February 18, 2019 at 2:01 p.m.
Hodag hoops knocks off Antigo 74-60
Hodag hoops knocks off Antigo 74-60
Ross Skeen led four Hodags in double-digits Friday night and the Hodags helped their case in a jumbled race for second place in the Great Northern Conference with a 74-60 win over Antigo Friday night at the Jim Miazga Community Gymnasium.
The teams traded the lead for the first 12 minutes of the first half, but Rhinelander took control with a 14-5 run to end the half, led 34-26 at the break, and kept Antigo at bay the rest of the way.
"I thought we did a nice job of handling their 1-3-1 (zone defense)," Hodag coach Derek Lemmens said. "We had kind of a rusty start and guys, once they got a feel for it, did a nice job of breaking it down. We hit some 3-point shots. I think Ross Skeen had three in the first half and the ball was moving really well. I think we had nine assists in the first half. That was big."
Antigo got to within five just more than three minutes into the second half, but the Hodags answered with a 16-5 run that pushed the lead to 16 points with 10:16 remaining. Five different Hodags made baskets during the run, which was capped off by a Brock Lieder 3.
"We got the lead and, once we got it, I don't believe we relinquished it," Lemmens said. "Guys did a nice job. Every time Antigo started to make a little bit of a run, we were able to respond with some big plays."
It also helped that Rhinelander shot 47 percent from the field on the night (25 of 53) and spread the wealth around. Skeen had a game-high 18 points for the Hodags, Lieder scored 15 off the bench, Junior Howard added 14 points and Bryce Schickert chipped in 11.
Antigo also had four players in double digits, led by 15 points for Nevin Cornelius.
The game was Rhinelander last in a stretch of three games on three consecutive nights. Lemmens said the Hodags responded well despite a lack of rest and a lack of practice time.
"It's so hard because we haven't faced a 1-3-1 in a long time and we haven't had a practice to discuss things," he said. "All of our prep is done on a whiteboard and that's hard to understand. I liked how the guys were quickly able to adapt to it and attack it."
The win evened Rhinelander's record at 5-5 in the GNC and brought the team back to a game below .500 overall at 9-10. More importantly, the win over Antigo was one last bargaining chip the Hodags used at Sunday's seeding meeting as it jockeyed with several other GNC schools for seeding position. Rhinelander ended up seeded ahead of every GNC team except conference-champion Mosinee. Rhinelander drew the sixth seed for the tournament and will host 11th-seeded Shawano a week from tonight.
"I think it helps that, out of all the teams, our schedule is the most difficult. I think that benefits us," Lemmens said prior to the seeding meeting. "But where it initially lies is going to play such a huge role in where we fall."
The Hodags traveled to Wisconsin Rapids for a non-conference contest last night and will close out the regular season Thursday night at Mosinee.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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