February 11, 2019 at 1:38 p.m.
Hodags go cold late, drop fourth straight to Hortonville
Hodags go cold late, drop fourth straight to Hortonville
The Hodags had a chance to bolster their playoff resume Saturday night but went cold when it mattered most.
Rhinelander endured a 7 1/2-minute field-goal drought down the stretch and fell to Hortonville 61-55 at the Jim Miazga Community Gymnasium.
Rhinelander led 42-39 on a Junior Howard 3 from the top of the key with 9:18 to play. The Polar Bears flipped it to a nine-point lead in their favor before the Hodags made their next basket - a Peyton Erikson 3 with 1:46 left. By then, Hortonville had built enough of an advantage where it was able to salt the game away from the foul line.
"We weren't as aggressive offensively in stretches," said Hodag coach Derek Lemmens, whose team fell to 7-9 on the season following its fourth straight loss. "In certain stretches, we kind of let the defense dictate and were reacting instead of being in the attack. I think a big part of that was personnel. We had certain guys on the floor tonight who were just not really comfortable and other guys who were."
Parker Lawrence answered Howard's 3 with one of his own to tie the game with 8:43 left. Jordan Jahnke, a 6-8 freshman, gave the Polar Bears the lead for good on a basket in the lane with 7:45 to play.
Rhinelander, which shot 47 percent (20 of 43) overall for the night, regained its touch late on three made jumpers by Erikson and a 3 by Howard, but Hortonville answered by making their last eight free throws as the Hodags were never able to get any closer than four points late.
Hortonville took control of the game late in the first half, using a 12-4 run to take a 10-point lead with 1:15 to play before the break. Howard converted a three-point play with 17.5 seconds left to cut Hortonville's advantage to 29-22 at halftime.
Rhinelander made three straight 3s to take the lead 31-29 just more than 2 1/2 minutes into the second half. The teams treaded the lead five more times after that, before Hortonville stretched its advantage in the closing minutes.
A big reason Rhinelander surged back into the game was Erikson's second-half shooting. He was scoreless on 0-of-3 shooting in the first half. He went 7-for-7 in the second, including 5-for-5 from distance, as he finished with a game-high 19 points.
"He shot the ball really well. He was aggressive offensively," Lemmens said. "He was hunting his own shot. I thought guys did a nice job of finding him open offense and it was good that he stepped up. He's been shooting the ball well. Taking care of the ball has been an issue and I thought, tonight, he was much better with it."
Howard, despite some first half foul trouble, had 17 points for Rhinelander, which struggled at times against Hortonville's speed, height and athleticism. Lawrence had 19 for the Polar Bears, who finished 46 percent from the field (21 of 46). Cole Warning chipped in 15 for Hortonville.
Rhinelander has one week, and three big conference games, to try to improve its resume ahead of the WIAA tournament. The team heads to Medford tonight, hosts Tomahawk Thursday and Antigo Friday. Conceivably, the Hodags may have to run the table to get back above .500 and present a compelling argument to the sectional coaches why they deserve a top-eight seed and a home game in the first round of the tournament.
"This is a big stretch. If we're able to get Medford, that right there could put us ahead of Lakeland, even with them betting us twice because if they get buried behind Medford, they don't have a foot to stand on," Lemmens said. "Antigo, if we can beat them, that's a team we know we have a spot ahead of. Those two games, and obviously taking care of business against Tomahawk, are big games seeding-wise and it's really going to determine if we can get a home game or not.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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