January 16, 2019 at 1:29 p.m.
Defense delivers
Hodags' late stand defeats Medford, sets up game with Mosinee Friday for conference lead
Defense delivers
Medford missed two contested shots in the lane down the stretch as the Hodags fended off the Raiders 54-53 Tuesday night at the Jim Miazga Community Gymnasium.
Onyi Ekwueme missed a contested 10-footer in the waning seconds for Medford and Mason Rudolph's putback chance from underneath the basket was off the mark. The ball rolled out of bounds off Rhinelander with 0.3 seconds left. Drake Martin swatted away the ensuing inbounds pass for the Hodags, who rallied from down 12 points in the first half to move a game behind Mosinee for first in the GNC standings, with the Indians coming to town Friday night.
"Guys did a nice job and made some big plays down the stretch," Hodag coach Derek Lemmens said. "When we made mistakes, we made up for them on the other end. We did not compound them. We weren't making two mistakes in a row. We found a way to put the clamps down defensively when we needed to or get a bucket when we needed to."
Neither team was able to cash in on the offensive end over the final two minutes, thanks in part to calls that went against both teams. Rhinelander thought it had an and-1 from Junior Howard that could have extended the lead to two scores with just more than a minute to play, but Howard was called for a charge instead. Medford's Justin Sullivan was called for a charge on the other end, handing the ball back to Rhinelander with about 40 seconds left.
The Hodags were content trying to take time off the clock and forcing Medford to foul, but the plan backfired when Peyton Erikson dribbled the ball off his leg and out of bounds with 24.7 seconds remaining.
Rhinelander needed a strong defensive effort down the stretch and got it. The Hodags held the Raiders to 21 points on 8 of 20 shooting over the final 18 minutes.
"The defense is what this team really needs to improve and I thought in the second half (we did that)," Lemmens said. "The first half, I thought Medford had free reign offensively and was very comfortable. I thought in the second half, guys made them a lot less comfortable and dictated to them what they were going to do instead of the other way around. I was really proud of the effort the guys gave, especially in the second half."
Medford had its way with the Hodags early in the contest, stretching the lead to 29-17 on a Rudolph bucket with 4:08 remaining in the half. Rhinelander chipped away at the deficit and got a three-point play from Ross Skeen with 17.6 seconds remaining to head to halftime down 32-26.
A bucket by Erikson brought the Hodags within a possession at 34-32 just less than three minutes into the second half. The Hodags struggled to forge ahead until Erikson banked in a 3 from right of the key with 9:25 remaining to give Rhinelander the lead at 42-41.
Medford answered on the other end with a three-point play off an offensive rebound by Peyton Kuhn. Erikson knocked down a jumper to tie the game at 44 with 8:25 left. Martin found Howard underneath for a layup that put Rhinelander ahead 46-44 with 7:58 left, and the Hodags didn't trail the rest of the way.
Kuhn made both ends of a one-and-one to tie the game at 51 with 3:13 remaining, but Howard made a free throw and Martin knocked down a pair of foul shots with 2:21 to play.
Rhinelander utilized the paint against an undersized Medford team. Six-foot-5 senior Bryce Schickert led all scorers with 15 points and Martin added 12 as the duo did most of their damage near the basket. Rhinelander made a concerted effort to get the ball inside, attempting only 12 3-pointers on the night, well below its average of 20.5 attempts through the first 11 games of the season.
"We knew that going in," Lemmens said of the post presence Schickert and Martin brought to the table. "I thought guys did a good job moving off of them and keeping that floor spaced. Bryce and Drake did a nice job of knowing when to shoot, when to pass. We had the size. We don't have that very often and I thought guys utilized it."
Howard added nine points for the Hodags, who finished the night 47 percent from the field (18 of 38). Kuhn scored 15 points for Medford, including 11 in the second half. Doug Way had 11 points and eight rebounds for the Raiders and Sullivan chipped in eight points.
The win sets the stage for a Rhinelander-Mosinee battle Friday night at the Miazga Gym. Should the Hodags win, they would move into a tie for first place in the GNC with the Indians at the halfway point of the conference season.
"We've got plenty of fire, plenty of purpose behind this one," Lemmens said. "They're coming on our court. This is a big one for a lot of reasons. It's important to come out ready to play and ready to take advantage of this opportunity."
NOTE: Tuesday night's game did not tip off until 8:05 p.m., 50 minutes after the advertised start time, due to a junior varsity game that went into triple overtime. Medford won the JV game, 67-64.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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