MEDFORD GIRLS BASKETBALL - Hraby, Raiders shoot past Robins, nearly get Hodags

MEDFORD GIRLS BASKETBALL

Packed into their 3-2 zone, the Antigo Red Robins weren’t giving Medford much room to work with inside offensively Tuesday. So the Raiders had to rely on their outside shooting and, fortunately, Rylee Hraby was ready.

The Raiders’ sophomore guard knocked down a career-high seven 3-point shots and Aliyah Pilgrim added two more to account for 27 of Medford’s points in a 49-34 win that puts a .500 record within reach with two regular-season games remaining.

That thought seemed far-fetched when Medford started the year 2-8, but with wins in seven of their last 10 games, the Raiders are now 10-12 overall with two GNC games left at Northland Pines and Tomahawk.

“We’re really playing as a team right now,” Hraby said. “We’ve gotten really consistent here I think.”

The outside shooting jolt snapped Medford out a bit of a flat start coming off its near victory at Rhinelander 24 hours earlier. Antigo’s tight zone made it tough for the offense to flow and for the crowd at Raider Hall to get into the game.

Hraby’s first 3 put Medford up 14-10 with 7:24 left in the first half and her second one opened up an 18-12 lead. Antigo closed within three when Hraby drained a triple with 1:29 left. After a Breanna Kraemer score inside, Hraby delivered one more big shot, drilling her fourth 3 of the half with one second left to suddenly put Medford up by 11 at 26-15.

“They were really pushing in so we figured we’d get a lot of open looks from the outside,” Hraby said. “Going into the second half, I knew I was on so I figured I’d keep shooting.”

Pilgrim’s 3s came early in the second half just a few minutes apart and extended the lead to 37-21 and Hraby’s sixth 3 made it 40-22.

Antigo (2-9, 4-16) made one push, using a 3 from Nevaeh Malone and six points from senior Jenna Czerneski inside to make it a 42-31 game with 3:57 left. But Hraby put an end to the threat with her last 3. Medford got an offensive rebound off a missed free throw by Kayla Baumgartner and the possession ended with Hraby using a Pilgrim screen to get open and hit a 3-pointer from the left corner.

Aside from Hrabys’ 21 points and Pilgrim’s nine, Baumgartner scored 11 points for Medford in the win, Kraemer played solidly inside and scored six points and Taylor Klingbeil added a bucket.

Tristin Arlen led Antigo with 12 points as Medford completed a season sweep of the Red Robins.

Medford sits in fourth place in the GNC, a game behind 6-4 Mosinee, who the Raiders can still catch if they beat Pines Friday and Tomahawk next Friday. Medford’s surge also has the Raiders thinking more positively heading into the WIAA Division 2 post-season. The brackets will be announced Sunday and suddenly there is hope for a home game.

“It’s good to get on a little run before the playoffs,” Hraby said. “Hopefully we can get on a run there too.”

“Our defense is getting better, our confidence is getting higher,” Medford head coach Chad Fronk said.

Hodags 57, Raiders 53

Baumgartner scored a season-high 26 points and Aubryn Clark had 25 as the league’s top two freshmen put on quite a show Monday when Clark’s Rhinelander Hodags had just enough left down the stretch to hold the visiting Raiders 57-53.

Rhinelander held on to hope of sharing the GNC title with Lakeland by improving to 9-1 in league play. The Hodags (16-5) host Lakeland Friday. Rhinelander beat Medford 44-29 in the GNC opener Nov. 28. This one wound up being much tighter most of the way.

The key stretch came late in the first half into the early moments of the second half when the Hodags took the lead for good and got that lead to 17 points at one time.

Klingbeil scored twice, once off a backcut and assist from Kraemer and then with a well-executed pick and roll with Kraemer, then Toryn Rau hit two free throws to put the Raiders up 13-9 with 8:28 left in the half. Kraemer’s free throws put Medford in front 15-13 with 3:36 to go, but back-to-back 3s from Leah Jamison and Clark in the last 50 seconds gave the Hodags a 24-19 lead.

The Raiders went with a man-to-man approach defensively, putting their best on-ball defender, Pilgrim, on Clark whenever possible and providing her with help when needed. Clark, who averages 21 points per game, started to heat up with seven points in the first eight minutes of the second half, plus the Hodags got 3s from another freshman, Vivian Lamers and from Dawsyn Barkus to make it 44-27 and threaten to run away with it.

But Baumgartner, who had just seven of her points in the first half, led Medford’s charge back into the game. She scored seven points around a banked-in 3 by Jamison and Hraby sank a 3 to quickly get Medford within 47-39 with 5:26 left. The Raiders got within 48-44 on a Klingbeil score. Baumgartner’s 3 made it 50-47 with 2:33 left. But Clark answered with a threepoint play 14 seconds later. Hraby’s 3 with 43 seconds left cut a six-point Hodag lead in half at 54-51, but a Morgan Van Zile free throw made it a two-possession game again. Baumgartner’s bucket with 9.8 seconds left got the deficit to 55-53, but Clark’s free throws with 7.0 seconds left sealed it.

The Raiders outrebounded the Hodags 36-25 with Baumgartner grabbing 12, Klingbeil pulling down seven and Kraemer adding six. Kraemer had five assists.

Medford only turned the ball over 14 times, compared to Rhinelander’s 10 and shot a respectable 37.5% from the field. The Raiders outshot the Hodags from the free throw line, making 12 of 17. Rhinelander was nine of 22.

Baumgartner was 10 for 20 from the field in her season-best offensive output. Hraby scored nine points and had five rebounds. Klingbeil, Kraemer and Rau scored six points each.

Medford’s Breanna Kraemer and Laney Hraby double-team Rhinelander’s Aubryn Clark, forcing her to make a pass out of the area. Raider Taylor Klingbeil tries to intercept that pass during Monday’s 57-53 loss to the Hodags. BOB MAINHARDT/NORTHWOODS RIVER NEWS