ALL-GNC BOYS BASKETBALL - Gierl shares top honor; all five starters earn All-GNC awards

ALL-GNC BOYS BASKETBALL

The boys basketball season started with inexperience and uncertainty for the Medford Raiders, but it ended with winning record, a relatively high WIAA Division 2 tournament seed and a run toward a Great Northern Conference that came up just a few shots short.

It also ended with all five starters earning post-season awards in the voting for the 2024-25 All-Great Northern Conference teams.

The biggest award goes to senior Charlie Gierl, who extends Medford incredible streak of GNC Player of the Year awards. With Gierl sharing the honor with Mosinee’s relentless sophomore forward Brayden Reinke, this marks the sixth year in a row a Medford Raider has won or shared the award.

Tanner Hraby won it last year, Logan Baumgartner won it in 2023 and shared it in 2022 and Peyton Kuhn won it in 2020 and 2021.

Gierl and Reinke joined Northland Pines junior Mylo Albrecht as the three unanimous choices for this year’s All-GNC team. Rhinelander senior Truman Lamers and Mosinee junior Treve Stoffel round out the five-man team. For all five this is their first, first-team awards in basketball.

Medford adds senior Hayden Koester and junior Nick Krause to the All-GNC second team. Junior Will Daniels and freshman Devin Dassow earned honorable mention.

The awards follow a 13-11 season under head coach Ryan Brown. The Raiders went 9-3 in the GNC, good for a secondplace tie with Mosinee. They were one game behind 10-2 Rhinelander. The Hodags clinched the outright title with a 51-43 win at Medford on the last night of the regular season. Medford got a big 7163 win at Rhinelander on Jan. 17 but lost twice to Mosinee, losing a 21-point lead in the last eight minutes of the Jan. 31 matchup in Mosinee, which ultimately cost them a title share.

Still, the team’s improvement and ability to take the GNC race to game 12 was impressive.

Gierl, who missed most of most last year due to injury, had a remarkable comeback season. He tied Albrecht for second in GNC scoring at 15.5 points per game. Gierl played in 11 GNC contests, missing Medford’s 80-36 win in Tomahawk on Feb. 21. He ranked sixth in the league with 6.4 rebounds per game, second in free throw percentage at 83.9% (26 of 31) and third with 2.5 made 3pointers per game.

Overall in 22 games played, Gierl averaged 16.6 points, 6.0 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 2.0 steals per game. He shot 47.9% from the field, including 40.3% from 3-point range, where he was closer to 50% for much of the season before cooling down late in the year.

Gierl had two 32-point games, the biggest of which came in the win at Rhinelander. Despite playing sick that night, Gierl was eight of 10 from the field, including four of six on 3s, and 12 of 13 at the free throw line. Plus he grabbed 13 rebounds.

He had 26 points and six rebounds in a 68-57 loss to Mosinee on Dec. 13, 24 points and six rebounds in a 67-52 win over Northland Pines on Jan. 10 and 19 points, seven rebounds, five assists and four steals in an 81-55 win over Antigo on Feb. 11. He had seven points and 11 rebounds in Medford’s 47-29 win at Pines on Feb. 14.

Gierl had some huge non-conference outings, including 32 points and six rebounds in a 74-64 win over D.C. Everest on Dec. 10; 23 points with six 3-pointers and 10 rebounds in a 54-44 loss to New Richmond on Dec. 30; 30 points, eight rebounds and six assists in a 67-57 win over Stanley-Boyd on Jan. 23, and 23 points, eight rebounds and four steals in a 56-52 win at Altoona on Feb. 4.

Reinke led the GNC in scoring (19.5) and rebounding (10.5) while appearing in 11 GNC games. He also led with 3.0 steals per game. Stoffel was the GNC leader in assists at 6.4 per game.

Koester was the team’s second key senior leaders. Stepping into an increased role, he averaged 11.4 points per game in 12 GNC games, ranking 11th. He was fourth in assists at 3.2 per game, third in blocked shots at 1.0 per game and ninth in rebounding at 6.1 per outing.

