MEDFORD BOYS BASKETBALL - GNC title on the line as Hodags visit Raider Hall

MEDFORD BOYS BASKETBALL

In a season that has exceeded early expectations, the biggest win so far for Medford’s boys basketball team was a 71-63 win at Great Northern Conference rival Rhinelander on Jan. 17.

As the Raiders close their regular season tonight, Thursday, another win over the Hodags would rank even higher.

Medford’s Raider Hall will be the site for what has evolved into the GNC’s 2024-25 championship game. With both teams coming in at 9-2 in league play, tonight’s winner will be the outright champion, while the loser is likely to finish tied for second place with Mosinee (8-3), who caps its regular season tonight by hosting Lakeland.

Medford and Rhinelander ended last year in a similar spot with the winner being assured of at least a share of the title. Rhinelander won that matchup 50-45 on its home floor to clinch a co-title with Mosinee.

“I give our guys a ton of credit,” Medford head coach Ryan Brown said Tuesday of being in this spot again. “Especially looking back at the start of the year where we didn’t think we’d probably be in this position. But these guys have worked really hard, they’ve learned to become great teammates and they’ve bought in to doing what we’ve had to do to be successful.

“It’s really exciting to have this opportunity and it should be an exciting game here at Raider Hall.”

The Raiders are 13-9 overall after routing Tomahawk 80-36 on Friday, while Rhinelander is 17-5 and has won six straight and eight of its last nine. While Medford’s signature win is the victory over the Hodags, Rhinelander swept the season series with Mosinee for its two biggest wins, including a 64-61 home win over the Indians Friday.

Rhinelander drew the second seed in the WIAA Division 2 sectional half-bracket Sunday. The Hodags are seeded behind Wausau East (16-6), who throttled the Hodags 83-58 on Jan. 3 at the start of the Hodags’ mid-season lull. Medford got the five-seed in the half-bracket and will go to fourth-seeded Menomonie (13-10) in a March 7 regional semifinal.

Whoever comes up short tonight will look back at a lost opportunity mid-season in conference play as Medford lost a 21point second-half lead in a loss to Mosinee and Rhinelander was upset 70-62 by Antigo, the sixth-place team in the standings.

“Rhinelander hit a little lull midseason, but I think they’re playing really well right now,” Brown said. “They just won a big game with Mosinee and they beat Merrill by about 20 (Monday) night. Watching them now it looks they’re mixing in more things defensively. Earlier in the year, they were primarily a man-toman team while mixing in their 1-3-1. Watching them (Monday) they are also working in a matchup zone.”

Medford prepared hard for the 1-3-1 and its traps prior to the first meeting and that preparation paid off for the most part, though the Raiders did turn the ball over 19 times in the win. A big key that night was Medford also beat the switches in Rhinelander’s man-to-man several times with the slip cuts to the basket, which are staples in the Raiders’ offense.

Based on that success, Brown is expecting Rhinelander to make some tweaks in its man-to-man this time around. He guessed the Hodags may not switch everything, particularly when it comes to Medford’s senior threats Charlie Gierl and Hayden Koester. Gierl had 32 points in the first meeting.

However the Hodags play it, Brown said setting good, hard screens will be crucial to beating their defense.

“It’s so nice in this community, we brought in three guys, 6-5 tall guys to work with us and help us prepare for the 1-3-1,” Brown said. “You can tell from the first time to this time, guys don’t have as many questions, they are more prepared.”

While Gierl had the big scoring night in the Jan. 17 win, everyone in Medford’s main seven-man rotation played a key role. Brown hopes to see everyone locked in and get a repeat of those contributions.

“Every point we can prevent them from getting and every point we can score will will be important because this is a very good team we’re playing,” Brown said.

Thursday is also Parents’ Night. The JV game starts at 5:45 p.m. at Raider Hall, while the varsity game should tip at about 7:15 p.m.

Raiders 80, Hatchets 36

Medford took care of business against the GNC’s last-place team Friday, running away from host Tomahawk 80-36.

The Raiders jumped ahead 13-2 behind 3-pointers from Devin Dassow, Peyton Ried and Koester. Dassow hit another 3, Nick Krause scored off a steal, Koester got and and-one, missed the free throw, but Krause was there for the putback to open up a 27-7 lead. Later, two 3s from Will Daniels, Woller and Will Wojcik extended Medford’s halftime lead to 43-21.

A 12-3 run to start the second half put the game away. Koester’s steal gave Krause a bucket, but Koester scored in the pain. Ried hit two free throws following a steal, Sam Hierlmeier knocked down a 3 as did Koester.

Koester led Medford with 18 points, seven rebounds, three assists and two seals. Krause had a 12-point, 10-rebound double-double and added four steals and three assists. Daniels had a 10-point, 10rebound double-double. Ried had 10 points and four assists.

Dassow nearly gave Medford a third double-double. He had eight points and eight rebounds. Wojcik scored a seasonhigh eight points and had five rebounds. Corbyn Radlinger hit two 3s for six points and had three assists. Woller had three points and three assists, Hierlmeier finished with three points and Dylan Frey added a basket.

Dominic Boos had a strong outing for the Hatchets, scoring 17 points and grabbing six rebounds.

Medford shot 42.1% from the field compared to Tomahawk’s 30.4%, forced 24 Tomahawk turnovers and outrebounded the Hatchets 49-28.

Medford’s Will Wojcik attacks the middle of Tomahawk’s defense during the first half Friday. Wojcik scored a season-high eight points in the 80-36 win. MATT FREY/THE STAR NEWS