June 11, 2018 at 12:24 p.m.
Hodags White, Comer star for Team Northern Wisconsin in Border Bash
Hodags White, Comer star for Team Northern Wisconsin in Border Bash
Owen White and Brad Comer combined to score 40 points as Team Northern Wisconsin knocked off Team Northern Michigan 104-94 in the Kiwanis Classic Border Bash hosted by Gogebic Community College in Ironwood, Mich.
The two Rhinelander seniors each hit a game-high four 3-pointers and White led all scorers with 28 points to earn the game's most valuable player award.
Their coach, Derek Lemmens, was on the bench for the exhibition game that pitted standout seniors from the northern half of Wisconsin against the Upper Peninsula's best seniors. Team Northern Wisconsin inched away in the second half after the game was deadlocked at 55 at halftime.
"It was a really good experience," Lemmens said. "It was well-run. Kiwanis does a nice job and it was a competitive game. Guys played hard. For such a short time being able to play with each other - a little 45-minute practice - the guys got to know each other really well. It was a good experience and all the players really enjoyed it as well. It was really fun."
White and Comer were the only two representatives from the Great Northern Conference in Wednesday's game. The rest of the squad included Amherst teammates Colton Groholski and Mason Wideman, Cumberland's Kobe Berghammer, Marshfield's Seth Anderson, South Shore's Connor Sorenson, Northwestern's Kade Bartelt and Hurley's Isaac DeCarlo.
In all, five members of Team Northern Wisconsin finished in double digits. Wideman had 14, Groholski and Berghammer scored 13 each and Comer chipped in 12, according to published reports.
"Brad had four or five 3s in the first half then he tweaked his ankle," Lemmens noted. "He rolled his ankle pretty bad early in the second. He played through it, but he wasn't the same, obviously. Owen had a really good second half."
Both White and Comer were first-team All-Great Northern Conference selections for a Hodag squad that went 20-3 overall this season and won the conference title.
"It was nice to coach them one last time and it just, again, enhances the experience," Lemmens said. "They're here for a reason. They've put a lot of time into the game and it's nice to see kids like that get rewarded with these opportunities. It's an opportunity to recognize them. It's an opportunity to play with play with peers who are similar to them and compete against those people. It's a nice little finish to your high school career knowing these guys put in a lot of time in the gym."
Ewen-Trout Creek's Jake Witt, who will be a teammate of White's next winter at Michigan Tech, led Team Northern Michigan with 20 points.
White will have one more all-star game experience coming up Saturday, June 16 as he represents the North team in the Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association Division 2 All-Star game at JustAGame Fieldhouse in Wisconsin Dells.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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