MEDFORD GIRLS BASKETBALL - Raider girls start 2025 with a fourgame win streak
MEDFORD GIRLS BASKETBALL
After getting through the toughest part of their girls basketball schedule in December, the Medford Raiders have feasted on a softer stretch in January to put together a fourgame winning streak.
Win number four in that streak came Tuesday with a 63-30 Great Northern Conference win at Tomahawk, which allowed the Raiders to finish the first half of the GNC season at 3-3. Medford is now up to 6-8 overall with 10 regular-season games left.
While Tomahawk has shown some improvement this season after having owned the GNC cellar for years, the Hatchets were still no match once the Raiders woke up offensively late in the first half.
A tight 1-2-2 Tomahawk zone along with some stingy whistles from the officials made it tough on Medford for the first 12 mintues. Leading just 10-8, the Raiders finally started to make some headway in their half-court offense and got into some passing lanes defensively to be able to get out and run.
Taylor Klingbeil, who led all scorers with 26 points, started the game-breaking run and Kayla Baumgartner, who added 19 points, hit a 3-pointer. Rylee Hraby’s steal led to a Klingbeil hoop to make it 20-8. After a free throw by Tomahawk’s Lydia Ziert with 2:08 left in the half, the Raiders broke it open suddenly, getting a Klingbeil 3, a steal and score from Hraby, a Klingbeil offensive putback and Baumgartner’s long 3-pointer at the buzzer right in front of Tomahawk’s bench to make it 30-9.
Klingbeil and Baumgartner eventually started having their way inside in the second half with the Hatchets trying to play some man-to-man. Laney Hraby banked in a 3pointer and Rylee Hraby hit one as well as the lead grew to 30 at 53-23. Kiley Anderson came off the bench and closed the scoring with two late baskets for Medford.
Rylee Hraby scored seven points in the win, Laney Hraby finished with three and Toryn Rau and Aliyah Pilgrim had a hoop each. Freya Alberg, a solid 5-11 junior post, led Tomahawk (2-4, 5-7) with 12 points.
Round two of GNC play starts Friday at 7:15 p.m. when the Raiders hit the home court for just the third time this season. They’ll be
MEDFORD GIRLS on page 9 looking for revenge against the Rhinelander Hodags (4-2, 9-5), who came back from a 21-point deficit to beat Medford 63-58 in overtime in the GNC opener back on Dec. 2. Aubryn Clark set a Rhinelander school record with 43 points in that game. She did not play, however, in the Hodags’ 65-24 loss to Mosinee Tuesday due to injury and her status for Friday is uncertain.
Raiders 63, Bulldogs 43
New London went scoreless in the last 7:40, allowing the Raiders to pull away Monday and earn a solid non-conference road victory 63-43.
The Bulldogs had cut a 13-point deficit to five at 48-43 following a 3-pointer from Caitlin Stroesenreuther and two free throws from Shaye Allen when they went cold. Medford took advantage with a game-ending 15-0 run that got started with two free throws and then an aggressive drive to the rim by Baumgartner, a Klingbeil basket off a Baumgartner assist and then another Klingbeil basket after Rau got a steal and got the ball up to Rylee Hraby, who got the assist. Rylee Hraby’s 3 was the final dagger with 2:28 left, opening up a 59-43 lead.
New London started the game hot from the field, banging home four early 3s. The Bulldogs led by as many as six in the first nine minutes, but Medford switched out of its zone trap and went man-to-man and, eventually, that slowed New London down.
Offensively, Medford shot well too in the first half, getting 12 points from Klingbeil and contributions from several others. The Raiders took their first lead at 25-23 on a Baumgartner steal and score with 5:45 left. Pilgrim fed Laney Hraby for a 27-25 lead and Rylee Hraby’s basket put Medford up 29-27 and the Raiders led the rest of the way, including 33-27 at the half.
Klingbeil started the second half by taking a defensive rebound the other way for a lay-in and she hit a 3 off an offensive rebound by Baumgartner to push the lead to 38-27. Medford’s biggest lead was 4431 following a rebound basket by Baumgartner before New London made its last run.
Klingbeil finished with 27 points and seven rebounds in a big night for Medford. Baumgartner had a 13-point, 12-rebound double-double that included four assists and four steals. She blocked two shots.
