MEDFORD GIRLS BASKETBALL - Improving Raiders blast Tomahawk, Pines

MEDFORD GIRLS BASKETBALL

The seniors took center stage for the Medford Raiders Tuesday on the Senior Night with all four of them getting into the starting lineup and setting the tone in their 73-32 girls basketball victory over Tomahawk.

The Raiders quickly jumped out in front 11-0, then withstood a bit of a challenge from the Great Northern Conference’s last-place team in the middle portion of the first half. Medford started clicking again in the late stages of the first half, built a 40-22 halftime lead and then steadily extended their lead through the second half to improve to 6-10 overall and 3-3 as they completed the first half of conference play.

Medford’s 73 points was easily a season-high and largely a result of Medford’s abilty to push the pace against the Hatchets, who are 0-6 in the GNC and 2-9 overall. Medford had 25 transition points in the win.

“We’ve learned to push the ball up the court and that’s helped us a lot,” senior Bailey Eloranta said after scoring five points in the win.”

“So hopefully that means more scoring,” senior Rachel Wesle said after contributing four points to the win.

Senior Madison Clarkson banked in a 3-pointer during Medford’s 11-0 gameopening run, which included two steals by junior Toryn Rau that resulted in baskets, one of which was converted to a three-point play, and a 3-point shot by Rau.

“That was good. It helped us gain confidence for the rest of the game,” Clarkson said of the fast start.

Tomahawk, though, showed some life, getting two inside scores from its 5-11 sophomore Freya Alberg and two outside shots from Caylie Swan to pull within 11-8 and 14-10. That was as close as the Hatchets would get.

Taylor Klingbeil hit a 3-point shot from the left side, Laney Hraby got to the rim and finished, Rylee Hraby hit a 3-pointer from the left corner on a well-executed inbound play and Kayla Baumgarter scored to quickly get the lead to double digits at 24-10. Claire Albert’s 3-pointer got it to single digits one last time at 27-19, but two straight Rylee Hraby baskets, a Rau score off a steal and Klingbeil’s three-point play in transition opened up a 37-19 lead with 1:27 left. The big finish to the half came on Eloranta’s 3-pointer with 10 seconds left.

“I think we’ve gotten more aggressive with taking shots and gotten more aggressive on defense, jumping to balls and things like that,” Wesle said.

“I think we’ve definitely gotten a lot faster and just a lot better at pushing the ball,” Clarkson said. There was a lot more where that came from in the second half, where Medford outscored the Hatchets 33-10. Clarkson hit her second 3 and added a transition basket later in the half to finish with eight points. Wesle got two baskets inside to finish with four points and Breanna Kraemer hit a nice shot in the lane to get the lead to 40 at 69-29 to get her Senior Night points.

Rylee Hraby led Medford with 14 points. Rau scored 13 points, 11 of which came in the first half. Baumgartner scored nine of her 12 in the second half and Klingbeil continued her recent strong play with 11 points, nine of which came in the first half. Laney Hraby finished with four.

Kraemer was Medford’s rebounding leader with seven, while Klingbeil had six and Clarkson and Rylee Hraby had five each. Rau and Laney Hraby dished out three assists each, while Aliyah Pilgrim and Clarkson had two each. Rau had six of Medford’s 20 steals and Rylee Hraby had four.

Alberg was Tomahawk’s highlight, scoring 14 points and grabbing 13 rebounds for the Hatchets. Medford turned the basketball over just 10 times while forcing 24 from the Hatchets. The Raiders also controlled the rebounds 45-37. Getting transition baskets helped Medford shoot a season-best 42.6% from the floor (29 of 68).

The win continued Medford’s mastery of the Hatchets that goes all the way back to 2000. Medford has now won 49 straight girls basketball games over Tomahawk.

The Raiders now go back into a tough grind as they enter the second round of league play starting Friday at Rhinelander. They go to Merrill for non-conference play Monday before hosting GNC-leading Lakeland on Jan. 19.

“We’re going to keep going, just keep playing hard,” Wesle said.

“We just want to keep getting more aggressive with how we play,” Clarkson said.

Central 58, Medford 48

Saturday in La Crosse, the Raiders battled back every time they fell behind by double digits but they never got over the top and fell 58-48 to the Central Riverhawks in non-conference play.

