Better but not enough to beat Hodags; Raiders beat Hatchets
MEDFORD GIRLS BASKETBALL
Down 13 in the first half at Rhinelander Tuesday, the Medford Raiders got as close as two in the second half, but another late run by the Hodags gave them the separation they needed to earn a 52-38 win and secure a sweep in the teams’ two regular-season meetings.
From Medford’s perspective, this outing was certainly better than the 51-33 drubbing the Hodags handed the Raiders at home back on Jan. 4. But, as has been the case for much of the season, the Raiders let a few good scoring opportunities get away, had turnovers at inopportune times and fell victim to some key shots and key times by the opposition.
“It felt like the closest 14-point game we could have,” Medford head coach Greg Klapatauskas said. “We were right there within a couple of points. It easily could have gone the other way if we make a couple more baskets. We made that nice run after they took the lead.”
Medford’s 20-9 run, which spanned the end of the first half and start of the second began with the Raiders trailing 25-12, following a 3-pointer by Rhinelander’s Megan Brown, who wound up leading all scorers with 17 points. Autumn Krause, who Klapatauskas felt played a strong game for the Raiders, knocked down her second triple of the half, Laurissa Klapatauskas made one of two free throws and Rynn Ruesch got a basket after Krause forced a Hodag turnover with a deflection. Lily Treder temporarily slowed Medford’s momentum with 3, but Ruesch added a late free throw to make it 28-19 game at the half.
Brooke Rudolph started the second half by scoring inside off a perfect pass from Lydia Pernsteiner over the top of Rhinelander’s 1-3-1 zone. Pernsteiner’s free throws and another Rudolph score off a nice diagonal pass from Krause pulled the Raiders within 30-25 with 15:50 to go. After Hodag Brynn Brzycki scored in the post, Klapatauskas drove from the high post and scored and Rudolph hit a mid-range jumper. Later Pernsteiner’s 3 made it a 34-32 game with 13:00 left.
But that was as close as Medford got as Rhinelander went on a 10-0 run that included 3s from Brown and Treder to go up 44-32. The lead never got under double digits from there.
Pernsteiner led a balanced scoring attack for Medford with nine points, Krause scored eight and Ruesch and Rudolph each added seven. Klapatauskas scored five and Breanna Kraemer added a bucket.
Treder hit three 3s and scored 11 points for the Hodags, who improved to 7-3 in the GNC and 14-7 overall.
“Their press didn’t bother us a lot, but their pressure did,” Greg Klapatauskas said, referring to Medford’s turnovers, most of which came after crossing halfcourt. “We got so many good looks inside. We needed to make a couple of those. We battled the whole time. We’re just a couple of pieces away right now with Bryn (Fronk) out and Katie (Brehm) not at 100%.”
The Raiders host GNC rival Northland Pines Friday and Wausau East in non-conference play Tuesday. Both games tip at 7:15 p.m.
Mustangs 66, Raiders 33
Entering Monday’s game as heavy underdogs to Big Rivers Conference leaders Menomonie, the host Raiders hung around until the Mustangs hammered them with a 27-0 run that bridged the first and second halves and propelled them to a 66-33 victory.
“They were probably the best team we’ve seen,” Greg Klapatauskas said. “They were athletic, quick and shot the ball well. They had one big (Emma Mommsen) who we could not shoot over. We talked about trying to create contact, but she was just long enough that she could block shots without making contact.”
Mommsen blocked four shots and altered several others, disrupting Medford’s typical offensive approach of looking inside first. The Raiders were just one of four from 3-point range and turned the ball over 30 times. The frustrating part about that was the majority of the turnovers –– especially in the first half when the Raiders had 19 miscues –– were the unforced type that occurred after Medford had broken Menomonie’s full-court pressure.
“I thought we passed the ball fairly well against their press,” Klapatauskas said. “I didn’t think their press hurt us much.”
Menomonie scored 11 straight points after Ruesch’s game-opening basket, but Medford kept things close behind free throws and a 15-foot baseline jumper from Rudolph and Krause hitting the team’s only 3 of the night. Those scores made it 16-9. The Raiders were down 25-13 after Laurissa Klapatauskas and Kraemer each made one of two free throws.
But that’s when the Mustangs lowered the boom, starting with 3s by Bella Jacobsen, Shelby Thornton and Cece Behrend and a blocked shot by Mommsen that turned into a transition basket for the 6-foot senior on the other hand. Menomonie led 36-13 at the half.
The run continued with Helen Chen rolling in a 3-pointer and scoring off a steal, Ashleah Quilling sinking a 3 and the Mustangs getting a couple of transition hoops to open up a 52-13 advantage.
The teams played nearly even ball after that, but the damage was obviously done. Medford went on an 8-3 spurt with baskets by Ruesch, Krause, Hope Faude and Klapatauskas to cut the gap to 24. Sophomore Masaeda Krug scored three late points and sophomore Rachel Wesle got her first varsity points, rolling in a mid-range jumper at the buzzer.
