Four Northland Pines basketball players have been named to the Great Northern Conference (GNC) 2022-’23 boys basketball all-conference teams.

Seniors Nolan Lurvey and Gabe Smith were named to the first team, senior Ryan Muench was named to the second team, and senior Griffin Stiemke received honorable mention.

Smith, a 6-foot-6 center, was sixth in the conference in scoring with 175 points in 12 GNC games, averaging 14.6 points per game. He also was fifth in field goal percentage at 58%, dropping 74 of 127 shots. Smith also was seventh in rebounding in the GNC, pulling down 76 boards, good for 6.3 a game. He also was sixth in steals at 23 or 1.9 per game.

“Gabe had a great season,” said Pines coach Terry Klemett. “He really put the time in to get better individually and you could see that throughout our season. He would have been another 1,000-point scorer had he played his freshman season, but was out because of an injury. He has always been a joy to coach and always had that extra gear to work hard in practice and on his own. I’m very proud to have coached him.”

Lurvey, a 6-foot guard, was 12th in the GNC in scoring with 133 points in 12 games. He averaged 11.1 points per game. He also was third in free throw percentage at 83%, dropping 20 of 24 attempts. Lurvey was second in the conference in assists with 56, averaging 4.7 per game. He also was fifth in steals with 26 or 2.2 per game and ninth in rebounding with 73, or 6.1 per game.

“Nolan had another fine season for us. He has always been a throwback point guard and he did a great job night in, night out, running our team,” said Klemett. “He is just a very talented player and to be noted again as one of the very best in the conference is something he truly deserves.”

Muench, a 6-foot-1 guard, led the conference with 37 steals in 12 games, averaging 3.1 per game. He scored 108 points in GNC games and also contributed 29 assists and 51 rebounds.

“Ryan has been an all-conference player ever since his sophomore season,” said Klemett. “I thought he was one of the top players in our conference on both sides of the basketball. He was by far the league’s best defender. He had another great year this year and I am proud to have coached him.”

Stiemke, a 6-foot-3 forward, was ninth in the conference in scoring with 167 points, or 13.9 points per game. He led the Eagles with 24 three-point shots made in 70 attempts, good for 34%. He also had 35 rebounds and 17 assists.

“Griff had another really good season for us,” said Klemett. “He really started to shoot the ball better as the season rolled on and always had defenders tight on him because of the way he shoots the ball. He really did a nice job this year of expanding his game and getting to the rim. I am proud of how hard he worked and it showed on the court.”

Lurvey, Muench and Stiemke all reached 1,000 points in their careers at Northland Pines.

“Gabe Smith would have been another 1,000-point scorer had he played his freshman season, but was out because of an injury,” said Klemett.

“I am truly proud to have coached all of them since the ninth grade and they all worked so hard all these years and to be recognized as all-conference players is something they all deserved,” said Klemett. “I am going to really miss them, but they leave a very strong legacy here for others to follow.”

Other players named to the GNC first team included senior Logan Baumgartner of Medford, junior Tanner Hraby of Medford and senior Davin Stoffel of Medford.

Joining Muench on the second team were senior Will Fortier of Lakeland, junior Keagen Jirschele of Mosinee, senior Charlie Kleist of Medford and junior Will Greatzinger of Rhinelander.

Other players receiving honorable mention included senior Mason Gray of Antigo; senior Brayden Wiczek, senior Ashton Anderson and senior Ryan Carlson, all of Lakeland; junior Landen Thomer and junior Garrett Shupe, both of Mosinee; senior Gavyn Palmer of Tomahawk; senior Ty Metz and senior Zach Rudolph, both of Medford; and senior Kyle Brown of Rhinelander.

Logan Baumgartner of Medford was named the GNC Player of the Year, while Medford coach Ryan Brown was named GNC Coach of the Year. Baumgartner led the conference in scoring with 238 points or 19.8 per game.

Medford won the conference with a perfect 12-0 record, followed by Northland Pines at 10-2. Both of the Eagles losses came against Medford, one by three points and the second by one point. Mosinee was third at 8-4, followed by Rhinelander at 6-6, Lakeland at 4-8, Antigo at 2-10 and Tomahawk at 0-12.

Northland Pines finished the season at 20-6 overall under coach Klemett. Other seniors on the team included Miles McCanles, Jordan Kohn, Austin Samanske and Kadin Kroeplin.