ALL-NORTH BOYS BASKETBALL - Blomberg named top player in Marawood North

ALL-NORTH BOYS BASKETBALL

In a season where Rib Lake clearly emerged as the division’s top team, its top player seized his opportunity to claim the Marawood North Division’s top boys basketball honor.

Senior Jackson Blomberg led the list of Rib Lake award winners by claiming the North’s 2023-24 Player of the Year honor, leading an all-new list of five All-North first-team selections. He was one of four unanimous selections for the first team by the league’s coaching staffs.

Rib Lake’s four-year varsity veteran Andrew Wudi led the All-North second team after his best season, while sophomores Talon Scheithauer and Seth Borchardt received honorable mention for their significant contributions to this season’s success. Scheithauer also is Rib Lake’s representative on this year’s Marawood North All-Defensive Team.

That success included Rib Lake’s first Marawood North title in four years with a 12-4 record and a 10-0 mark in games against North rivals. The Redmen, who were 13-13 overall and 6-10 in Marawood play last year, won the North by five games this winter over runner-up Prentice. Rib Lake finished 21-6 overall and earned a one-seed in the WIAA Division 5 sectional tournament. The Redmen reached the regional final round, where it was knocked off by eventual sectional finalist Owen-Withee 45-43 in a thrilling game played in Prentice on March 2.

That success made third-year head coach Todd Henderson an easy choice for Marawood North Coach of the Year.

Blomberg moved up one level after earning second-team honors last winter. He had a stellar 2023-24 where he averaged 15.4 points, 6.0 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.6 steals per game in 16 Marawood contests. Overall in 27 games, Blomberg’s numbers were 14.4 points, 5.6 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.9 steals per game. He scored 388 points to lead the squad. He ranked second on the team with 152 rebounds, was second in assists with 55 and led the team with 50 steals. He also led the team with 45 made 3-pointers, 32 of which came in Marawood games.

Blomberg joins Chequamegon senior AJ Morgan, Phillips sophomore JJ Heikkinen and Prentice sophomore Evan Lord as the unanimous choices for the first team. Athens sophomore Riley Schultz is the team’s fifth member.

Blomberg had six 20-point games during the season, led by a 29-point outburst in a 69-49 win at Athens Dec. 12. He also had seven rebounds and two steals in that win over the defending conference champions. Blomberg had 23 points, seven rebounds and three assists in a 76-57 loss to Marawood South champion Marathon on Dec. 7 and he came up big in a hard-fought 68-57 road win at Chequamegon on Feb. 5, scoring 23 points and adding six rebounds and two steals.

He had another big outing in the Jan. 23 rematch with Athens, a 56-31 win, with 22 points, five rebounds and two steals. His high in rebounds was nine in a 68-50 win at Phillips on Jan. 9, while he had eight in the season-opening 54-23 non-conference win over Northland Pines. He had a season-high six assists in a 66-38 non-conference win at Gilman on Jan. 2 and had four assists three times, including during a 74-60 win over Phillips on Feb. 22 and in a 66-57 loss to a good Auburndale squad on Jan. 18.

Wudi, who earned honorable mention as a freshman and was on last year’s All-Defensive team, again was Rib Lake’s primary ball handler and he had his best year distributing the rock with an impressive total of 128 assists, an average of 4.7 per game. He had the same number of rebounds to go with 168 points, an average of 6.2 per game. In Marawood play, his averages were 7.3 points, 4.4 rebounds and 5.1 assists per game.

On two occasions, Wudi had nine assists in a game. The first was in the Dec. 12 win at Athens, when he also scored four points and had eight rebounds. The second was in a 55-50 non-conference win at Colby on Jan. 15. He had seven points and eight assists in a pivotal 61-54 early-season win at Prentice on Dec. 19. Wudi had seven assists in the Feb. 22 win over Phillips and the Feb. 5 win at Chequamegon, had eight assists in a 92 53 non-conference win over Spencer on Jan. 22 and had six assists three times. He reached a seasonhigh of 14 points twice, the first time being in a 66-39 win at Newman Catholic on Feb. 2 and the second time being Feb. 16 in Rib Lake’s conference-clinching 66-47 win over Prentice. He had 13 points in the loss to Auburndale.

Scheithauer moved into the starting lineup and had a solid second varsity season, averaging 7.8 points, 2.5 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.3 steals per game overall while playing 26 games. He ranked second on the team in free throw shooting at 69.4% (43 of 62). His Marawood numbers were 8.0 points, 2.4 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.3 steals while appearing in all 16 league games.

A solid all-around player who figures to take on a much bigger role the next two years, Scheithauer had some big moments late in the year to solidify his honorable mention status. He had 18 points while going three for three on 3-point shots and six of seven overall from the field in the regular-season finale with Phillips. He sparked a big run in the Feb. 16 win over Prentice with 16 points, including three of six 3-point shooting, and four rebounds. He had 14 points in Rib Lake’s last win of the season, a 61-51 regional semifinal victory over Thorp. Scheithauer also had 14 points in a 55-48 Marawood crossover win at Wisconsin Rapids Assumption on Jan. 5.

Scheithauer had a season-high five assists at Gilman, a season-high six rebounds in a 66-40 win over Abbotsford on Dec. 15 and a season-high four steals in the road win at Chequamegon. His 26 made 3s ranked third on the team.

Borchardt was typically one of Rib Lake’s first players of the bench and he easily led the team in overall and 3-point shooting percentage. He shot 46.6% from 3-point range (27 of 58) and made 72 of 129 shots (55.8%) overall and is another player who figures to take on a much bigger role the next two seasons.

Overall, he averaged 6.7 points. 2.4 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.1 steals while appearing in all 27 games. His Marawood numbers were 6.5 points, 2.2 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 1.1 steals.

Among the games that got him noticed were a 13-point game in the finale with Phillips where he was three for three from long range and had five steals, 12 points on five-of-seven overall shooting in the win at Chequamegon, 12 points on five-of-seven shooting in the win at Phillips, 12 points in the loss to Auburndale and 10 points against Marathon. He had five assists in a 72-53 Marawood win at Abbotsford on Jan. 30 and in non-conference wins over Owen-Withee and Gilman, eight rebounds in a 62-52 non-conference win over Pittsville Dec. 1.

Andrew Wudi Second Team

Seth Borchardt Hon. Mention

Talon Scheithauer Hon. Mention All-Defense

Todd Henderson Coach of Year