February 4, 2019 at 11:20 a.m.
Hodag hoops falls to Northland Pines 68-56
RHS suffers first GNC loss to Eagles
Hodag hoops falls to Northland Pines 68-56
However, the Eagles have been on the rise this year and the Hodags have been in a funk on the hardwood.
Friday night, the teams' trajectories crossed in a resounding way.
Ryan Peterson scored a game-high 24 points and the Eagles knocked off the Hodags 68-54 at the Northland Pines High School Fieldhouse in Eagle River.
Rhinelander had gone 17-0 against Northland Pines dating back to when the Hodags joined the GNC in 2010. But this Hodag team has looked like a shell of the program that has won five of the last six conference titles. That was the case again Friday as Rhinelander lost its third straight game to dip back below .500 overall on the season.
"It would be (a shock) in a lot of years, but not this year," Hodag coach Derek Lemmens said of losing to Northland Pines. "This is not a complete shocker. This is a good team. It has an incredibly talented point-guard, a first-team all-conference player there (in Peterson), a talented big and they've got guys playing with confidence around them. (Northland Pines coach) Troy (Pieper)'s doing a great job with them. It might sound like it, but it's really not the upset it sounds like."
Much of the same woes that have plagued Rhinelander all year were present again Friday night. The Hodags committed 15 first-half turnovers and Pines closed out the first half on a 21-7 run to take a 36-22 lead at the break. The inability to come up with a timely bucket or a crucial stop hindered the Hodags' comeback bid and the Hodags again struggled to limit a team's ability to connect from the outside as the Eagles made eight 3-pointers in the contest.
"Guys were just playing tight," Lemmens said. "They came out of the gates right away, playing to not lose -unforced (turnovers) throwing the ball, not catching it clean, really things that have been haunting us and we just haven't been able to shake. Then we weren't able to get big rebounds, we were unable to finish plays with rebounds. When we do get that stop, it just takes the wind out of your sails when you're unable to finish the play with a rebound. They dominated us on the glass."
Pines led by as many as 19 points midway through the second half before Rhinelander made a 12-0 run to cut the lead to 54-47 on a 3-pointer by Ross Skeen with 7 minutes remaining. The train stalled there, however. Rhinelander's next two possessions ended in Brock Lieder turnovers and Pines slowly inched away over the final five minutes.
"Every time we threw some punches they gave us a jab and backed us back off," Lemmens said. "We were never able to get over the hump. It felt like a few times we had them backpedaling, but they responded each time."
The turnover bug ran rampant among the Rhinelander team. Peyton Erikson committed eight turnovers and had no assists, according to statistics provided by the team. Point guard Junior Howard had six assists and six turnovers. In all, Rhinelander had six players who turned the ball over three times or more.
Peterson led three Eagles in double digits. Joe Misina added 15 points for Northland Pines and Ben Tilley chipped in 11. Skeen led the Hodags with 15 points while Erikson added 12 points.
Northland Pines might be a much improved team than years past - over the past two weeks it has knocked off Antigo and Rhinelander each for the first time as a member of the GNC - but Friday's loss still felt like rock bottom for a scuffling Hodag team.
"There's only one way to go - up," Lemmens said. "We just have to start playing as a team, start playing to win and stop playing to not lose and just start executing. We said it all season, there's plenty of talent, it's the other things we don't have right now and we've got to find them because this team can do things."
Rhinelander returns home to face Tomahawk Thursday evening.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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