven shots while scoring 15 points. Nic Williams and Devon Fielding added 11 each and 6-6 Bennett Fried added 10.

Strong shooting and solid early defense pushed Medford to an early 16-10 lead. Baumgartner, Hraby and Sullivan all hit 3s in that surge. Central countered with a 9-0 run that Baumgartner ended with a tying 3. From there, the Riverhawks went on a 13-2 run that put them in front for good, though Sullivan sank a 3-pointer and hit one of his patented last-second pull-up jumpers in the lane to shrink Central’s lead to 32-26 at the half.

The Raiders came out firing to start the second half with Baumgartner hitting two shots in the lane, Hraby scoring off a Kelley assist and Baumgartner nailing a triple to close the gap to 37-35 with 15:40 to play. Baumgartner later hit another long ball to pull Medford within 41-39, but that was answered by a Pretasky 3.

Baumgartner scored off a Blair assist to make the score 46-43 near the 10-minute mark, but that’s when Central made its move, going on a 14-3 spurt to open up a 60-46 lead with six minutes to go.

Given room to shoot, Blair took advantage and kept Medford in it with his three triples, the last of which made it 6555. Three-balls by Hraby and Baumgartner cut it to 68-61 with 1:05 left, but Central did not allow the Raiders to get any closer than six in the last minute.

Baumgartner had seven rebounds and Guden grabbed five for Medford. Guden and Charlie Kleist dished out five assists apiece, while Kelley had four. Central outrebounded the Raiders 31-21.

“Even though we lost at Central, no one was really mad about that just because of the team they were and how good we played,” Sullivan said. “It shows that we can play with everybody. It’s a good loss.”