MEDFORD BOYS BASKETBALL - Mustangs humble Raiders, who also get a key win over Eagles

MEDFORD BOYS BASKETBALL

Tuesday was a night to forget for the Medford boys basketball team, which was dominated in pretty much every aspect by host Menomonie in a 94-52 nonconference rout. One of four Big Rivers Conference teams in Medford’s WIAA Division 2 sectional half-bracket, the Mustangs have won six of their last eight –– it would have been seven had it not been for a buzzerbeating 3-pointer by New Richmond Friday –– and improved to 11-9 in their impressive showing Tuesday.

Medford dropped to 12-9 and had a hard time matching up with the Mustangs’ size and length. The Raiders were severely outrebounded 38-13, grabbing only eight on the defensive end. At times, there weren’t rebounds to get defensively as Menomonie shot a blistering 61.5% from the field (40 of 65), including 11 of 24 from 3-point range. No one shot the 3s better than 5-10 junior guard Jake Rue, who was eight for his first nine from long range before missing his last two late while attempting to tie Menomonie’s school record for 3s in a game. He led all scorers with 24 points.

Menomonie’s top scorer, 6-4 senior Isaac Ellison had his way inside, scoring 19 points and pulling down 13 rebounds. Eight of them were offensive boards. Athletic 6-7 sophomore Trevor Robert had 16 points, including three second-half dunks, and nine rebounds.

While Medford made 12 of 33 3-point attempts, the Raiders did very little offensively inside the arc against the Mustangs and 16 turnovers led to 25 Menomonie points.

The Raiders made one little push early to try to stay close. The Mustangs quickly jumped ahead 12-3, forcing a Medford timeout 3:27 in. Will Daniels, the one Raider who was on his game offensively, hit a 3-pointer and Nick Krause followed with another. Charlie Gierl’s two free throws answered a rebound bucket by Mustang Tyler Nelson to make it a 14-11 game. But Rue hit two 3s in a 16-3 run that opened up a 30-14 lead that turned into a 40-24 halftime advantage.

Krause sank a 3-pointer to start the second half, but another 13-2 that included two more Rue 3s opened up a 5329 lead. Rue and Brody Thornton hit backto back 3s and Robert got his first dunk to make it 61-31 and the rout was on.

Daniels was four of seven from long range and five of nine overall from the field to lead Medford with 16 points. He also led with five rebounds and dished out three assists. Gierl added 14 points and Peyton Ried hit a pair of 3s and scored eight off the bench. Krause hit three of nine 3s to score nine.

Freshmen Will Wojcik and Devin Dassow added three and two points respectively. Dassow led the team with five assists.

The Raiders will get back to the goal of winning the Great Northern Conference title Friday when they look to take care of business at last-place Tomahawk. A win there would assure that the Raiders, who are 8-2 in league play, would have a chance to clinch the championship in its home and regular-season finale with Rhinelander on Feb. 27. Rhinelander, who is also 8-2, hosts 7-2 Mosinee on Friday in a crucial GNC clash. Mosinee is at Antigo Monday and hosts Lakeland on Feb. 27 to close out its GNC schedule.

Seeding for the WIAA tournament bracket will be announced Sunday.

Medford 47, Pines 29

On a night where the offense wasn’t at its peak, the defense did its job Friday and carried Medford to a 47-29 Great Northern Conference win at Northland Pines.

The Eagles were limited to just 28.6% shooting overall from the field (12 of 42), including just four of 26 from 3-point range. The Eagles shot only two free throws, making one, and were outrebounded by Medford 35-25. The Eagles scored only four points in the first 11 minutes, then after they warmed over the last seven minutes of the first half, Medford held Pines to just 10 points in the entire second half. Northland Pines made four of 22 field goal attempts after halftime.

The Raiders never trailed, jumping out to an 11-0 lead over the first 6:05 of the game. Gierl had five points in the run, including a 3-pointer and Hayden Koester had four points, capping off a perfect twoon- one break with Dassow for a basket. Koester added five more points, including a 3, and Krause sank a long ball to give Medford a 19-4 lead with 7:00 left.

Mylo Albrecht hit three 3-pointers, including two straight to close the half and pull Pines within 27-19. A Jack Albrecht free throw to start the second half made it a seven-point game, but Medford got the lead back into double digits behind seven points from Ried, including a triple, and that’s where the lead stayed the rest of the way, getting as high as 20 in the final moments.

Koester led Medford with 18 points and added six rebounds. Ried tied his seasonhigh with 12 points and grabbed five rebounds. He scored nine of those points in the second half to help Medford pull away. Gierl had seven points and 11 rebounds. Krasuse had six points and four rebounds. Dassow added four points. Daniels had four rebounds, three assists and two steals.

Mylo Albrecht’s nine first-half points on 3-balls led Northland Pines, while Jack Albrecht added seven. The fourth-place Eagles fell to 5-6 in the GNC and 11-10 overall at the time.