Fronk sisters, Ruesch earn awards in Great Northern vote

ALL-GNC GIRLS BASKETBALL

After leading the Medford Raiders through a girls basketball season with some changes and some ups and downs, senior Marissa Fronk picked up her second straight All-Great Northern Conference first-team award, highlighting a list of three Raiders who were honored by the league’s coaching staffs.

Fronk, who also was a second-team choice as a sophomore, is one of four unanimous choices for the 2020-21 fiveplayer first team, solidifying her status as one of the league’s most respected players.

Junior Rynn Ruesch got a secondteam spot after earning honorable mention last winter while sophomore Bryn Fronk earned her first All-GNC award by landing on the honorable mention list.

Medford’s awards followed a season where the Raiders tied Lakeland for second place in the conference standings with a 7-3 record, two games behind 9-1 Mosinee. The Raiders ended their year on a high note, winning four straight games, including three WIAA Division 2 regional games. After winning the school’s first regional championship in 10 years, Medford finished 13-9 with a 56-48 sectional semifinal at eventual state qualifier Onalaska.

While her scoring numbers were down a little this year, Marissa Fronk drew nothing but praise from first-year head coach Greg Klapatauskas throughout the season for the way she stayed positive through the changes, particularly in the offensive system, and, as the team’s only senior, was a leader for the younger players.

She still put up 12.2 points per game in 10 conference games, which ranked fourth among all eligible players and she ranked fourth with 12 made 3-pointers in league play. Fronk was fifth in the conference by averaging 3.8 steals per league game.

Overall she averaged 12.1 points per game while appearing in 21 of the team’s 22 contests, one of which she only played a few minutes in due to injury. She also averaged 3.2 steals, 2.9 rebounds and 2.0 assists per outing and shot 40.2% overall from the field, 27.8% from 3-point range and 57.4% from the free throw line.

She hit double figures in 16 games, highlighted by a big 20-point performance on Feb. 12 in Medford’s second win of the season at Mosinee. Her late 3-pointer capped the 55-52 regional semifi nal win as she hit six of 12 shots from the field in that game to go with six rebounds. Her season-high was 22 points in an 80-13 rout of Tomahawk on Jan. 18 that was later considered a non-conference game after the Hatchets forfeited their GNC season in late January.

Fronk had eight steals in a 69-39 win over Antigo on Jan. 22 along with 16 points, six assists and five rebounds. In the first meeting with Antigo on Dec. 4, she hit two big 3-pointers late and led a last-minute surge that secured a 40-32 win. She had 18 points, four steals and three rebounds in that win. She had 11 points and five steals in the 47-43 win at Mosinee on Jan. 8 that gave the Indians their only GNC loss.

Fronk joined Lakeland’s Julianna Ouimette as the lone repeat choice from a year ago on the first team. Those two, plus Rhinelander’s Rebecca Lawrence and Mosinee’s Lexi Freiboth, were the unanimous selections. Mosinee’s Kate Fitzgerald got the fifth spot on the team. Mosinee’s Scott McKellips was named the 2020-21 Coach of the Year.

Ruesch used a strong surge late in the year to finish as Medford’s second-leading scorer at 8.4 points per game and its leading rebounder at 4.9 per outing. She ranked fifth in the conference in field goal percentage at 46%, making 29 of 63 shots from the field in 10 league games.

The forward did solid work out of the high and low post offensively during the season.

As a three-year letter winner, Ruesch figures to assume a larger leadership role next season.

She played her best ball of the year in the post-season, averaging 14 points in those four games, 5.5 rebounds and 2.8 steals. She scored a season-high 19 points while making 11 of 13 free throws in Medford’s 47-35 regional final win at Merrill. She had 15 points while making five of six shots from the field and added seven tough rebounds, five steals and three assists in the regional semifinal win at Mosinee.

Highlight games in GNC play that helped put Ruesch on the second team included a 10-point game with six rebounds and four steals in a 58-26 win over Northland Pines Jan. 5; an eight-point, six-rebound outing in a 57-44 win at Lakeland Dec. 17; nine points, seven rebounds and two assists in a 61-50 loss to Lakeland on Jan. 15 and 10 points, four rebounds and four assists in a 64-52 loss to Mosinee on Dec. 21.

After seeing minimal varsity minutes as a freshman, Bryn Fronk stepped into a valuable starting role this season. The young guard finished with overall averages of 6.7 points per game, 4.1 rebounds, 2.3 steals and 1.8 assists. In GNC play, those numbers nudged up to 7.2 points, 5.0 rebounds, 2.3 steals and 2.0 assists.

Fronk scored a season-high 13 points on four-of-five shooting, including two of three from the 3-point arc, while adding six rebounds in the Jan. 22 win over Antigo. She had eight points, six steals and five assists in the Dec. 4 win over the Red Robins. She just missed a double-double in Medford’s big win at Lakeland on Dec. 17 with nine points and 11 boards, eight of which came on the offensive end.

She had nine points, four rebounds, two steals and two assists in the Jan. 5 win over Pines and was a key part of a team effort that held off Rhinelander 43-41 in a thrilling regular-season finale with eight points, three rebounds, two assists and two steals. In the regional rematch with Rhinelander four days later, Fronk made all three of her shots from the field and scored eight points to go with six rebounds and two steals.

Two more of Medford’s juniors also showed up in the GNC’s individual rankings as Laurissa Klapatauskas averaged 5.3 rebounds in conference play and Autumn Krause was 10th in scoring at 7.9 points per game, ranked fifth with a 65% free throw shooting percentage and ranked third by sinking 1.8 3-pointers per game.

Medford ranked second in scoring defense in GNC play, allowing 43.7 points per game. The Raiders ranked third in scoring offense at 51.7 points per game.

Rynn Ruesch Second Team

Bryn Fronk Hon. Mention