MEDFORD BOYS BASKETBALL - Hit by injuries, Raiders stomped by Mustangs, hold off T-Birds

MEDFORD BOYS BASKETBALL

A close game deteriorated Monday for the Medford Raiders with a 12-minute scoring drought, some uncharacteristic problems against Menomonie’s 1-2-2 halfcourt trap and some big mid-game longrange hits by the Mustangs, who pulled away for a 66-43 non-conference win at Raider Hall.

The loss snapped Medford’s five-game winning streak and dropped the Raiders to 6-8, while the Mustangs, who are in the Raiders’ WIAA Division 2 post-season bracket, improved to 6-7 with their third straight win and fourth in their last five outings.

Medford never led in the contest but nearly overturned an early 8-0 deficit, pulling into an 8-8 tie and then getting within 15-14 following a 3-point shot from Conner Klingbeil and a Nick Steliga score off a baseline inbound play.

A Tanner Hraby 3-pointer, two bonus free throws by Hraby and nice post move from Owen Stockwell kept Medford within 26-21 with just under four minutes left in the first half. But that’s when Medford went scoreless until Hraby hit a 3 with 9:38 left in the game. In the meantime, Menomonie scored 24 straight points to go up 50-21 and cruised the rest of the way.

“I thought we missed a bunch of opportunities early where we had a couple of putbacks, a couple offensive rebounds, a couple nice looks in the post and we just didn’t finish,” said Medford head coach Ryan Brown, who returned to the bench after a two-game absence last week after his family welcomed a new daughter to the family. “Statistically, Menomonie is not a great shooting team, but once you get a lead, the basket looks bigger. We allowed them to get a lead. I thought early on if we took care of the ball a little better and finished inside a little better, it’s a different game when it’s a close game. Now those shots don’t look so open.”

Just when the pieces all seemed to be coming together for Medford a week ago, the Raiders are now down a couple of bodies with Charlie Gierl back on the injured list and forward Brayden Balciar also down for awhile with an ankle injury.

“Charlie is obviously a huge part of what we do and I don’t know if we’ll get him back,” Brown said. “And now with Brayden being out, guys just have to find ways to step up.”

Shooting percentages were on the rise during the recent win streak, but a lid returned to the basket for Medford on Monday. The Raiders shot 30% from the field (15 of 50), including nine of 28 from 3-point range. But, as Brown noted, it was the six of 22 from two-point range, including some point-blank first-half shots that helped the Mustangs create separation in the first half.

Medford’s 18 turnovers also were well above the team’s average of 11 per game coming in.

“That was the big thing, missed opportunities early and then too many turnovers against a press that we’ve seen many times and traditionally never had an issue with,” Brown said. “It just felt like tonight, guys weren’t getting to their spots and we were picking up the ball where you don’t want to pick up the ball versus a 1-2-2. Everything we talked about and worked on, we just didn’t do a good job of doing our job.”

Menomonie’s 6-4 junior Isaac Ellison was impressive inside, especially in the first half when he scored 14 of his 18 points, plus he had six rebounds, four assists and four blocked shots. Brady Thornton hit three of five 3-point shots and added 11.

“Ellison’s their leading scorer,” Brown said. “There were times I thought we did a good job, especially early on where we doubled him well. He’s a smart player and he made some plays. I thought Stocks was battling. (Ellison) has a couple inches, is a little more athletic and we couldn’t keep him off of where we need to be.”

Hraby led Medford with 18 points. Klingbeil scored nine points and Nick Krause hit two late 3s to add six. Steliga had four points, five rebounds and two steals, Peyton Ried hit a late 3, Stockwell finished with two points and nine rebounds and Carson Carbaugh added a point and two assists.

It doesn’t get any easier for the Raiders Friday, when they host 14-1 and GNCleading Mosinee at 7:15 p.m. Medford is at Wausau West for a Tuesday non-conference game before hosting Rhinelander on Feb. 1.

Medford 54, Lakeland 51

Unexpectedly down to a seven-man rotation Friday after losing Gierl four minutes in, Medford built a 14-point second-half lead, then lost it, but was clutch down the stretch to pull out a 54-51 win at Lakeland, a team it lost to in the first game of the season back on Dec. 1.

Hraby carried the offense with 26 points, but there were key contributions from everyone to get Medford over the top and up to 4-2 in the GNC after an 0-2 start.

Steliga stepped up with a career-high 18 points, which included a huge 3-pointer with 1:35 left and two crucial bonus free throws with 35.8 seconds left. Stockwell had eight points and seven rebounds, Koester had an early bucket, four rebounds and four assists. Klingbeil, Logan Gubser and Carbaugh added key rebounds and defense when needed.

“Coach (Garett) Shipman did a great job all week with them. I was just really proud of how the guys stuck to it at the end,” said Brown, who watched the game from home. “We got some big shots from Tanner and Nick Steliga and came away with a victory on the road, which is big for us in conference.”

The Raiders got off to a slow start and fell behind 7-2. Stockwell and Steliga hit back-to-back 3s to give Medford its first lead at 17-16 with 8:12 left in the half and, with the defense stabilizing after the slow start, the offense took. Hraby got two rebound baskets and a 3-pointer in a personal eight-point run, then late in the half, Stockwell scored inside off a Koester assist and Hraby got yet another putback for a 34-21 halftime lead.

Hraby’s early 3 got the lead up to 37-23 very early in the second half, but the offense got stuck in neutral midway through the half and Lakeland charged back, tying it at 43-43 on a Noah Bruckner basket with 7:26 left and taking a 45-43 lead on bonus free throws by Jalend Cobb with 5:32 to go. Lakeland’s lead got to four on an Evan Zoch basket with 3:20 left.

“The blueprint of what we want to do was that first half,” Brown said. “We were patient. I thought we ran our offense perfectly in the first half. We got the ball inside. We’re putting more of a premium on getting the ball inside, even if it’s Tanner or whoever, to break down the defense. We did a good job of that against them. We got a good lead. Defensively we were solid.

“Second half, we just got a little bit away from that, rushed some shots and allowed them to chip away. We missed some opportunities for some bunnies that could’ve kept the lead at 10-12 points. Instead we gave them some momentum.”

Hraby immediately came through with a 3-pointer from the right wing to cut the deficit to one. After a backcourt turnover by the T-Birds, Hraby fought through traffic in the lane for the go-ahead basket with 2:44 left. The Raiders got another stop and worked the ball around on a patient possession, setting up Steliga, who hit nothing but net from the top of the key for a 51-47 lead.

Cobb answered with a 3-ball from the left corner. Once Lakeland used up its two fouls to give, Steliga knocked down his bonus throws to make it 53-50. Medford’s tight defense didn’t allow Lakeland to get a shot until Danny Gahler airballed a 3-pointer that Nate Ariola rebounded and got fouled on with 5.5 seconds left. He made one of two free throws. Hraby inbounded to Stockwell, who sealed things with 2.3 seconds left by making the first free throw and then grabbing his own rebound on the missed second shot.

Medford was nine of 11 from the free throw line, slightly better than Lakeland’s five of nine. Medford didn’t have its best shooting night at 36% but that was better than its 28% outing on opening night. The Raiders were nine of 17 on two-point shots and nine of 33 from long range –– enough to get the job done.

The Raiders held their own in rebounding, trailing 32-31 overall in that department. Hraby had nine rebounds, four steals and three assists. Steliga and Gubser had three rebounds each. Stelgia had two assists.

Lakeland (4-2, 8-6) was led by Gahler, who scored 17 points and grabbed 13 rebounds. Ariola had 11 points and five boards.