February 5, 2020 at 1:48 p.m.
Another opportunity missed
Rapids holds on 69-65 as Hodags squander two late chances to win
Another opportunity missed
Rhinelander committed two turnovers in the final 20 seconds with chances to tie or take the lead and Grant Flory scored 34 points for Wisconsin Rapids - including four late free throws - to give the Raiders a 69-65 victory over the Hodags in a non-conference contest at the Jim Miazga Community Gymnasium.
Finishes like Tuesday night's are becoming a disappointing trend for the Hodags (5-10, 3-5 Great Northern), who have had a chance to tie or win in the final minute of each of their last three contests and have a three-game losing streak to show for their efforts.
"Guys battled. Grant Flory is a very difficult matchup, especially for a team like us where we're already undersized, but I thought, overall, we put ourselves in the spot (to win)," Rhinelander coach Derek Lemmens said. "We're gaining valuable experience and hopefully, moving forward, this starts to pay off."
Rapids (7-10, 3-5 Wis. Valley) never trailed in the final 10 minutes after Matt Schooley made a shot in the paint to put the Raiders ahead 50-49. The Hodags rallied from down six after a Flory basket pushed the lead to 61-55 with 6:18 left.
A Peyton Erikson jumper and a Quinn Lamers 3 cut the lead to one. Flory made two free throws which were answered by a Ross Skeen basket with 1:42 left to make it a 63-62 game.
Rhinelander eventually put Rapids to the line where Nathan Krommenakker made one of two free throw attempts with 37.3 seconds left.
Down by two, Rhinelander brought it into the front court, attempting to set up a final shot, but sophomore guard Jacksen Smith was pressured by Krommenakker near the timeline and committed a carrying violation with 17.9 seconds left.
Flory, the son of Rhinelander alum and Wisconsin Valley Conference all-time leading scorer Mike Flory, converted two free throws with 8.3 seconds left to push the lead to four. Rhinelander answered with a desperation 3 by Smith with 2.8 seconds left and called a timeout.
Rapids' Dylan Lisitza was fouled on the inbound and made one of two free throws. Lamers secured the rebound and called timeout with 1.8 seconds left.
Needing to go the length of the floor to get off a game-tying or game-winning field goal attempt, Lamers tried to make a full-court inbound pass, but his heave hit a dividing curtain in the Miazga Gym rafters, which resulted in a game-sealing turnover.
Lemmens pointed the finger at himself for Rhinelander's recent failings in late-game situations.
"We're putting ourselves in a good spot and we're not able to close out. I think when it happens this many times, that's on me," he said. "I need to figure something out so that we can be successful later in the game. We need to come out with more practice in these situation and we also need to have a better plan moving forward.
"I'm just not getting it done. Guys are putting us where we need to be, I've got to be able to finish these games for us and I'm not. Guys did their job tonight not. This one, I fell short."
The Hodags lost despite having one of their most efficient nights of the season on the offensive end of the floor. Rhinelander shot 48% (23 of 48), including 11 of 21 from 3-point range and had five players score eight points or more, led by Lamers with 16.
"Hopefully now guys are starting to get a little confidence," Lemmens said. "The offense has created a little more rhythm in our shots. Guys are going to get opportunities and I hope they just keep knocking them down."
Rhinelander made its first two attempts from deep to jump out to a quick 6-0 lead and held the advantage until 8:32 remaining in the first half, when a pair of Lisitza free throws gave Rapids a 20-19 lead. The teams traded the lead six more times down the stretch, but Flory scored eight of Rapids' final 10 points to give the Raiders a 37-35 lead a the break.
"Even early on, I felt like we were up by 10 and we were down by one," Lemmens said. "Even when we were doing good things, we couldn't pull away from them. They just made shots and plays when they needed to."
Rhinelander began the second half on a 9-2 run to take a 44-39 lead and forced Rapids to take a timeout. Flory answered with a personal 6-0 run to put the Raiders ahead with 12:52 remaining.
Schooley finished with 10 points for Rapids. Cayden Kautzer had nine points off the bench on three 3-pointers and Krommenakker added nine for the Raiders, who shot 48 percent from the field (24 of 50), were 7 of 17 from deep and were 14 of 16 from the foul line.
"Defensively, we need to continue to take some steps forward," Lemmens said. "Especially on the overload situations we didn't rotate as well as we could have and our gap presence wasn't really there. When guys needed help on a guy like Grant Flory, we had an arm where we should have had a body. That is what needs to happen."
Skeen had 15 points for the Hodags. Smith scored 12 off the bench for Rhinelander. Jackson Labs added nine points and Drake Martin had eight.
Lemmens remained upbeat about the Hodags' outlook despite a stretch that has seen the team drop five of its last seven games. Rhinelander's last four losses have come by a combined 13 points.
"It doesn't feel like we've had a good stretch here, but I really do feel good about where we're headed," Lemmens said. "I though these last three games, we've played really well, just the other team has played well too. Defensively, we have to find ways to be a little more disruptive. But I think, offensively, we're where we want to be."
The Hodags will travel to Medford tomorrow night to take on the conference-leading Raiders. Tip-off for the varsity contest is set for 6:45 p.m. at Raider Hall.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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