MEDFORD GIRLS BASKETBALL - Raiders snap three-game skid, have no trouble at all with East
MEDFORD GIRLS BASKETBALL
The Medford girls basketball team got back into the win column Tuesday, breaking a three-game slide by easily handling a vastly-overmatched Wausau East team at Raider Hall 67-13 in nonconference play. The lopsided matchup against the now 0-14 Lumberjacks allowed the Raiders to get everyone into the game, including their JV players, allowed them to experiment with some zone defense and got them to 811 overall as they look forward to the final five games of the regular season.
The home stretch starts Friday when the Raiders host another Wisconsin Valley Conference opponent, Wisconsin Rapids, at 7:15 p.m. at Raider Hall.
The Raiders got 14 first-half points from Taylor Klingbeil and 12 more from Kayla Baumgartner while building a 40-2 halftime lead. Laney Hraby added six points. Laura Wegerer took advantage of her extended playing time, fighting for two offensive rebounds that led to baskets for Hraby and Klingbeil and getting a score of her own late off another rebound. Toryn Rau hit both of her field goals for the game in the half as well.
Klingbeil finished with 18 points and Baumgartner had 14.
Highlights in the second half included the first varsity points for three Raiders. Sophomore Peyton Boelk swished a 3pointer and a long two-point shot from nearly the same spot on the left wing. Freshman Mata Decker got two outside shots to fall and freshman Ari Kapfhamer went on a seven-point spree late in the game.
Laney Hraby finished with eight points, Wegerer added four, Rylee Hraby made two free throws and Aliyah Pilgrim made one.
Liliana Hoenisch led the Lumberjacks with five points and Jerzey Moen had scored four.
Medford returns to Great Northern Conference play Tuesday at Antigo. The Raiders will be back in Raider Hall Feb. 14 to face Northland Pines.
McDonell 51, Medford 42
Playing without one of their mainstays in Klingbeil and with a rotation of just six players Monday, the Raiders got off to a fast start but couldn’t maintain it in a 5142 non-conference loss to McDonell Central at Chippewa Falls.
Despite playing short-handed, the Raiders were fairly sharp in the first half and led by as many as 13. But, only five of 22 shots from the field fell in the second half, McDonell started to dominate on the offensive glass and the Macks outscored the Raiders 34-14 to get the win and improve to 11-8 overall.
Baumgartner led Medford with 18 points. Laney and Rylee Hraby both scored seven, Rau had six and Jolie Steliga chipped in with four.
Baumgartner scored seven quick points to help Medford get out to a quick 11-3 lead with the last five coming on a 3pointer and nice move in the post. Her offensive rebound led to a driving score from Rau. She added a baseline drive for two and Rylee Hraby followed with a 3 to make it 18-8. Hraby’s second 3-pointer of the half opened up a 23-10 lead and Steliga’s 3-ball made it 26-13 before the Raiders settled for a 28-17 halftime edge.
Rylee Hraby passed out of a halfcourt trap, finding Laney Hraby for an easy shot at the rim for a 30-19 lead. But that was the end of the double-digit lead as McDonell took over. Tessa Rozowski hit a 3-pointer, Kendall Hepfler got a steal and score and Chloe Flanagan scored in transition in a 7-0 spurt that gave the Macks their first lead at 32-31 with 10:46.
Laney Hraby countered with a 3pointer and Baumgartner scores kept Medford on top 36-34 and 38-36. But Flanagan’s 3-pointer with 7:10 put McDonell on top for good as the Raiders hit a four-minute scoring drought.
Still, a Baumgartner basket had the Raiders within 43-40 and a Rylee Hraby free throw made it 45-41 with 2:28 left. But baskets by Rylie Christianson and a backdoor cut and score from Hepfler put it out of reach.
Claire Ruf led the Macks, scoring 13 of her 21 points in the first half to keep them close. Hepfler added 10.
Baumgartner had seven rebounds for Medford and Pilgrim had six. Pilgrim and Baumgartner had three assists each. Rylee Hraby had three steals.
McDonell outrebounded Medford 3728 with 13 of the Macks’ rebounds coming on the offensive end. Both teams had 17 turnovers. The Macks made 20 of 38 twopoint shots while the Raiders were nine of 32.
Mosinee 75, Medford 51
Offensively, Medford found some rhythm and scored effectively in the second half, but the Raiders never found a way to slow visiting Mosinee down defensively and took a 75-51 defeat at Raider Hall.
Taelyn Jirschele, who become Mosinee’s all-time scoring leader the following day, took a big step toward that record Friday with 31 points. She was on fire from the field, hitting 12 of 16 shots, including all four of her 3-point tries. Britt Fitzgerald and Addyson Henrich scored 10 points apiece for the Indians, who improved to 6-2 in the GNC to keep their hold on second place behind Lakeland undefeated. They are a half-game ahead of Rhinelander (6-3).
The Raiders actually shot quite well from the field, making 21 of 44 shots (47.7%). Unfortunately, with 21 turnovers, including 14 in the first half, and only seven offensive rebounds, they just didn’t put up enough shots to keep up with Mosinee, who never really hit a dry spell at any point while tying its second-highest scoring output of the season.
Medford hung in there early as Klingbeil scored the team’s first eight points and Baumgartner added an inside score that could’ve been a three-point play. The free throw missed, but Medford was within 14-10. That’s when Mosinee’s full-court pressure popped the ball free a few times, the Indians got on a run and took a double-digit lead that never got back into single digits. Their 12-2 run opened up a 26-12 lead that went to 33-17 at the half when Jirschele was allowed to drive unimpeded from end to end and scored at the buzzer.
Jirschele hit her first shot of the second half and then scored off a Henrich steals to get the lead to 20 for the first time at 37-17. Over the next eight minutes, Medford chipped away, using a 23-14 surge to at least bring back some hope at 51-40. Aliyah Pilgrim scored on a nice drive, Rau scored off a steal, a couple of Baumgartner offensive rebounds turned into baskets for Klingbeil and herself, Rylee Hraby got a rebound hoop, Klingbeil scored off a steal and Baumgartner knocked down a 3-ball to get the deficit to 11.
But Jirschele came right back with a 3 to start a 10-0 run that took the wind out of Medford’s sails. Klingbeil’s 3 was answered by a Miranda Shnowske 3pointer and the Indians pulled away from there.
Klingbeil led the Raiders with 21 points, plus she had three rebounds and three blocked shots. Baumgartner had an 18-point, 11-rebound double-double and added seven blocked shots and three assists. Rylee Hraby had four points and six rebounds. Pilgrim, Rau, Laney Hraby and Wegerer scored two points each.