Rylee Hraby had eight points, four assists and five steals. Laney Hraby contributed seven points and Pilgrim added six. Rau got the last basket of the game.
New London, now 3-10, got 20 points from Allen and eight from Morgan Jones.
Medford 64, Pines 26
On Thursday, Medford earned its second straight GNC win, using a big second half to pull away from host Northland Pines 64-26.
The outcome was never really in doubt but with some tenacious offensive rebounding, the Eagles were able to stay somewhat close in the first half. Klingbeil scored 14 of her game-high 25 points in the first half, Pilgrim had 10, including a pair of 3s and Baumgartner had six as Medford led at one time 30-9 and settled for a 30-14 halftime lead.
It was 32-19 when Klingbeil delivered a knockout punch with back-to-back 3s from the left corner and then assisted on a Baumgartner hoop to make it 40-19. Pilgrim sank another 3, though she missed the free throw with a chance to make it a four-point play, and moments later, Rylee Hraby did make her free throw to complete a four-point play and put Medford up 54-20 with 10:44 left. Rau hit a 3-ball off a Baumgartner kickout and Anderson put the running clock into effect with 6:05, scoring on a drive through the lane to make it 62-21.
When the Raiders got the ball inside against Pines’ zone, they were effective, making 10 of 18 two-point shots. They also did lots of damage at the free throw line, hitting 20 of 29. Medford was eight of 28 from 3-point range.
Klingbeil had seven rebounds and two assists to add to her night. Pilgrim finished with a season-high 13 points and had three rebounds, while Baumgartner had nine points and six boards.
Rau and Rylee Hraby scored six points apiece. Rau had five rebounds, three assists and three steals. Hraby had three rebounds and two assists. Laney Hraby had three points and five assists and Anderson had two points. Laura Wegerer had three rebounds, while Peyton Boelk had two rebounds and Jolie Steliga had a rebound and an assist.
Kaydence Brost led Pines with 10 points.
Medford 68, Antigo 27
Finally on the home floor for the first time in a month the Raiders also won for the first time in more than a month, ending a seven-game skid on Jan. 7 with a dominant 68-27 GNC win over the league’s last-place team, Antigo.
Medford forced 35 turnovers and turned those into 32 points, and it could’ve been more as the Raiders missed a handful of point-blank shots, particularly in the first half, when the Raiders were only nine of 29 from the field. Still, Medford got Antigo to turn the basketball over 21 times in the first half alone and was able to take a comfortable 31-12 lead into halftime.
In what became a fairly physical game, Medford made 16 of 24 free throws, while Antigo was just three of six, and the Raiders, after a better second half, got to 20 of 39 on two-point shots and scored 38 points in the paint, while Antigo only made nine of 30 two-point shots in the game.
The Raiders broke away from an early 4-4 tie with an 11-0 run that included a 3pointer from Baumgartner, four points from Klingbeil and a rebound basket by Laney Hraby. The lead got as high as 21 late in the half.
Antigo found a brief 6-0 momentum surge early in the second half go get within 33-18, but a 3-pointer from Rylee Hraby put a stop to that. Pilgrim fed Klingbeil for an easy bucket, Rylee Hraby’s steal led to another Klingbeil basket and Baumgartner’s steal led to her rebound basket off a Klingbeil miss. Rylee Hraby added another 3 and Pilgrim hit a baseline jumper to extend the lead to 47-18.
After two free throws by Antigo’s Ava West, the Raiders went on a 13-0 run to stretch the lead to 40 as Baumgartner made a nice move in the post, Rau got a steal and score, Laney Hraby scored twice and Rylee Hraby hit another triple and cut to the hoop for another score.
Klingbeil led all scorers with 22 points and contributed four rebounds, four assists and three steals. Baumgartner finished with 16 points, six rebounds and two steals. Rylee Hraby scored all 11 of her points in the second half and had five rebounds, five steals and four assists.
Laney Hraby had her best game of the season with nine points, six rebounds and two steals. Rau had six points, seven steals and four assists. Pilgrim had a bucket, five rebounds, three assists and three steals. Anderson scored her first varsity points with two late free throws.
Tristin Arlen led Antigo with 14 points and 12 rebounds.
