December 2, 2020 at 12:49 p.m.
Team preview: RHS boys' basketball
Hodag hoops 'expecting to be good' this year
Team preview: RHS boys' basketball
Yet coach Derek Lemmens, entering his 11th season as head coach at his alma mater, is expecting better days for the Hodag hoops program. He is optimistic that the team, with six players back from last year's rotation, including three starters, will turn things around.
"We are expecting to be good and we are expecting to be ready early on because we have so much experience returning - Quinn (Lamers), Ross (Skeen), Jackson (Labs), Jacksen (Smith), Travis (Towne)," he said. "These guys have logged a lot of varsity minutes, whether it be last year or the last two years."
The Hodags open the season tonight on the road at Wausau East in a replacement game for what was to have been the Great Northern Conference opener at Northland Pines. The Eagles had to postpone the game due to health concerns and have rescheduled the matchup for Monday, Dec. 14. Playing musical schedules will likely be a common occurrence this winter, as the majority of teams in the Northwoods attempt to play through the COVID-19 pandemic. Rhinelander already had its originally scheduled season opener against Ashland on Dec. 1 nixed due to Ashland delaying the start of its winter sports season.
"We're going to go into it and every day just take whatever the day brings and make the most out of the opportunity," Lemmens said. "A lot of teams haven't started yet. Some teams have been told they probably won't have a season. We're fortunate and we're appreciative of any opportunity we do get. It's not going to be like a regular season, but we're just going to value every opportunity. We're going to take it one game at a time and hopefully at the end we can feel some sense of normalcy."
For the Hodags, a sense of normalcy would including contending for the Great Northern Conference championship. Rhinelander's .775 winning percentage in the GNC and five conference titles are the best marks in conference history. Lemmens said, in order for Rhinelander to get back to its championship ways, it will start on the defensive end of the floor - a sore spot for Rhinelander over the past two seasons. The Hodags have given up 63 points per game on average the last two years after only allowing a handful of 60-point games on defense through Lemmens' first eight years at the helm.
"It's a pride thing. It has to be more internal than anything else," said Lemmens, whose team will likely use a mix of man, 3-2 and 2-3 zones this season. "I don't think it's the Xs and Os as much as guys deciding, 'You know what, I'm not going to let a team score. I'm not going to let a team have a second shot.' Things are always going to happen, but if you really have that mindset, you're going to come out on top more than not. We haven't had the mental toughness the last few years. We haven't had the grittiness. I'm hoping this year, this team, with the time and effort they're putting in, they refuse to allow teams to just score and run their offense on them."
Rhinelander will also need to fare better down the stretch in close games. The Hodags were outscored by an average of 4.6 points in the second half last year as they lost five games within the GNC where they held second-half leads.
"I'm hoping a lot of that is (going to be remedied) just by our experience now - having a better awareness offensively and defensively of clock, situations," Lemmens said. "You're up 8 with 45 seconds left, the only thing that's going to get them back in a game is 3s. So we're not going to give up 3s like we did last year. Or, we have the basketball and we're up two with 30 seconds left, we don't need a shot."
Offensively, things will likely start with a pair of senior guards, returning all-GNC selections Quinn Lamers and Ross Skeen. Lamers led the team in scoring, averaging 13 points, a season ago while Skeen averaged 10.7 points per game. Expect more from Labs (5.2 ppg) and Smith (5.0 ppg) this year upon the graduation of Peyton Erikson. Up front, Towne (6.0 ppg, 3.5 rpg) will likely have a bigger role as the Hodags look to replace all-conference second team forward Drake Martin.
Lemmens said, on any given night, any of those players could score in double digits. That was proven last year as all five projected starters scored 10 or more points in a game at least three times.
"We have a lot depth and we have a lot of players with the ability to score," Lemmens said. "It's really going to come down to are we patient enough to take a great shot? Are guys willing to, one day score and then the next game maybe not have as many opportunities and just play that unselfish basketball. Going with our ability to score is do we have the ability to share the ball and put team first?"
In handicapping the GNC field, Lemmens said Medford and Mosinee will once again be toward the top of the conference. Rhinelander will get an early chance to see where it stacks up as it hosts Mosinee on Dec. 11 and then travels to Medford Dec. 18.
"I have to think we have to be considered the favorite or right up there, with how many players we're returning and just the experience that we have and the players," he said. "I think Medford's going to be solid. They return player of the year Peyton Kuhn. Mosinee returns a really nice player in Cyle Kowalski and some supporting cast."
Lemmens noted both Northland Pines and Lakeland have talented, young rosters, Tomahawk is expected to be led by returning all-conference player Drew Bolder and that Antigo is a bit of an unknown this year with new head coach Cory Reetz.
The 2020-21 season will be two weeks shorter than years past, as the WIAA abbreviated the winter sports season to accommodate for an alternate fall sports season beginning in March for teams that opted out due to the pandemic. That means a mid-February start to the WIAA playoffs. By that point, Lemmens said he hopes this year's Hodag squad is in the image of some of the better Rhinelander squads of the past decade.
"I just want to play great team basketball," he said. "At the end of the day, if we commit to defense, our offense is going to be there. If we continue to play unselfish offense and just be a gritty, hard-nosed defensive team, that's what I'd like to see."
Rhinelander's first home game will take place this Tuesday against Marathon. Attendance will be limited to only two spectators per athlete on the varsity roster.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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