February 3, 2020 at 12:34 p.m.
Groundhog daze
For second straight year in Rhinelander, Mosinee edges Hodags 70-69 on late FT
Groundhog daze
For the second straight year, the Hodags lost at home to Mosinee 70-69 in a game decided by a late free throw.
This time around Jake Placek made a go-ahead free throw with 10.0 seconds left and Rhinelander's Drake Martin missed a contested layup at the horn as the Hodags fell to 3-5 in the GNC despite holding the lead in the second half of all eight conference games.
"We've been in this position a couple times now. It's something that eventually we're going to be able to get that shot and come out on top in one of these games," Rhinelander coach Derek Lemmens said.
Rhinelander did not have much of a second-half lead this time around. Trailing virtually all of the second half, the Hodags tied the game at 67 with 2:23 remaining on a three-point play by Drake Martin and took the lead on a Peyton Erikson jump shot with 40.0 seconds left.
Mosinee answered on the other end, getting the ball inside to Cyle Kowalski who was fouled and made both free throws to tie the game with 29.7 seconds left. Rhinelander turned the ball over on the ensuing possession and Mosinee called timeout to set up a play.
The Indians tried to go inside to Kowalski again. He missed in the paint, but Placek got the offensive rebound and was fouled, setting up the go-ahead free throw.
Placek missed the second attempt, but Mosinee corralled the offensive rebound and was fouled. Placek missed two chances to extend the lead but left Rhinelander with only 5.8 seconds to set up a final play.
Rebounding was a issue all night for the Hodags against a taller Mosinee team. The Indians held a 33-21 edge on the glass and collected 13 offensive rebounds.
"The (offensive) boards, we just weren't being tough enough," Lemmens said. "We've got to match that intensity. When a team is getting physical like that, we have to match it. We had some guys that were just a little too timid early on especially."
After Placek's missed free throws, the Hodags advanced the ball to half court and called timeout with 3.1 seconds left. Martin got the ball at the top of the key and drove into the lane where his contested layup through contact missed wide right.
A partisan Rhinelander crowd wanted a foul on the final play, but Lemmens said he understood why the call was not made.
"I thought they defended it well," he said. "I don't think there was a foul or anything like that. I just thought it was good defense and we fell short. We got a look."
Rhinelander hit four early 3-pointers as it took a 17-10 lead eight minutes in. Mosinee rebounded with a 10-0 run moments later and took a 36-32 lead at halftime.
Rhinelander tied the game on three different occasions in the second half, but Mosinee answered with a quick bucket each time.
"We didn't allow any big droughts or any big runs. Because of our shooting tonight, we weren't able to have a huge run ourselves but, when the ball's not falling, being able to do the other things and I thought we did that," Lemmens said. "I thought we kept them in check and never really let them pull away."
Point guard Luke Spink, who scored 38 points in the first meeting against RHSÂ - a 78-72 win for the Hodags, had a game-high 22 points and chipped in eight assists.
"He is hard to guard and we're not great at guarding. It's kind of a double threat right there," Lemmens said. "We've got to get better at guarding. He's good, but we made things a little too easy. I don't know if any of if was being hesitant with fouls being called or this and that, but we have to improve. Guys like that are going to get to the rim but there has to be some resistance. We'll look at this and see where we can do a better job as coaches. He's a good guard and he's had our number."
Kowalski added 17 points for Mosinee and Placek had 16.
Erikson led the Hodags with 16 points, Ross Skeen had 15 and Martin chipped in 14.
Both teams shot roughly 50% from the field. Rhinelander was 25 of 50 while Mosinee was 25 of 49. While Rhinelander hit five more 3-pointers than Mosinee, the Indians got to the line 12 more times than the Hodags and hit six more free throws.
Despite the loss, Lemmens said he was encouraged by the Hodags' ball movement in the game and how his team stayed with one of the best teams in the GNC.
"I thought tonight that's the best we've done of just sharing the ball and executing," he said.
Rhinelander (5-9) takes on Wisconsin Rapids in a non-conference home game on Tuesday.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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