January 12, 2018 at 12:12 p.m.
Reinthaler's time to shine
Rhinelander native putting together strong senior season at St. Norbert College
Reinthaler's time to shine
Reinthaler's recent play has been turning heads. He's averaged 21.5 points and nine rebounds over the last four games as he's earned Midwest Conference Performer of the Week honors two weeks running. At 11-2 overall, he has the Green Knights atop the MWC standings and humming along as they shoot for high goals come season's end.
"This year is my last one so I've got to leave it all out there and do what I can to make sure we get a nice little run there," Reinthaler told the River News in a phone interview this week.
It's been a long road for Reinthaler, the Great Northern Conference's player of the year back in 2013-14 when he led the Hodags to a sectional final appearance against future NBA'er Henry Ellenson and Rice Lake.
He saw limited minutes his freshman year at St. Norbert, playing behind Division III All-American Andrew Schwoerer.
"I got to see how he played and got to practice against him all year, which was great," Reinthaler said of a freshman season that included 12 game appearances, mostly in mop-up duty. "It was tough on me, but it was good because I needed that. It showed me how much harder I needed to work and what I had to put into the game to get out what I wanted."
Graduation and attrition moved Reinthaler into a starting role by his sophomore season, when he averaged 10.3 points and 5.6 rebounds per game. He posted similar numbers as a junior, averaging 12.1 points and 5.4 rebounds a contest.
"Freshman to sophomore year is where you make your biggest leap, the coaches even said that," Reinthaler said. "From freshman year, not playing much, you want to improve during that summer and get somewhere to start playing. We hit the weight room hard going into sophomore year, worked on my game a lot more, practices with my brothers, practiced with anybody at home to try to get my game there."
While he played a major role in the rotation each of those two seasons, a balky back caused him to miss a significant number of contests.
Now a senior, and fully healthy, Reinthaler is currently sixth in the Midwest Conference averaging 16.2 points per game, and second in rebounding at 8.2 boards per contest.
"This year my back's been feeling pretty well. I've found a guy that helps with that, just helps stretch it out and make the muscles and everything feel well," he said. "The coaches have done a good job with how they handle me in practice this year, to help me get through the whole season without missing 10 games."
Reinthaler and senior point guard D.J. DeValk (16.6 ppg, 4.0 apg) have formed a formidable 1-2 scoring punch for St. Norbert and the team is getting healthier following some early-season injuries. Heading into this weekend's play, St. Norbert had won nine of its last 10 games, with its only loss coming to No. 11 UW-Whitewater Dec. 30 in the championship of the Nicolet National Bank Holiday Tournament in De Pere.
"We have a really solid team," said Reinthaler, who was named to the all-tournament team in the holiday week event. "We can go deep with our bench and we all trust in each other and know that each person is going to get his job done. Everybody's good at knowing their role and what they bring to the team. That's a good thing."
There's a bit of symmetry for Reinthaler between his high school and collegiate careers.
The Hodags broke through in Reinthaler's sophomore year, and were ranked as high as No. 3 in the AP poll his junior year which eventually ended with a loss to Hortonville in the sectional semifinals. As a senior, Reinthaler's group led the Hodags to the sectional finals - Rhinelander's deepest advance in the WIAA tournament since 2004.
St. Norbert made a run to the NCAA Division III Sweet 16 Reinthaler's sophomore year, going 25-3 overall. A loss to Lake Forest (Ill.) College in the Midwest Conference tournament kept the Green Knights out of the big dance last year, despite a 19-5 overall record. This year, Reinthaler said he, fellow seniors DeValk and Brett O'Sullivan, and the rest of the St. Norbert roster are planning to finish some unfinished business.
"High school, my junior year, I thought we should have got a lot further," Reinthaler said. "We had a team, looking back at it, we definitely could have done more than what we did. That motivated all of us younger guys to work better, work harder. It reminds me of the same thing here. We watched seniors not get as far as they wanted to and how that hurt them.
"Hopefully if we keep clicking at get better with our team chemistry, hopefully we can make something happen."
There's also some symmetry with which the way the teams were built. Reinthaler came from a Rhinelander program that led the GNC in scoring defense in his three years as a starter. St. Norbert currently has the top scoring defense in the MWC, nearly 6 points per game better than second-place Monmouth College.
"Coach Gary Grzesk is a good coach. He really makes you focus on the defensive end and everything. We all come around and work on offense too in practice, but it all starts with defense," Reinthaler said.
Reinthaler was back in town over the holiday break to watch his former team. While impressed with how the Hodags are playing, he said watching the team illustrated how the speed of the game changes from the high school to college level.
"It just looks so slow compared to what I'm used to now," he said. "When I was in high school it felt quick and everything but now, looking back on it, it's crazy how much different it is from the high school level to the college level."
While there's still plenty to finish up this season, Reinthaler said he already has an eye on the future as he finishes a degree in accounting. After college, he has a job lined up at an accounting firm in the Green Bay area.
"I thought it was a great experience and if I had to do it again, I would because I met awesome guys that will be my friends for life," he said. "I had great coaches. St. Norbert is a great school. Everything here about it, I've loved. Looking back at it, I would definitely do it all over again."
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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