Overall in 24 games, Koester averaged 10.6 points, 5.3 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 1.8 steals and 1.0 blocked shots per game. Koester also typically drew Medford’s man-to-man defensive assignments against opponents’ best forwards and post players He locked down his award with several strong GNC outings. He had an 11-point, 11-rebound double-double in Medford’s first GNC win, 73-57 on Dec. 6 at Lakeland. He tied his season-high with 19 points in a 67-44 win at Antigo on Jan. 7. He had 12 points, 10 rebounds, six assists and three blocked shots in the home win over Northland Pines, which was one of Medford’s most complete efforts of the year. He followed that up with 10 points and nine rebounds in a 71-17 rout of Tomahawk. He had 18 points and six boards at Pines, 14 points and five assists at Mosinee and 18 points, seven rebounds and three assists at Tomahawk.

His top outing may have been a 19point, five-rebound, five-assist effort at River Falls on Dec. 31, all done while banging underneath with Iowa football recruit Eli Johnson for much of the game. He also had 15 points and seven rebounds in a 60-37 loss to a strong Onalaska team on Jan. 28.

Krause also took on a much larger role this season and emerged as a top 3-point threat, making a team-high 64 overall and 42 in GNC play. He led the league with 3.5 3-point makes per game and finished fourth in the conference in scoring at 14.4 points per game in 12 GNC games. In GNC play, he shot 40% overall from the field (60 of 150) and 35% from 3-point range (42 of 120).

Overall, Krause finished at 11.5 points per game and he improved as a rebounder as the year progressed, finishing at 3.9 rebounds per game.

Krause sank five 3s in four different GNC games. He was five of nine and scored 20 points at Antigo, was five of 10 with 21 points and 10 rebounds in a 58-46 home win over Lakeland on Jan. 24, had 16 points with five 3s at Mosinee and at home against Antigo. He had a 12-point, 10-rebound double-double at Tomahawk and scored a season-high 22 points with four 3s at Lakeland.

His season-high was seven 3s during a 21-point night at Merrill on Dec. 19, a game Medford lost 71-63.

Daniels’ year got off to a rough start when he broke a bone in his hand during the first week of practice. He missed the team’s first six games but quickly regained his place in the starting lineup and averaged 5.2 points, 4.2 rebounds and 2.2 assists in 10 GNC games. Overall, his numbers were 5.3 points, 3.4 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game.

In his third game back, Daniels scored 14 points and had seven rebounds and three assists in the win at Antigo. He had 11 points and seven assists in the rematch with the Red Robins and he had a 10point, 10-rebound double-double at Tomahawk. He had eight points and three rebounds at Mosinee.

Daniels was the one Raider who enjoyed shooting at Menomonie, where Medford suffered two lopsided losses late in the year. He had 16 points, five rebounds and three assists in the Feb. 18 regular-season loss and hit three 3s in the 74-31 WIAA Division 2 regional semifinal loss on March 7.

In part due to Daniels’ injury, Dassow was thrust into a key ball-handling role early on and handled it well for a freshman, leading the team at 3.3 assists per game. He also scored 5.7 points per game and grabbed 4.1 rebounds per game and figures to be a key piece of Medford’s plans for the next three seasons. He averaged 6.5 points. 4.8 rebounds and 3.3 assists in 12 GNC games.

Dassow made an impact with 12-point outings in both games against Lakeland. He had six assists, five steals and three rebounds at Minocqua and six rebounds and three assists at Raider Hall. He had 13 points, nine rebounds and three assists in the home win over Tomahawk and nine points, eight rebounds and four assists in the home win over Antigo. He led Medford with 10 points in its playoff loss at Menomonie.

Nick Krause Second Team

Will Daniels Hon. Mention

Devin Dassow Hon. Mention

Charlie Gierl, shown taking a 3-point shot during Medford’s 81-55 Senior Night win over Antigo on Feb. 11, is the 2024-25 Great Northern Conference Co-Player of the Year. He shares this year’s top league honor with Mosinee sophomore Brayden Reinke. MATT FREY/THE STAR NEWS

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