January 8, 2018 at 1:41 p.m.
A grand game
White reaches 1,000 career points in Hodags' 80-28 win over Tomahawk
A grand game
White's 3-pointer with 9:37 remaining allowed the Hodag senior to eclipse the 1,000-point mark for his career, the highlight of Rhinelander's 80-28 rout of Tomahawk at the Jim Miazga Community Gymnasium.
It was one of 12 triples for the Hodags on the night, but by far the most resounding.
"(Brad) Comer gave it to me off a screen, it was open so I took it. Not really much else to it, just like any other play, it just happens to be a big number," White said afterward.
White came into the night needing 21 points to reach the milestone. He took 16 shots to get there as Tomahawk made life difficult inside with a compressed zone defense, but his fourth 3 of the night gave him a game-high 22 points.
Hodag coach Derek Lemmens took a timeout immediately after White made the shot and White received a standing ovation from the near-capacity Miazga Gym crowd as his accomplishment was announced over the public address system.
"It's such an amazing milestone, especially when you think about how many games he's missed because of injury," Lemmens said, noting the five games White missed at the start of last season due to a knee injury. "He really could have done this as a junior had he had a healthy career. It's amazing. It's so impressive and I'm really proud of him."
Both White and Lemmens said the goal was to reach 1,000 points Friday so it would be out of the way before a GNC showdown with Antigo this coming Friday.
"It's a monkey on a kid's back until that's taken care of," Lemmens said. "The less games he's playing with the thought of 1,000 looming, the better we're going to be as a team. I think it was really important that we were able to reach that milestone tonight.
Added White: "Today was such a foreign game because I forced myself to shoot more just so I could get it tonight. We have such a good team, so many guys who can shoot and score, I don't have to do that any night. It's great to play with these guys and great that tonight they didn't have a problem with me shooting a little bit more."
The rest of the team was OK with White taking a few more shots because they were still getting plenty of great looks themselves and knocking them down to boot. Rhinelander finished with four players in double digits, shot 47 percent from the floor (27 of 57) and were 57 percent from 3-point range (12 of 21).
"The team works the ball around so well and guys were open," Lemmens said. "I love how guys were able to still recognize when they were open and (had) no hesitation. I thought the team was still able to play really well together despite that moment looming."
The game itself was never in doubt. The Hodags opened a 10-0 lead over the first four minutes, pushed the advantage to 45-18 by halftime and were ahead 71-24 with White's milestone basket.
Junior Howard added 21 points for Rhinelander, including a 5 of 7 night from 3-point range. Brad Comer scored all 12 of his points in the first half and reserve post Bryce Schickert added 10 points off the bench.
"What really excites me is how these guys move the ball together," Lemmens said. "The first half we had 14 baskets on 14 assists. Guys share the basketball and they create shots for each other."
On the other end, Rhinelander held the Hatchets to just under 36 percent shooting (10 of 28) and forced 30 Hatchet turnovers.
Rhinelander went with an altered starting lineup, with seniors Brad Quade and Jared Haug getting the nod over regular starters Howard and Brock Lieder. Lemmens said the personnel grouping allowed the team to get into its 1-3-1 zone right away, an effective strategy that forced 21 Tomahawk turnovers in the first half alone.
"I thought guys did a very nice job of playing smart, not fouling, making the ball move and I think they did a nice job of letting Tomahawk make the mistakes instead of trying to get the steals," he said. "They made Tomahawk play a little faster than they were comfortable playing. That was the result."
Jackson List finished with 10 points for the Hatchets, while Cole Feest added eight.
Rhinelander has won nine straight games entering this Friday's matchup with Antigo. Following a 7-0 start, the Red Robins were ranked 10th in the WisSports.net Division 2 coaches poll, but come in off back-to-back conference losses against Medford and Mosinee.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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