December 23, 2021 at 8:30 a.m.
Hodag Hoops uses strong second half to topple West
Hodag Hoops uses strong second half to topple West
The Hodags shot 68% in the second half and rallied to defeat Wausau West 68-54 in non-conference play at the Jim Miazga Community Gymnasium.
Jacksen Smith had a game-high 20 points to lead three Hodags in double digits as Rhinelander erased a 10-point first half deficit. That allowed Derek Lemmens to improve to 7-1 lifetime coaching against his younger brother, and fellow RHS alum, Nate.
When Rhinelander's offense got hot, Wausau West's got cold. The Warriors were only 7 of 24 from the field in the second half after shooting nearly 50% in the first.
"Just the overall energy was great. Offense was good the whole game, but defensively they really shored things up," Derek Lemmens said.
Down 29-19, the Hodags used an 8-1 run over the final 3:41 of the first half to trim the deficit to 30-27 at the break. From there, the lead changed hands seven times over the first five minutes of the second half before the Hodags took over for good.
Tied at 40 with 12:10 remaining, the Hodags held the Warriors without a field goal over the next 6 minutes, 20 seconds of game action. Ryan Jamison broke the deadlock with a 3 and sparked a 15-2 run that had the Hodags up 55-42 with 6 minutes to play.
West made one last push to cut the lead to five with 3:37 remaining, but the Hodags beat the Warriors' pressure down the stretch which resulted in a series transition layups. Ty Welk's three-point play with 41.5 seconds left pushed the lead to 64-53, effectively putting the game out of reach.
Cole Nelson had 20 points for Wausau West and was a big reason the Warriors jumped out to a 10-point lead. He hit five of his first seven attempts from 3-point range and had 17 of West's first 29 points.
The Hodags were finally able to put the clamps on Nelson late in the first half and into the second. Nelson missed his final six attempts from distance and made only one of his final eight field goal attempts overall.
"We just lost Cole in both our zone and man-to-man," Derek Lemmens said. "We weren't aware of where their shooters were. We had much better awareness (in the second half). The guys did a great job adjusting and did a better job anticipating and being in there on the catch."
The Hodags also got a lift from forward Jackson Zettler in the second half. After sitting much of the first half in foul trouble, Zettler came alive in the second. He scored all 12 of his points over the final 18 minutes on 6 of 9 shooting.
"He's a handful when he's confident," Derek Lemmens said. "I didn't think in Mosinee he played very confident in the post. Tonight he made some great moves, got a little mojo and then the guys just kept feeding him. It was working so they kept going to it. It was great to see."
Jamison added 17 points for Rhinelander on 7 of 9 shooting. The senior, who did not play basketball his sophomore or junior years, has made a big impact so far, averaging 10.8 points through the Hodags' first five games.
"It shows the power of just being in the gym," Derek Lemmens said. "He missed two years and he became a player this summer by being in the gym, shooting, being at open gyms, working out. To young players that want to get better, put in the time and a lot of things can happen in just a summer."
Rhinelander made all 11 of its free throw attempts in the contest, including an 8-for-8 night at the line for Smith.
Derek Lemmens has now won six straight over Nate Lemmens' Warriors (4-2, 1-0 Wis. Valley). The elder Lemmens said the Lemmens' family Christmas celebration has already taken place, so there won't be any playful needling between the siblings around the holiday table. But that might not prevent a text message or two being sent as Nate's Warriors get set to embark for a tournament in Winter Park, Fla. next week.
"He's got to have his phone in airplane mode, so it won't matter," Derek Lemmens quipped.
Rhinelander (3-2, 0-1 Great Northern) does not nearly have the same amount of travel for its holiday tournament. The Hodags will head to Freedom this coming Tuesday and Wednesday. First up is a rematch against the Irish, who dominated the Hodags 75-41 last season. The Hodags will face Reedsville in the second day of the tournament.
"Both of those games, we're going to be battling some really good teams. It's only going to make us stronger when we get back to conference play," Derek Lemmens said.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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