ALL-GNC BOYS BASKETBALL - Hraby keeps Medford’s POY tradition going

ALL-GNC BOYS BASKETBALL

The Great Northern Conference’s boys basketball Player of the Year award is staying in Medford for a fifth straight year.

The torch was passed from two-time winner Peyton Kuhn to two-time winner Logan Baumgartner and now senior Tanner Hraby has earned the distinction of being viewed by the GNC’s coaches as the league’s best player after his standout 2023-24 season.

Hraby is one of four unanimous choices for this year’s All-GNC team, the second straight year he’s done that. Senior Nick Steliga earned a spot on the All-GNC second team in his first season as a starter and senior Owen Stockwell earned honorable mention.

Speaking of repeat winners, Medford head coach Ryan Brown shared the GNC’s 2023-24 Coach of the Year award with Rhinelander’s Derek Lemmens, marking the fifth time in eight years Brown has won that award.

After a 1-7 start to the season, which included an 0-2 start in GNC play, Medford fought its way back to put itself in position to win a share of the conference title in a last-game showdown at Rhinelander. The Hodags won that game 50-45 to earn their share of the title with heavy pre-season favorite Mosinee at 102, while Medford settled for third place at 9-3.

The Raiders got over .500 at 10-9 overall before finishing 12-14 when they fell 71-40 in their WIAA Division 2 regional semifinal at New Richmond on Feb. 27.

The four unanimous first-team picks are all excellent players, with Mosinee’s Landen Thomer and Keagen Jirschele and Rhinelander’s Will Gretzinger –– all seniors –– being the others. Hraby got the nod for Player of the Year behind a GNC-high 23.6 points per game in league play, which included a GNC-high 3.5 3-pointers per game and a league-best 3.6 steals per game. Hraby tied Rhinelander’s Will Quinn in fourth place at 3.3 assists per game and he tied Antigo’s Luke Bastle and Northland Pines’ Milo Albrecht for seventh in the rebounding department with 5.3 per game.

Overall in 26 games, Hraby averaged 21.7 points, 5.1 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 2.4 steals per game for the Raiders. He surpassed the 1,000-point mark for his career in a 62-42 win at Northland Pines on Jan. 5 and, with 565 points this season, moved all the way up to third place all-time on Medford’s record board with 1,346 points.

With the ability to hit from long range, post up defending guards or simply beat teams up the floor with his quickness, Hraby scored in double figures in all but two games this season. In league play, he put 36 points and grabbed eight rebounds in a big 57-55 overtime win over Rhinelander on Feb. 1; had 28 points, six rebounds and four assists in another huge win, a 73-70 win over Mosinee on Jan. 26 and scored 30 points in the Jan. 5 win at Pines. He scored 28 and had a seasonhigh seven assists in a 101-60 home win over Tomahawk on Feb. 16, had 26 points and nine rebounds in a tough 54-51 win at Lakeland on Jan. 19 and had 26 points in the loss at Rhinelander. Hraby had six assists in an 81-24 win at Tomahawk on Jan. 9, seven rebounds in a 71-31 win over Antigo on Dec. 19 and had a season-high six steals in a 59-51 win at Antigo Feb. 6.

He had a career-high 39 points in a 10580 home loss to New Richmond on Dec. 21 and had 26 points, eight rebounds and four assists in a 70-60 win over Ripon at Wisconsin Dells on Dec. 28, the game where Medford started to turn its season around.

Lakeland senior Danny Gahler is the fifth member of the All-GNC team. Thomer ranked second in scoring at 20.3 points per game and easily led the GNC in rebounding at 13.3 per game, had a leaguehigh 1.5 blocked shots per game and also led the conference in field goal percentage at an outstanding 70.9%. Jirschele led the league with 6.1 assists per game and Gretzinger led in free throw percentage at 80% while ranking third in scoring at 18.6 points per game.

Steliga averaged 8.2 points, 3.4 rebounds, 1.7 steals and 1.7 assists per game in GNC play. Overall those numbers were 9.1 points, 3.0 rebound, 1.7 assists and 1.2 steals per game.

He solidified his second-team spot with some big games in the second half of the season. He scored 18 points while making four of eight 3s in the Jan. 19 win at Lakeland and he scored 16 points while getting to the rim often in the big win over Mosinee. He scored 17 points in a 74-41 home win over Northland Pines on Feb. 9.

Steliga’s biggest game came in the WIAA Division 2 regional opener Feb. 27 when he sank six of nine 3-point attempts while scoring a career-high 26 points in a 65-50 win over Antigo. He scored 21 points in a 75-71 loss to Altoona on Feb. 13 and had a solid 19-point outing in a 69-51 loss at La Crosse Central on Feb. 10. He had six assists in a 62-51 win over Merrill on Jan. 16.

Stockwell, also in his first year in the starting lineup, improved steadily as the season progressed as a rebounder, interior defender and occasional scorer for the Raiders. He pulled down 5.1 rebounds per game in GNC play to rank 10th.

Overall, Stockwell averaged 6.0 points and 6.4 rebounds per game. He and Steliga were the team’s best free throw shooters as well, hitting them at a 70% clip.

Stockwell had two double-doubles during the season. He had 11 points and 10 rebounds in the tournament win over Antigo and he had 11 points and 11 rebounds in a 58-47 loss at Wisconsin Dells on Dec. 27. He just missed at La Crosse Central with 11 points and nine rebounds.

Stockwell scored a career-high 14 points and had seven rebounds in the 101-60 win over Tomahawk. He had eight points and 10 boards in 59-51 win at Antigo and had four points and a career-high 13 rebounds in a 56-45 non-conference loss at Wausau West on Jan. 30.

There was a lot of turnover in this year’s All-GNC awards compared to last year. After four first-teamers graduated, Hraby was the lone repeat first-team pick. Jirschele and Gretzinger moved up from the second team, while Thomer was an honorable mention choice last winter. This year’s second-team is entirely new and of the 13 honorable mentionees, only Mosinee’s Garrett Shupe, who was out with an injury in the second half of the season, returned to the list from last year.

Mosinee was the lone GNC team to make it to regional final Saturday. The Indians lost 75-61 at Fox Valley Lutheran to finish 21-5.

Owen Stockwell Hon. Mention

Ryan Brown Coach of Year

Medford senior Tanner Hraby, pictured taking a 3-point shot during the team’s 5755 overtime win over Rhinelander on Feb. 1, was named the GNC’s 2023-24 Player of the Year after averaging 23.6 points, 3.5 3-pointers, 3.6 steals and 3.3 assist per conference game. MATT FREY/THE STAR NEWS