Blomberg leads Rib Lake’s all-conference list with 2nd-team spot

ALL-MARAWOOD NORTH BOYS BASKETBALL

Two of Rib Lake’s senior leaders and two juniors who figure to play prominent leadership roles next year are Rib Lake’s representatives on the 2021-22 All-Marawood North boys basketball teams.

Logan Blomberg and Jordan Yanko are the seniors with Blomberg moving up to this year’s second team after earning honorable mention a year ago. Yanko and junior Michael Borchardt are Rib Lake’s honorable mention picks, while junior guard Tanner Vlach is Rib Lake’s representative on the first-ever All-Marawood North Defensive team.

The awards follow an 8-16 season under first-year head coach Todd Henderson. The Redmen went 5-11 in Marawood Conference games, including a 5-5 mark against North Division rivals in league play. They lost 63-49 to North champion Athens on March 1 in the opening round of the WIAA Division 5 tournament. Blomberg led Rib Lake by averaging 12.1 points and 5.7 rebounds per game in 23 appearances. He led the team in 3-point shooting percentage (31.8%) by making 28 of 88 shots and shot 41.1% overall from the field. Blomberg averaged 2.0 assists per game and added 26 steals and eight blocked shots during the season.

He sealed his spot on the second team by having some of his bigger games against North Division opponents.

He had a huge night in the Feb. 24 regular- season finale, a 74-69 win over Prentice, with 24 points and six rebounds. He was six of eight from 3-point range in the win. He had 22 points and three boards in a 72-42 win at Abbotsford on Feb. 18 and he had a 15-point, 11-rebound doubledouble in a 66-56 win over Abbotsford on Dec. 21. He did well in two matchups with North runner-up Chequamegon, scoring 16 points and grabbing seven rebounds in a 66-55 home loss on Dec. 14 and scoring 17 points and adding three rebounds and three assists in a 76-64 loss in Park Falls on Jan. 25.

Blomberg had one other double-double during the season, scoring 15 points and adding 11 rebounds in a 78-50 nonconference loss at Colby on Jan. 4. He came close in Gilman on Feb. 7 with 19 points and eight rebounds.

Blomberg joins juniors Layne Blomberg and Ashton Makovsky of Prentice, junior Nate Belan of Phillips and senior Kody Lepak of Athens on the second team.

The conference’s coaches unanimously agreed upon the five-man first team of seniors Cooper Diedrich of Athens, Joseph Newbury of Chequamegon and Alex Schantner of Prentice and junior Aiden Janke of Athens and Isaiah Dietz of Chequamegon.

Diedrich, who shared the 2020-21 Player of the Year award with then-senior Taber Fawley of Phillips, won the award outright this year. His head coach, Jeramie Penney also repeated as Coach of the Year. Athens won the North with an 11-5 record in Marawood games and advanced to a WIAA Division 5 sectional final at Chequamegon Saturday where it lost 41-38 to Hurley in a game that was decided in the final five seconds.

Yanko was a physical presence inside for the Redmen and finished the year averaging 5.5 points and 4.8 rebounds per game. He shot 52% from the field in 23 games, making 52 of 100 shots. He had a big finish to his hoops career in the playoff loss to Athens by scoring 14 points on six-of-seven shooting and pulling down six rebounds.

He started the year with a 13-point, seven-rebound outing in a 51-41 win over Phillips on Nov. 30 and had 10 points, six rebounds and two steals in the December win over Abbotsford. He had nine rebounds on two occasions. The first was in a Marawood crossover loss at Edgar on Dec. 2 and the second was four days later in a 57-42 non-conference loss to Owen-Withee. He had 11 points and six rebounds in the late-season win over Prentice.

Borchardt was Rib Lake’s secondleading scorer at 9.3 points per game. He also contributed 4.2 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.3 steals per outing while appearing in all 24 games. The 5-9 guard knocked down 15 3-point shots during the season and was Rib Lake’s top free throw shooter, making them at a 68.9% clip (31 of 45). He gained notice with a 23-point, sixrebound, three-assist game against Abbotsford on Dec. 21. He just missed a double- double in the Feb. 18 rematch with 11 points and nine boards. He also had three steals. He had 12 points, five rebounds, three assists and three steals in the win over Prentice. Like Blomberg, he had two nice outings against Chequamegon with 12 points in the home loss and 14 points and three rebounds in the road loss. He played well at Flambeau, a team that went 24-2 this season, with 14 points and four rebounds. He had 12 points in the regional loss and 13 points in a nonconference win at Division 3 Tomahawk on Feb. 15.

The All-Marawood Defensive teams are new this year with each team placing one player on its division’s squad.

Vlach got Rib Lake’s nod after leading the team in steals with 38, which comes out to 1.6 per game, and he pulled down 3.6 rebounds per game. He had four steals in the opening win over Phillips and four steals in a 75-63 loss at Prentice on Jan. 27. In that game, he had the best offensive night of his career, hitting six of 11 3-point shots and scoring 22 points. He had a season-high nine rebounds to go with seven points in the win over Prentice.

Vlach was Rib Lake’s leader with 33 made 3s on 131 attempts and averaged 7.8 points per game.