MEDFORD BOYS BASKETBALL - Push to get over .500 is derailed with losses to Altoona, Central

MEDFORD BOYS BASKETBALL

Boys basketball games don’t get much tighter than Tuesday’s non-conference matchup at Raider Hall, where the Altoona Railroaders had the last little run that put them over the top in a fast-paced 75-71 win over the host Raiders.

Six was the largest margin at any time in the game –– Altoona hit it three times –– and most of the last five minutes was played within a one-score margin either way.

But Medford 2002 alum Paul Henrichs got his Railroaders past the Raiders for the first time in four tries thanks to several clutch shots throughout the game, none bigger than Keaton Camastral’s left-elbow jumper with 40 seconds left, key offensive rebounds at times and nine-of-11 shooting from the free throw line.

Altoona and Medford both left the gym at 10-11 overall with three games remaining in the regular season.

Camastral poured in 26 points to lead all scorers, plus he had 12 rebounds. He was 10 of 21 from the field and knocked down three of Altoona’s 10 3-point makes on 20 attempts. Myles Sinette was four-ofsix from long range and dished out nine assists while scoring 16 points. Graysen Becker added 15 points and eight rebounds for the Railroaders.

Medford got 24 points, six assists and six rebounds from Tanner Hraby and Nick Steliga continued his recent scoring surge with 21 points. Owen Stockwell had a solid night with 10 points, seven rebounds and four assists.

Altoona led most of the first half, pulling ahead 17-11 on Sinette’s second 3 of the game, but Medford had one nice run to go ahead 29-24 following a Stockwell putback, a three-point play from Steliga and Steliga’s 3-pointer.

But a 12-4 surge gave Altoona a 39-33 lead at the break. It was capped by 3s from Camastral and Ajay Lanberg.

Logan Gubser’s second 3-point basket of the season sparked an early run that got Medford back in front for a good chunk of the second half. The 11-2 run included five points from Hraby and a Stockwell 3-ball that put Medford up 48-45 with 12:56 remaining. Hraby’s 3 40 seconds later gave Medford a 51-47 lead. Stockwell’s 3 followed by a Steliga score off an inbound play gave the Raiders their biggest lead at 59-54. Camastral answered with a threepoint play, but Hraby came back with a long 3-point make to make it 62-57 with six minutes left.

Just when the Raiders seemed ready to pull away, Camastral hit a trey and the teams traded shots from there. Sinette’s 3-pointer put Altoona in front 66-64 with 3:02 to go, but Hraby’s free throws tied it at the 2:23 mark. Carson Carbaugh’s rebound of a Gubser missed 3 gave the Raiders an additional possession that led to Hraby’s tie-breaking free throw with 1:26 left.

Owen Gunderson’s basket with 1:06 left put Altoona up 68-67. Hraby tied it with a free throw, setting up Camastral’s go-ahead jumper. Hraby missed a 3-point try, Altoona got the rebound and two free throws by Hunter Hibbard put Altoona up by two scores and the Raiders couldn’t make that up in the last 27 seconds.

Gubser and Conner Klingbeil scored five points apiece for Medford in the loss. Gubser had three rebounds. Hayden Koester had four points, four rebounds and three blocked shots. Carbaugh added a hoop and six rebounds.

The Raiders will hold their Senior Night festivities Friday when they host Tomahawk in GNC play at 7:15 p.m. in the regular-season home finale. Medford will learn what its WIAA Division 2 tournament trail will look like when the brackets are announced Sunday. The Raiders will close the regular season with road trips to Rice Lake Tuesday and to Rhinelander on Feb. 22. Medford and Rhinelander remain tied for second place in the Great Northern Conference at 8-2, one game behind 9-1 Mosinee. Rhinelander is at Mosinee Friday.

Central 69, Medford 51

On Saturday afternoon, Medford had no answers for La Crosse Central standout Henry Meyer, who slashed and shot his way to 21 points on 10-of-14 shooting in the Riverhawks’ 69-51 non-conference win over the visiting Raiders.

Medford got a season-high at the time 19 points from Steliga and a solid game inside from Stockwell, who just missed a double-double with 11 points and nine rebounds. Plus, Nick Krause came off the bench to score nine points on three 3s.

But the Riverhawks, as they’ve had in their previous four games with Medford the last two years, had answers as big man Noah Dingel scored 15 points and grabbed nine rebounds and Peyton Strittmater had 13 points and his three assists seemed to come at key times.

Steliga’s game-opening basket was Medford’s lone lead, but the Raiders hung around through halftime. Steliga added two 3s to give the Raiders their first eight points and forge an 8-8 tie, then Stockwell’s stickback tied it at 10-10.

Central then went on a 12-0 run to take the lead for good. Single free throws by Koester and Hraby and then a Steliga 3 off a skip pass from Krause got Medford back within 26-19 at the break.

