Shots don’t drop in loss; Raiders get a win at Merrill

MEDFORD GIRLS BASKETBALL

Medford’s work on the defensive end kept the Raiders in the game Tuesday, but the offensive production never caught up in a 41-27 non-conference loss to Marshfield at Raider Hall.

The Raiders didn’t score after taking a 5-2 lead with 11 minutes left in the first half on a 3-pointer by Lindsey Wildberg, yet they were still within striking range down only 13-5 at the break. The lead grew to 16-5 on a Dani Minsaas 3-pointer before Medford finally broke the drought on an Autumn Krause 3-pointer.

Minsaas answered with another 3 and that was how the second half went as Marshfield countered every mini run the Raiders made.

Wildberg’s 3-pointer, her first at the varsity level, was Medford’s only firsthalf basket from the field in 26 attempts. The Raiders wound up 10 for 49 overall (20.4%), including just seven of 30 on two-point shots and three of 19 from behind the arc. Medford also committed 28 turnovers with 15 of those coming in the second half and hurting the team’s comeback effort.

“We did some things well,” head coach Greg Klapatauskas said. “We rebounded very well. We played good defense. To hold them to 41 points, 13 in the first half, I certainly can’t fault them for that. They played hard.”

Despite the offensive struggles, the Raiders gave themselves a chance midway through the second half, pulling within 23-16 following a score by Bryn Fronk, free throws from Katie Brehm and an inside score from Laurissa Klapatauskas.

But Minsaas hit her third triple of the half, Zaida Kolbeck scored to answer another Klapatauskas bucket and, after Rynn Ruesch scored to make it 28-20, the Tigers went on a 6-0 spurt with two buckets by Loryn Jakobi and a steal and score by Minsaas that put it out of reach at 34-20.

Coach Klapatauskas said Marshfield deserved credit for the pressure it created with its man-to-man defense. The Raiders, obviously needed to do a better job of putting the ball in the basket, playing strong through the contact they were drawing and there were some details in execution that were off.

“We had some things that were open, but we saw them too late,” he said. “We need to be better at sensing when people are getting open and be ready to pass it. We had some backdoor cuts that were open.”

Although the game was certainly physical in the paint, Medford only shot seven free throws, making four. Marshfi eld was only four of eight. “We need to be ready to shoot when we catch the ball,” Klapatauskas said. “That’s something we need to fix. We got some really good looks. None of our starters scored in the first half. That makes it tough to win. ... We just have to learn to finish at the rim. We have to be strong going to the rim and attack the rim. We got pushed out of the way a little and no team should be able to do that to us with the team we have.”

The Tigers shot just 29.6% from the field (16 of 54), but they scored 14 points off turnovers and got separation by sinking five 3s. The three long balls Minsaas hit loomed large and she led all scorers with 14 points.

“With some of the shots they hit, we had hands in their faces,” Klapatauskas said.

Klapatauskas led Medford with eight points, eight rebounds, three steals and two assists. Krause had six points with two 3-pointers, seven rebounds and two steals. Wildberg finished with three points, while Fronk, Brehm, Ruesch, Brooke Rudolph and Sophie Brost scored two points apiece.

Fronk had six rebounds, while Rudolph, Ruesch and Lydia Pernsteiner had four each. Medford outrebounded the Tigers 44-32.

Klapatauskas said his bench has played well through two games and is gaining his trust as the coaching staff is developing its rotations in the early going.

The Raiders open Great Northern Conference play Friday at Raider Hall with a key early-season matchup against Lakeland. The Thunderbirds will be trying to avoid falling into an 0-2 hole in conference play after they lost 54-42 at home Tuesday to Mosinee.

Medford goes to New London Tuesday before hosting Antigo on Dec. 10.

Medford 46, Merrill 31

In its season opener Nov. 23, Medford settled in after an early 3-point blitz by the host Merrill Blue Jays, holding them to six points over a 17-minute span and pulling away for a 46-31 win.

The Raiders held Merrill to just 18.8% shooting from the field (10 of 48) to help them overcome some first-night jitters and turnovers of their own in a game that wasn’t always pretty but also was really never in doubt once Medford grabbed the lead for good midway through the first half.

While they didn’t make any of their eight 3-point attempts, the Raiders did their damage inside, outscoring Merrill 34-4 on points in the paint. The senior forwards led the way as Rynn Ruesch had 13 points and eight rebounds, Katie Brehm was a rebound away from a double-double with 10 points and nine boards and Laurissa Klapatauskas had nine points and six boards.

Medford outrebounded Merrill 50-31 and grabbed 17 of those rebounds on the offensive end.

“We outrebounded them almost two to one,” Greg Klapatauskas said. “That was the difference in the game. We got rebounds and held them to one shot.”

Merrill’s Laney Zuelsdorff hit three triples in the game’s first seven minutes to help push the Jays to an 11-8 lead. But that’s where Medford’s defense started to make a stand and the offense slowly but surely put points on the board. Klapatauskas started the run with two free throws at the 11:08 mark and Ruesch scored in transition off a Merrill turnover. Buckets by Brehm and Autumn Krause and then an offensive putback by Brehm put the Raiders up 18-11. After Merrill cut the lead to 19-14, the Raiders got free throws from Ruesch and a putback from Brehm off a missed free throw by Hope Faude for a 23-15 halftime lead.

An 11-2 surge to start the second half put Medford in command. Krause and Klapatauskas got the first hoops. After two free throws by Merrill’s Lydia Koehler with 15:12 left, Krause scored off a Brooke Rudolph assist and Rudolph scored off a well-executed baseline inbound play. Klapatauskas made a free throw and Rudolph made it 34-17, capping a well-run press break off a Bryn Fronk assist.

Merrill closed the gap to 34-24 before Medford went on another surge, high- lighted by a basket and then a threepoint play by Ruesch, a baseline score by Klapatauskas and a three-point play from Brehm.

“You could tell there were a few firstgame jitters and we needed to work that stuff out,” coach Klapatauskas said. “Even though we have a lot of players back, we’ve still added some new pieces and we’re still trying to figure out how to play with each other and make our rotations work.”

Krause finished with eight points, Rudolph scored four and Fronk added two. Fronk and Rudolph each had two assists. Fronk, Rudolph and Faude had four rebounds each. Ruesch, Krause and Klapatauskas had two steals each.

Zuelsdorff did not score after her early 3s but she still led Merrill with those nine points and five rebounds. Sophie Wendorf had six points and Koehler had five. Merrill fell to 0-3 with the loss.