November 21, 2017 at 1:06 p.m.
Team preview: RHS boys' basketball
With experienced roster, Hodag hoops eager to regain GNC title, make deep playoff push
Team preview: RHS boys' basketball
With an experienced bunch returning, the Hodags may have the opportunity to do just that, but coach Derek Lemmens knows there's a lot of work to do between now and potentially putting another year on their conference championship banner come February.
"We're going to focus on the process and not the result," he said. "If it's going to happen, it's going to happen because of what we do not because we want it to happen. We need to focus on the things we need to do to make that happen. This team definitely has the ability. It has the talent. It's all up to us to put the pieces together, play the right way and stick together to make that happen."
The Hodags bring back three starters and seven players overall from last year's varsity rotation, including 6-5 forward Owen White. The senior forward, who has signed to play collegiately at Division II Michigan Tech, has been a first-team All-GNC player the last two seasons. He averaged 21.5 points and 10.1 rebounds a contest last year despite missing the first five games with a knee injury.
"(He's) the best player in the area, in my opinion, and maybe one of the best players in the state. There's no doubt in my mind that he can compete with those groups," Lemmens said.
But the eighth-year Hodag coach describes this year's squad as "Owen and then some."
"We have a lot of good players that have a lot of experience returning," Lemmens said. "There are going to be some good players that people are going to see for the first time that are going to surprise them when you see them."
Perhaps the biggest hole to fill entering the season is at point guard, where the Hodags graduated Reeve Craig, who averaged 6.6 points and 5.1 assists per game. Lemmens said returning junior Junior Howard enters the season as the odds-on favorite to take that spot. He averaged 4.8 points per game off the bench for the Hodags last season.
"Junior Howard has come a long way," Lemmens said. "He's worked really hard since I have been in Rhinelander at becoming a better and better player. He's starting to get a little confidence and swagger. I think he's going to fill that role best."
Shooting guard Brad Comer (5.4 ppg) returns along with starting guard Reese Flores (4.0 ppg). They are both seniors along with other backcourt contributors Brad Quade and Markus Johnson.
Juniors Brock Lieder and Bryce Schickert, both listed at 6-foot-3, will supplement White in the front court.
"I think we're going to have more overall size that we have had," Lemmens said. "We don't really have the 5-8 guys. We've had a stretch of years where we've had some really small guards. I think our overall size is going to be an improvement - and just the length and speed that goes along with that."
Rhinelander will find out very early on where its strengths and weaknesses lie. The Hodags open the season Friday night at three-time defending Division 1 state champion Stevens Point and will then host former Wisconsin Valley Conference rival Wisconsin Rapids at the Jim Miazga Community Gymnasium Nov. 28.
"We're going to have two games in a very short span that are going to show us where our flaws are, which I think is wonderful," Lemmens said. "They are both really good teams including one of the, if not the, best teams in Division 1, but if we have a flaw, they're going to exploit it and we're going to leave that stretch of games a better team."
The Hodags will open the GNC slate against Lakeland as part of a girls-boys doubleheader Dec. 8. It's the first of eight doubleheaders the RHS boys will have with the RHS girls this season.
Several of the GNC frontrunners, including last year's champions Medford, took big hits in graduation. Lakeland had the potential in the offseason to emerge as the Hodags' top competition in the GNC but has lost projected starters Michael Ouimette and Connor Evenhouse to injuries. According to The Lakeland Times, Ouimette is out for the season and Evenhouse might be on the shelf until February.
While reclaiming the GNC crown is a goal, the Hodags also want to make a deeper push in the WIAA tournament. The Hodags have not been to sectionals since reaching the sectional final against a Henry Ellenson-led Rice Lake squad back in 2013. That's a trend Lemmens said he would like to change.
"I see this being a team that can be in those sectionals again," he said. 'Those are goals. Those are things we want to have happen. We've got to focus on the process. I see this team, as good as this regional is with Merrill and Marshfield now, being right up there with them and I'm excited for the opportunity."
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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