La Crosse Central’s standout sophomore guard Alahnna Simpson was a handful for Medford’s defense as she poured in a game-high 29 points, mostly by being able to drive to the basket, plus she dished out a couple of key assists late in the game to teammate Emmerson Keeney for two baskets that put the game away for the Riverhawks, who improved to 5-8 at the time.

Medford got three girls into double figures in the scoring column, but it wasn’t quite enough to overcome a slow start.

Baumgartner led the way with 19 points, Rylee Hraby made three 3-point shots while scoring 15 points and Klingbeil hit some key shots to help keep Medford close and finished with 12 points.

Medford trailed 23-9 more than halfway through the first half before making its first solid run at Central. Hraby had four points and assisted on a Klingbeil transition score. That was followed by a Baumgartner hoop that got the deficit down to 25-17. Hraby’s 3 off a pass from her sister Laney made it 25-20 before Central got four points from Simpson in a quick five-point spurt. Hraby’s steal and score with 10 seconds left made it 30-22 at the half.

After Simpson scored to start the second half, Medford’s defense tightened up and the Raiders made their most serious run. Rylee Hraby sank a 3. After Zaya Whitaker got a three-point play for the Riverhawks, Baumgartner sank two free throws, Klingbeil drilled a triple, Rau hit one of two free throws and Rylee Hraby knocked down a 3-ball to get Medford within 35-34 with 12:30 left.

But Medford went cold, going more than four minutes without a field goal and Central took advantage, getting the lead back to eight. But the Raiders crept closer again. Baumgartner made a nice move along the baseline to score and Klingbeil’s 3-point play with 7:43 left got it to 46-41. Aliyah Pilgrim found Baumgartner on the right block for a layup off a baseline inbound play to get the Raiders within 46-43 with seven minutes left.

But Simpson got a key three-point play at the 5:26 mark and Keeney scored off a Summer Lonning assist for Central. Medford countered with two Baumgartner free throws and a Klingbeil score to make it 51-47 with 3:30 to go.

The Raiders had chances on three possessions to make it a one-score game but couldn’t convert. It was 52-48 when Simpson found Keeney for an easy bucket with 1:20 left. After a Medford miss, those two Riverhawks connected again to make it an eight-point game and wrap things up.

Rau and Laney Hraby each added a free throw to Medford’s scoring column.

Central’s Whitaker was a problem for Medford inside, scoring 15 points before leaving the game with an injury with 10:48 left.

Medford 55, Pines 23

Medford also got off to a bit of a slow start offensively Friday, but once the Raiders got going they had no trouble running by visiting Northland Pines 55-23 in Great Northern Conference play.

Down 8-6 about seven minutes in, the Raiders closed the first half on a 23-3 tear to go up 31-11 and they built on that lead through the second half to earn their fifth win of the season. Medford harrassed the Eagles into 35 turnovers, which was a major factor in the Raiders outscoring them 28-1 in points off turnovers and 22-0 in transition points.

Rylee Hraby had eight of Medford’s 23 steals and led all scorers with 15 points. She added two assists. Wesle had her personal varsity high with eight points, while making three of seven shots, while Klingbeil and Baumgartner also added eight points each. Klingbeil had 12 rebounds, while Baumgartner had eight.

Wesle sparked Medford’s first-half run, scoring following a rebound by Klingbeil to tie it. Wesle’s free throws put Medford up 10-9 with 9:42 left in the half and the Raiders never trailed again.

Baumgartner’s three-point play, followed by Rylee Hraby’s steal and coastto- coast drive and triples by Baumgartner and Eloranta quickly opened up a 21-9 lead. Baumgartner assisted on a Klingbeil score, Hraby made two free throws after a steal and Rau hit a free throw before Pines got a basket from Paige Hodkiewicz with 1:35 left to finally break a field-goal drought of nearly 10 minutes.

A 9-0 run in the second half broke it open, putting the Raiders up 44-16. The Raiders finished with a 9-1 surge to get the lead into the 30s.

Pilgrim had five points and three rebounds. Rau had four points, two rebounds and two steals. Eloranta had three points and four rebounds and Laney Hraby and Clarkson each had a basket. Hraby had three rebounds and two steals. Clarkson had two rebounds and two steals.

The Raiders made things tough in the paint for the Eagles by blocking seven shots. Baumgartner had three of those blocks.

Eliana Smith led Northland Pines with six points, while Mykala Felesena added five.

Medford senior Breanna Kraemer shoots a free throw during the second half of Tuesday’s Senior Night win over Tomahawk. MATT FREY/THE STAR NEWS