March 5, 2018 at 12:47 p.m.
March Sadness
Medford stuns top-seeded Hodags in OT 63-61
March Sadness
White missed an eight-foot floater in the final seconds as the Raiders stunned the Hodags, 63-61, in overtime Friday night at the Jim Miazga Community Gymnasium.
Ben Lindgren's layup with 35 seconds left in the extra session gave Medford the lead for good in what was a roller coaster final stage of the game and Rhinelander missed two opportunities to try to tie or take the lead.
"There's a lot of disappointment, obviously," said White, who finished with a game-high 22 points. "It's definitely sad for us seniors for our career to be done and end like this when we knew we could do a lot more."
Medford didn't play like a 9-seed, or a team that finished fourth in the Great Northern Conference. The Raider squad the Hodags faced Friday night more resembled Medford's 2016-17 GNC-championship vintage, with Cam Wenzel draining 3s, role players stepping up and stifling defensive pressure that choked Rhinelander's typically free-flowing offense.
"Medford played really well. That's the best they've played all season. They saved their best for the right time," Hodag coach Derek Lemmens said.
The fact that Rhinelander even got to overtime was a feat. The Hodags were down 12 twice in the game, including down 48-36 with nine minutes to play in regulation. Rhinelander tied it at 52 on a triple by White with 3:47 remaining and, tied it again after Medford retook a four-point lead.
Brock Lieder made one of two free throws with 15.6 second left to tie the game at 56 and the Hodags got a tie-up underneath the hoop with 1.2 seconds remaining, preventing Medford post Doug Way from attempting a game-winning shot.
White hit another 3 with 1:40 left in OT to give Rhinelander a 59-58 lead, its first advantage since the first minute of the first half. After a Medford miss, Rhinelander thought it had extended the lead to three as Comer made a contested layup, but Comer was whistled for an offensive foul, wiping out a potential three-point play opportunity.
White hit a pair of free throws to put Rhinelander back ahead 61-60 with one minute left, but Lindgren answered again with a tough driving layup.
"We struggled - struggled from the floor, struggled to defend - and when we finally found our rhythm it was just too little, too late," Lemmens said. "We couldn't get those key stops. Medford kept hanging around. They did some good stuff."
The Hodags had one final chance after Peyton Kuhn made one of two free throws with 12.5 seconds left. Rhinelander pushed the ball to half court before spending a timeout with 7.6 seconds left. The inbound play became congested out on the perimeter before the ball got into White's hands for one final shot.
"I had kind of been feeling it lately so I wanted the ball," White said. "I thought I had less time on the clock than I did and took a floater. I could have kicked to Reese (Flores). There's a lot of things I could have done, but in a situation like that, you've got to do what seems right. That's what I did and I missed."
Added Lemmens, "We got the ball in the hand of the person we want and he made something happen. He had a good look, it just didn't fall."
Wenzel, who was second behind White in the GNC averaging 20.1 points per game, led Medford with 21 including three triples as part of a 21-9 run that put Medford ahead 29-17 with four minutes left in the first half.
Rhinelander closed out the half on an 11-0 run to cut the lead to one and then tied it early in the second on a Brock Lieder triple, but Medford responded again with a 15-3 spurt to restore a 12-point advantage midway through the second.
Dain Strick finished with 13 points for Medford, Lindgren had 12, Way had nine and Kuhn had eight for a balanced Medford offense that shot 52 percent from the field.
"They had guys that stepped up and made things happen," Lemmens said. "It was their night. They made shots they haven't all year. They made plays and they played the right game at the right time."
Medford was eliminated a night later by fifth-seeded Marshfield, 69-42.
Comer finished with 15 for Rhinelander, Lieder had nine. Junior Howard scored eight for the Hodags, but was shut out in the second half and overtime.
Despite their height advantage, Rhinelander played like the smaller team on Friday, shooting only 8 of 23 from inside the 3-point arc, and 20 of 50 overall. Medford out rebounded Rhinelander 32-20 in the contest.
Just like that, a Hodag season that had so much promise ended in bitter disappointment. It marked the third time in four years that the Hodags have been knocked off by a rival GNC school at home in the regional semifinal round.
Lemmens said he hopes this team will be remembered for its regular season success rather than its postseason failure.
"They had a great year. No one wants it to end this way, we know that, but this is not going to define what this team did," he said. "This team went 20-2. They won 20 games. They went undefeated in conference. They won a conference championship. They went toe-to-toe with the best team in the state at that time - a Joey Hauser, Drew Blair-led SPASH team. They did so many incredible things this year."
"I think the biggest thing that will be remembered is how much of a team we were," White added. "That was apparent on the court with how well we moved the ball. Then how hard we worked. Games like tonight, we're down, it looks like we're dead in the water and we came back and responded. We had a lot of fight."
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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