Facing last year’s sectional finalists obviously not an easy task
MEDFORD GIRLS BASKETBALL
The Medford Raiders knew playing the defending WIAA Division 2 sectional finalists in back-to-back games was going to be a tall order. While both games ended in lopsided scores, the Raiders did show encouraging signs in Tuesday’s 7242 non-conference loss at Menomonie.
The Raiders turned the ball over too much against the Mustangs’ extended defensive pressure in the first half and quickly fell behind by double digits. But when they did beat the pressure, they made things happen offensively and made a game of it into the opening minutes of the second half.
In the first half, much of that offensive success came in the paint, as junior post Breanna Kraemer scored 10 of her team-high 12 points in the opening 18 minutes, which ended with Menomonie leading 32 19. Kraemer scored Medford’s first six points. The Raiders then got a bucket from Rylee Hraby and the first of Brooke Rudolph’s trio of 3-pointers to close the gap to 17-11. Menomonie went on a seven-point spurt before Aliyah Pilgrim hit her first 3 of the night to make it 24-14. Sophia Schoenberger hit a 3 following a Raider turnover and she hit another one off a kickout pass from Makenna Amundson to give the Mustangs a 32-14 lead. Kraemer ended the half with two straight baskets to close the gap to 13.
Kraemer’s final basket made it 34-21 early in the second half and Rudolph’s last two 3s got the Raiders within 39-27 before the Mustangs slowly and steadily pulled away from there.
Still, the young Raiders aggressively attacked the hoop and shot with some confidence. Pilgrim finished with six points on a pair of 3s. Madison Clarkson scored four on a pair of second-half baskets. Rachel Wesle got a second-half putback to go. Senior guard Bryn Fronk ran into some foul trouble and scored twice in the second half before picking up her fifth foul with about seven minutes to play. Bailey Eloranta hit a first-half free throw and Rudolph continued her strong start to the year with 11 points.
Menomonie has three starters back from last year’s state team, though one of them, Sammy Jacobsen, did not play Tuesday. Anna Wheeler, a 6-0 senior is not one of those returning starters, but she scored a game-high 18 points. Ashleah Quilling and Mary Berg are two of those starters and they scored 13 and 10 points in the win. Schoenberger sank five 3s and scored 15 points for the now 4-3 Mustangs.
Medford (0-3) is at Antigo Friday for a Great Northern Conference battle with the Red Robins and then has back-toback home games Dec. 15 against Hayward and Dec. 16 against Tomahawk. All upcoming games tip at 7:15 p.m.
Lakeland 78, Medford 29
In Friday’s Great Northern Conference opener for both teams, the Lakeland Thunderbirds buried Medford with their transition game and cruised to a 78-29 win over the visiting Raiders.
With star senior point guard Julianna Ouimette leading the way, Lakeland pressured Medford into 27 turnovers, 21 of which came in the first half, and scored 39 points off of those miscues. The T-Birds scored 32 transition points and raced out to a 58-17 halftime lead.
Medford scored zero points in transition and shot just 21.4% from the field (12 of 56), including eight of 37 on two-point shots.
Ouimette made eight of 10 shots, most of which were layups, to score 17 points and she had 14 assists and six steals. She also grabbed six rebounds. Her sophomore sister Kristina Ouimette led all scorers with 20 points. Sophomore forward Saylor Timmerman added 17 points, seven rebounds and three blocked shots for the T-Birds, who would appear to be the early favorites in the conference.
Timmerman got the first basket of the game on an offensive putback. The TBirds then got three baskets off turnovers and Lily Fortier sank a 3-pointer to make it 11-0 before Rudolph got Medford on the board with the first two points of her 13-point night. She missed a double-double by one rebound. Rudolph converted a three-point play and banked in a jumper to keep Medford in it briefly at 15-7, but then Lakeland went on a 22-3 tear, capped by two Kristina Ouimette 3-pointers and another from Julianna Ouimette to go up 37-10 and put this one away early.
That run was ended, however, by a Fronk 3-pointer, her first points for Medford since injuring her knee last January. She hit two 3s in her season debut, grabbed five rebounds and added an assist and a blocked shot.
Kraemer had four points and five rebounds for Medford. Clarkson scored the game’s final four points and Masaeda Krug hit a late jumper for Medford as well. Pilgrim had seven rebounds, two steals and two assists. Toryn Rau had four rebounds and two assists.
