MEDFORD GIRLS BASKETBALL PREVIEW - Experience should be a strength as Raiders tip off the new season

MEDFORD GIRLS BASKETBALL PREVIEW

The Medford Raiders will still be younger than several of the girls teams they’ll face on the basketball court this winter. But they are catching up when it comes to varsity experience, and it’s hoped that growth will allow them to build on the progress they showed last season.

Seven letter winners are back from the 2023-24 squad that more than doubled its win total from the previous year by going 13-13, including a 7-5 mark in the Great Northern Conference.

Those seven will clearly be the core Medford will lean on at the varsity level as head coach Chad Fronk and assistant Keith Wicks, both in their third year with the team, work to bring a largely inexperienced JV group up to speed. Depth in the program was a concern in the fall, but participation numbers were building to the mid-teens as week two of the season got underway.

Medford’s varsity did well in scrimmage sessions in Merrill Friday, outscoring the host Blue Jays, Newman Catholic and Wausau West in 20-minute meetings. The Raiders got a much tougher test in its season opener Tuesday, falling 65-48 at Shawano.

Medford is at Chippewa Falls tonight, Thursday, and will play Thanksgiving weekend in a two-day event at Rhinelander before going right back to Rhinelander Dec. 3 for the GNC opener. The Raiders’ home opener won’t come until Dec. 6 when they face conference powerhouse Lakeland in new-look Raider Hall.

“They have pretty good chemistry,” Fronk said of his core group of four juniors, one senior and two sophomores. “They all talk and are on the same page. They said being competitive in every game is one of their goals. We had a few clunkers last year.

“I think it comes with some age too,” added Fronk, the 2023-24 GNC Coach of the Year. “The offense is becoming more familiar to them. They don’t have to think so much. They know their options on where they need to be and where they need to go. Not to mention that group of seven has been playing together for quite awhile.”

Sophomore Kayla Baumgartner was an All-GNC first-team selection last year and junior Rylee Hraby and sophomore Taylor Klingbeil are back after getting honorable mention. Senior Toryn Rau and juniors Aliyah Pilgrim and Laney Hraby are back for their third varsity seasons and junior Jolie Steliga figures to fill a larger role after getting some spot varsity minutes last year. Baumgartner averaged 11.2 points and 7.1 rebounds per game during her freshman season while Klingbeil averaged 7.5 points and 6.0 rebounds. Both start the year looking more confident and aggressive with that first year under their belts and a lot of additional basketball played this summer. Both are capable of doing some offensive damage inside or outside. Rylee Hraby, Pilgrim and Rau bring experience on the perimeter as they’ll fill starting spots to open the season. Hraby did much of the ball handling last year and averaged 10.0 points, 3.8 rebounds, 2.9 steals and 1.8 assists per game. Rau will be expected to be a key leader as the lone experienced senior. She averaged 5.0 points and 3.5 rebounds per game last year. Pilgrim found her outside shooting stroke in the second half of last season and ended up averaging 5.0 points, 2.5 rebounds and 1.7 assists.

“We’ve worked a lot on shooting,” Fronk said. “It was nice not having to spend so much time running our offense and working on offensive drills (in the first week). They know it now.”

When it comes to offense, Fronk said he wants the team to be on the attack and not be afraid to take shots when they’re there.

“Kayla is probably our toughest matchup for opponents because if you put a big on her, she’s going to play outside on her and if you put somebody small on her, she’s going to take her inside” he said. “But Taylor can shoot it, Rylee can shoot it, Toryn can shoot it. Aliyah got hot at the end of last year. We tell them everybody has to shoot the ball. We have some kids who rebound, athletes who can get after it. Take good open shots. And they did (Friday).”

Fronk said the chemistry he’s seeing early on with the varsity players is an encouraging thing.

“That was some of the conversation we had at the scrimmage,” Fronk said. “A team with chemistry holds each other accountable without conflict. That’s what makes a team better, when you can be coachable by each other.”

While Laney Hraby and Steliga figure to get the most minutes off the bench, sophomore Kiley Anderson and junior Laura Wegerer could get some key minutes as well. Wegerer brings some much-needed height and Fronk sees a role where she can provide some defense, rebounding and putback scores. Amy Espinoza is the second senior in the program this year.

Defensively, the Raiders probably aren’t deep enough to use a lot of full-time man-to-man pressure like Fronk and Wicks would like. But they hope the girls find and maintain an aggressive mentality on both ends of the floor.

“It’s a little difficult because the girls want to push the ball and we want to be aggressive in scoring offense,” Fronk said. “We still have to be aware of fast breaking when the opportunity presents itself. I don’t know if we’re going to be able to press a ton. I’d like to. I have a couple of surprises on defense.

“I think our strength is our aggressive defense,” he added. “What I really liked on Friday was our ball movement. They moved the ball well. They played as team better. Everybody is a year older. We’re still young. It’s improving. That’s really what the goal is, watch the girls all improve a little bit.”

While the Raiders have worked to improve on the court, Fronk said he remains appreciative of the support the team continues to get from the community off-the-court, including groups like the Medford Recreation Commission and the Medford Basketball Booster Club.

Lakeland, led by two-time GNC Player of the Year and NCAA Div. I Green Bay recruit Kristina Ouimette, is the overwhelming favorite to win the conference again this season, but after that, Medford hopes to be fighting for an upper-division spot, with Rhinelander and Mosinee most likely being the teams jockeying for position with Medford behind Lakeland.

A 60-40 win at Mosinee was one of the highlights of a late-season run last year where Medford won eight of 10 games.

“Rhinelander is always solid,” Fronk said. “Mosinee is always solid. We can’t take Antigo lightly. Rhinelander kinda had our number a little bit last year. Our goal is to be up there in the conference. We want to be able to compete and get it done.”

Medford’s non-conference schedule remains challenging as well. Shawano was a tough opening opponent. The Raiders will see Eau Claire Regis in Rhinelander Nov. 30, a team that has realistic state aspirations in Division 4. They’ll travel to Rice Lake Dec. 17 and they’ll see Sheboygan Falls at the Dec. 27-28 Oostburg holiday tournament. The Falcons were 23-3 last year. New London and Crandon are winning programs that are on the post-holiday schedule and Medford will play Wisconsin Rapids and Wausau East from the Wisconsin Valley Conference late in the year.

Also challenging is the fact that only one of Medford’s first 11 games is in the friendly confines of Raider Hall.

“It’s going to be interesting,” Fronk said. “We have some tough games. Another goal is to try to stay above .500 this year. We were .500 last year. Now we have more experience under our belt.”

Kayla Baumgartner gets fouled as she attacks the rim during Medford’s girls basketball scrimmage session with Newman Catholic Friday at Merrill. Baumgartner had a team-high 15 points, while Taylor Klingbeil had 14 in Medford’s seasonopening loss at Shawano. MATT FREY/THE STAR NEWS