January 22, 2020 at 12:49 p.m.
Run away
Hodags score 35 straight, down Wausau West 60-38
Run away
Ross Skeen scored a game-high 18 points and the Hodags used a 35-0 run between the first and second halves to defeat Wausau West 60-38 in a non-conference game at the Jim Miazga Community Gymnasium.
In all, the Warriors went 11 minutes, 40 seconds without a bucket between 2:15 remaining in the first and 9:35 to play in the second. Rhinelander (5-7, 3-3 Great Northern) made six 3-pointers in that stretch and turned a close, low-scoring affair into a blowout.
"We made that run and, for that stretch, that's as good of basketball, offensively, that I've seen us play," Rhinelander coach Derek Lemmens said. "We got up the court, made good passes, made simple plays, shared the ball really well. Four guys are touching the basketball before it leads to a wide open shot. That's what we want to see. That looked really good."
Lemmens improved to 6-1 against Wausau West since his younger brother, and fellow RHS alum, Nate Lemmens took over the program in the 2013-14 season. The elder Lemmens has won each of the last five meetings.
The game turned less than two minutes into the second half when Skeen was fouled on a 3-point attempt. Nate Lemmens was hit with a technical foul for arguing the call and Skeen subsequently hit all five free throw attempts to put Rhinelander ahead 27-19.
West struggled to find its footing after that. Quinn Lamers, who added 14 points to the Hodags' cause, responded with a drive to the hoop followed by a top-of-the-key 3 that put Rhinelander ahead 32-19 with 14:50 to play. Rhinelander kept pouring it on from there, ending the outburst with a pair of Jackson Labs right-corner 3s to go ahead 49-19 with 10:12 remaining. West finally broke the drought with a 3 by Peter Fuchs with 9:35 remaining.
"That's huge, and then you get a ball on top of that," Derek Lemmens said of the momentum-turning technical. "(A 3-point attempt by Skeen following the technical) didn't fall, but we got a good look. We responded with some stops and they turned the basketball over.
"In the second half, we upped the pressure, made them uncomfortable and play fast. They threw the ball away. Then we started getting a little mojo. The hoop gets bigger when things are going your way on the other end."
It was a complete 180 from the way Rhinelander played in the first half, as it found itself training 19-14 with two minutes to play before the break.
"We were missing free throws, missing shots. I think we were 2 of 17 from 3 in the first half," Derek Lemmens said. "Again our volume of 3s hasn't been matching. We're shooting way too many considering we haven't been making them."
Lamers and Payton Johnson each had 1-for-2 trips at the line to cut the lead to three and Peyton Erikson tied it on a triple with 52 seconds remaining as the teams went to the locker room knotted up at 19.
Erikson, who scored eight points, knocked down another 3 a minute into the second half to give the Hodags a lead they would not relinquish.
"Peyton Erikson, he had limited minutes because of foul trouble but I thought, offensively, he was one of our best sparks," Lemmens said. "That 3 in the first half was huge. There was a great example of a player playing basketball instead of running a play. That's what we like to see and that's what I hope we continue to do."
Labs added 11 points for the Hodags, who have now held teams to under 40 points in back-to-back games after going nearly two years without holding an opponent under 40.
Afterward, Derek Lemmens said he was more impressed with the offense, in particular the ball movement that lead to a slew of 3s in the second half.
"We need to share the ball," he said. "We have too many players that have the ability to score in different ways. We just have to find a way to mesh and work together. It's still not there, but it's definitely getting better."
Fuchs finished with 15 to lead Wausau West (2-10, 0-5 Wis. Valley) while Mitchell Zahurones added eight points.
Next up, Rhinelander travels to Northland Pines to take on the Eagles in a rematch of a game won by Northland Pines 75-71 at the Miazga Gym Dec. 6. After going winless in its first 19 tries against Rhinelander since the Hodags joined the GNC, Northland Pines has won back-to-back contests against Rhinelander dating back to last season.
"We have a score to settle with Pines and I don't think motivation for the next two practices should be lacking," Lemmens said. "It's all right there. We've lost two straight to them, including one our home court. They hit 13 3s and we just didn't play good basketball. This time around we're going to be a better team."
Freelance reporter Bob Mainhardt contributed to this report.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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