But Central made two runs early in the second half to break it open again. The first one, triggered by a couple of Medford turnovers against Central’s full-court pressure, made it 34-19 before the Raiders crept back within 36-27 on a Stockwell basket off a Steliga assist and two 3s from Krause.

But Meyer scored twice, Derrick Pangier went end-to-end for a score, Gabe Servais hit a short shot and Dingel got a rebound basket to put the Riverhawks up 46-27. Medford only got as close as 15 the rest of the way and the lead got as high as 23 late for the Riverhawks, who improved to 10-10 at the time.

The Riverhawks defended Hraby well and limited him to six points and four assists. Koester and Klingbeil had three points each. Koester had three assists and blocked two shots.

Central’s offense was highly efficient, shooting 62.5% from the field (30 of 48) and averaged 1.32 points per possession. Medford shot just 39.2% from the field (20 of 51) but was 50% on two-point shots, making 11 of 22. The Raiders nine of 29 from 3-point range while Central won it by going 26 of 34 on two-point shots.

Medford 74, Pines 41

Medford kept pace with the leaders in the Great Northern Conference Friday in a 74-41 rout of Northland Pines at Raider Hall.

Early on, it didn’t look like the game would turn out that way. The Raiders got outhustled for a good chunk of the first half and the Eagles came out shooting the ball well. They led 7-0 and 16-8.

But the Raiders got out of their early funk by cranking up their full-court defensive pressure, a couple of steals and baskets ramped up their energy. They took their first lead on a Hraby 3-pointer with 5:04 left in the half, which made it 2018, and they never looked back.

The win put Medford at 10-9 at the time, the first time all year the team had been over .500 after a 1-7 start. Unfortunately, the winning record didn’t even last 24 hours.

“Two games in a row now where we’ve started out slowly,” Medford head coach Ryan Brown said, also referring to a 59-51 win at Antigo Feb. 6. “It’s been something that we’ve really been talking about, trying to come out fast. The defense is what did it. The defense really started to create some turnovers and speed up the game. I think it was only a four-point game with about two or three minutes left and then we got it to 14. That was big and I thought we kept that tone in the second half. It was good because when we extended it we were able to get some other guys some varsity minutes, which is always good, and also got our starters some rest before (Saturday).”

The Eagles have just one senior, and a couple of freshmen mixed in with sophomores and juniors in their rotation, got 3s from Jonathan Miller and Anthony Halada in their early run that covered the first seven minutes, as well as an offensive putback from Miller and six points from AJ Muench.

“They played hard and we didn’t match their intensity. They got some offensive boards. I just thought, you need to come ready to play. We had a plan to use a little half-court trap right off the bat, guys didn’t do it. I said I’m going to know how locked in you are based on this first possession. That told a lot. But Pines played hard, they hit the boards hard, they were physical. Once we finally realized they weren’t just going to lay down and that we need to pick up our intensity, that’s when I thought we took it forward.”

Carson Carbaugh’s 3 with just eight minutes left in the half seemed to kick the offense into gear. Steliga got a threepoint play to cut the deficit to 18-17 with 6:37 left and then Hraby put the Raiders ahead. Late in the half, Carbaugh’s deflection led to a Hraby hoop, Hraby scored off a steal, then Hraby sank a 3, Krause hit a 3 and then his steal led to a Carbaugh score. Hraby put back his own miss and just like that, Medford led 38-24 at the half.

Hraby and Steliga hit 3s to start the second half, Hraby scored off another steal and hit another long ball and Steliga and Koester scored to make it 51-27. Krause sandwiched two more 3s around a Klingbeil hoop and it was over at 61-30.

Hraby finished with 23 points, four steals, four rebounds and three assists. Steliga had 17 points, four rebounds and three steals. Krause’s three 3s gave him nine points. He had two assists and two blocked shots.

Koester had seven points, five rebounds and five assists. Carbaugh had five points and three boards. Klingbeil had five points. Stockwell had a bucket and five rebounds. Gubser had just one point, but he had his second straight strong night on the boards with eight rebounds, four on each end of the floor.

“I thought Logan and Carbs really got in there and got a number of offensive rebounds,” Brown said. “I thought we just crashed the boards harder. A lot of those 50/50 loose balls we started to get. Especially when we started to get some tips and deflections, we were able to get those balls and turn them into layups or two-on-ones.

“The last two games we’ve been super happy with Logan’s intensity,” Brown added. “He’s just a pest defensively. He has active hands. He’s gotten a number of offensive rebounds the last two games. That’s huge. You need your seniors to step up late in the season and that’s what we seem to be getting from him and Carson and everybody else that plays a role on our team.”

Freshman Peyton Ried hit a 3-pointer, sophomore Will Daniels scored two points and had two assists.

Miller led the Eagles (2-9, 6-15) with 11 points, while Muench had 10. Medford wound up with a 38-36 rebounding edge and offensive rebounds were even at 17. The Eagles turned the ball over 22 times, leading to 27 Medford points.