Krause and Lydia Pernsteiner scored five points apiece to lead Medford in scoring. Krause added four steals and two rebounds. Ruesch had four points and four rebounds, Rudolph had four points and two boards and Faude had four points and two rebounds. Kraemer had three pionts and seven rebounds. Klapatauskas had three points and two rebounds.
The other positive of the night for coach Klapatauskas was senior Katie Brehm played in some short stretches after missing the previous three games with an ankle injury.
Medford 52, Tomahawk 27
It took longer than expected for the Raiders to gain some traction in Friday’s home game with last-place Tomahawk, but a surge late in the first half gave them just what they needed. With a stronger second half, Medford finished off the Hatchets 52-27 to earn its fifth GNC win of the season.
Rudolph scored 11 points and created some havoc for Tomahawk’s offense at the top of Medford’s 1-2-2 zone with five steals and seven deflections. Kraemer scored a varsity-high 10 points and Laurissa Klapatauskas added 10 to lead the Raiders in the win.
“We had a little bit of a rough start,” Greg Klapatauskas said. “Once we just started playing, we did fine. At the end of the first half, we got on a nice little run. Breanna, Laurissa and Brooke had nice games, got into double digits. In the second half, we did a better job of being patient, moving the ball in and out.”
Tomahawk led for the first six minutes, but once the Raiders took a 6-5 lead on Krause’s lay-in off a well-executed inbound play, they never trailed again.
Laurissa Klapatauskas went on a sixpoint run, scoring off assists from Faude and Kraemer and with an offensive putback. Her transition pass to Krause made it 16-8 and Rudolph got a steal and score to get the lead to double digits.
Tomahawk’s Claire Albert answered with a 3-pointer from the right wing, but the Raiders took command by closing the half with a 7-0 spurt. Rudolph hit one of two free throws with 1:31 left. Kraemer rebounded the miss and put it in. Kraemer scored in the paint again and Rudolph scored off a Kraemer assist after Kraemer won a battle for a loose ball near the free throw line.
Hope Faude knocked down her second 3-point shot of the season to open the second half and Kraemer scored off a Sophie Brost assist to send the Raiders off and running. They carried the momentum to a 24-point lead, aided by 3-point shots from Pernsteiner, Ruesch and Lindsey Wildberg. The lead got to 25 even after the Raiders emptied the bench, giving their younger players at least five good minutes of court time.
Pernsteiner finished with five points, Krause scored four and Faude, Ruesch and Wildberg all finished with three. Krug closed the game with her first varsity bucket and Brost added a point and six rebounds. Kraemer tied Brost for team honors with six rebounds, while Rudolph had four. Krause led Medford with three assists, while Faude, Rudolph, Ruesch, Klapatauskas and Kraemer had two each. Kraemer had three steals.
Gracie Barnett and Albert led Tomahawk with eight points each.
Lakeland 74, Medford 32
On Thursday, Medford turned the ball over 20 times and was outscored 51-0 from the 3-point line in a rough 74-32 loss at Lakeland.
The T-Birds hit 17 of 40 shots from behind the arc. While standout sisters Julianna and Kristina Ouimette did their damage by hitting four 3s and scoring 16 points apiece, it was sophomore Charley Cleveland who really broke the Raiders’ backs by hitting six of 10 triples for 18 points, most of which came from spotting up in the left corner against Medford’s zones.
Julianna Ouimette had 10 rebounds, six assists and three blocked shots and Kristina Ouimette was just six of 18 from the field but grabbed seven rebounds and had six assists as the Thunderbirds took over second place in the GNC standings with this win and a 74-48 rout of Antigo the next night.
“They shot the lights out,” Greg Klapatauskas said. Ruesch’s opening bucket gave Medford its only lead of the game. By the time Cleveland hit her first 3 it was 18-5. Her next two treys put the T-Birds up 24-8.
Medford made a little run to close the gap to 11. Ruesch scored twice and, in between her hoops, Rudolph got one score and collected her own rebound and converted a three-point play. But with the score 28-17, Lakeland’s Lily Fortier hit 1:34 to play. A tie-up in the backcourt went to Newman three seconds later and the Cardinals turned that into two free throws from Wulf with 1:15 to go.
Rib Lake got a driving layup from Heiser with 44 seconds left to cut the lead to one, but Newman calmly worked the ball around and forced Rib Lake to foul Wulf with 21.9 seconds left and she swished both throws. Rib Lake got the tying shot it wanted. It just didn’t go in.
Mann led Rib Lake with 12 points and eight rebounds, and Gumz had a nice night with nine points and two steals. Heiser scored eight points and had four rebounds and two assists. Annala and Pelnis scored six each and Scheithauer finished with two. Pelnis had four rebounds and two assists, Annala had two rebounds and two assists and Scheithauer had three rebounds and two assists. Bube had four rebounds and two assists.
