December 18, 2017 at 11:54 a.m.
Hodags power past Pines 79-39
Hodags power past Pines 79-39
The Hodags wanted nothing to do with the talk of a potential trap game against the Eagles, starting the game on a 20-0 run and rolling to a 79-39 romp at the Northland Pines High School Fieldhouse.
The game was practically over before it started as the Hodags (5-1, 2-0 Great Northern) scored 20 in the game's first seven minutes before Hunter Rose finally put the Eagles (2-3, 0-2 Great Northern) on the board with an offensive putback. Rhinelander never let up, going on another 15-3 spurt later in the half that included a pair of dunks for Owen White, who led all scorers with 16 points.
"Guys came out with good energy and definitely came out with the right mindset," Hodag coach Derek Lemmens said. "It was nice to see. That's a sign of good leadership and a mature team when they can come in and be focused in these types of situations. They came out and really took the fight to them right away."
The Hodags extended their bench in the second half, but continued to extend their lead. eventually invoking the running clock rule with a Junior Howard layup that made it 75-34 with 3:40 to play.
White added 10 rebounds for a balanced Hodag attack that saw four players score in double digits. Brad Comer finished with 12 points. Brock Lieder and Bryce Schickert had 10 each.
It was Rhinelander's third lopsided win in a row, and fifth straight win overall. Lemmens said, when playing an outmatched opponent, the objective becomes playing against the game of basketball itself, rather than the five opposing players on the court. By a couple of measures, Lemmens said the team accomplished its objective Friday night.
"I thought we did a great job taking care of the ball. I think we only had seven turnovers," he said. "Sometimes when you're winning big, you get a little sloppy with the basketball and I thought guys just continued to make fundamental plays. That's a nice sign, along with fouls. Sometimes we try to get steals and are sloppy defensively, but I thought we had another game where we anticipated, moved our feet well and were not racking up the fouls."
The large lead afforded the team an opportunity to extend its bench and get all 12 players who suited up into the contest. Eleven different players scored for Rhinelander, including senior Sean Mathews, who scored five points in the second half seeing his first playing time of the season.
"All of these guys have put in a lot of time, so when we get these opportunities to reward them, it's nice to see," Lemmens said. "We thought they could have worked a little harder. That was one thing, I thought the energy from the bench was lacking a little bit but, once they got comfortable, they did a better job."
Ryan Peterson matched White's game-high total of 16 points for Northland Pines. Luciano Svetnicka added six points off the bench for the Eagles.
Up next for Rhinelander is a non-conference home game against Wausau West, which will mark the fifth meeting all-time for Derek Lemmens against his younger brother, Nate. Derek's Hodags hold a 3-1 edge in the series.
"Both teams know each other. It's just going to come down to execution," Lemmens said.
The contest will be the second half of a doubleheader at the Jim Miazga Community Gymnasium on Thursday. Tipoff is set for approximately 8 p.m.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
Comments:
You must login to comment.