Baumgartner earns All-State nod from Coaches Association

WBCA ALL-STATE BOYS BASKETBALL

After four seasons of putting his name throughout Medford’s list of boys basketball records, Logan Baumgartner made a little more history on Monday.

Baumgartner was named to the Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association’s Division 2 All-State first team for 202223, joining 10 other standouts from some of the state’s top programs, including a couple the Raiders played against during their outstanding 22-5 season.

Thirteen more players were named to the Division 2 honorable mention list.

Baumgartner becomes the first Medford boys basketball player to receive a first-team All-State honor since Kirby Kulas following the 1980-81 season. Then, Kulas made the prestigious Associated Press All-State first team, which consisted of four players from Class A schools and another from Stevens Point Pacelli.

The AP has not yet released its 2022-23 All-State list.

As for the WBCA first team, Baumgartner joins two members of the three-time state champion Pewaukee Pirates, senior Milan Momcilovic and junior Nick Janowski, as well as senior Nic Williams and sophomore Davion Hannah of state qualifiers La Crosse Central and Nicolet. Baumgartner and the Raiders played Williams and Central twice this season, falling 67-58 in the regular season and 5741 in a WIAA Division 2 sectional semifinal. Medford also played Onalaska early in the season, who was led by first-team junior Evan Anderson.

The rest of the first team includes Jamiir Allen and Kon Knueppel, a senior and a junior from Wisconsin Lutheran; Jake Dunham, a senior from South Milwaukee; Jaquan Johnson, a junior from Pius XI Catholic, and Kai Rogers, a sophomore from Wauwatosa West.

Keagan Jirschele, a junior guard from Medford’s Great Northern Conference rival Mosinee, made the honorable mention list.

Baumgartner was named the Great Northern Conference Player of the Year for the second straight season. He earned WBCA All-State honorable mention last year.

This year, the 6-4 senior averaged 20.3 points in 27 games, 6.4 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 2.0 steals. He shot 45.4% overall from the field and 33.8% (74 of 219) from 3-point range. He added a team-high 15 blocked shots and knocked down 79.5% of his free throws (97 of 122).

Baumgartner leaves Medford’s program as the team’s all-time leading scorer with 1,749 points and its career leader in 3-pointers with 269, though he was just as effective in the post, a skill the Raiders used more of this year. He set Medford’s single-season record for 3s last year with 106 and hit 10 in a game last year as well.

The Raiders won Great Northern Conference championships in three of Baumgartner’s four seasons, going 45-3 in that time. The Raiders were 12-0 in his freshman, sophomore and senior seasons and 9-3 in league play last year. Medford’s overall varsity record during the time Baumgartner and his senior classmates spent in the program was 8620. The Raiders have won three straight WIAA Division 2 regional championships and made the sectional final round of the WIAA tournament last year for the first time since 1983.

Knueppel and Momcilovic are the lone repeat Division 2 first-team choices by the WBCA. The 6-6 Knueppel is the state’s top-ranked junior and averaged 19.7 points, 9.2 rebounds and 3.8 assists for a Wisconsin Lutheran squad that went 23-5. he shot 52% from 3-point range and won the WIAA boys 3-point shootout Saturday at the state championships.

The 6-8 Momcilovic is an Iowa State recruit and averaged 23.6 points, 9.3 rebounds and 2.6 assists this year for the D-2 state champions. He shared this year’s Wisconsin Mr. Basketball award with John Kinziger of Division 1 champion De Pere.

Allen, Dunham and Janowski all earned honorable mention last year with Baumgartner. The 6-4 Anderson was a Division 3 honorable mention choice last year when he played for Black River Falls. He averaged 18.8 points, 4.9 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 2.1 steals for Onalaska, who went 19-6 and shared the Mississippi Valley Conference title with D-2

La Crosse Central, who beat the Hilltoppers in overtime in a regional final. Central’s Williams averaged 16.7 points, 4.5 rebounds and 2.9 assists and was named the MVC’s Player of the Year.

Back in 1981, Kulas joined Steve Bartow of Madison West, Pete Langlois of Hartford, Tom Saxelby of Pacelli and Jerry Jensen of Appleton Lutheran on the AP first team.

Since then, Medford’s All-State honorees include Mark Miller, a United Press International honorable mentionee in 1984; Steve Russ, an Associated Press third-team pick in 1991; Osy Ekwueme, an Associated Press honorable mentionee in 2017 and WBCA Division 2 honorable mention picks John Keefe in 2013 and Peyton Kuhn in 2021.