February 8, 2021 at 8:46 a.m.
Raiders down Rhinelander 54-50 in GNC hoops showdown
Raiders down Rhinelander 54-50 in GNC hoops showdown
Medford used a 12-0 second-half run to take the lead and then held off a late comeback bid by Rhinelander to defeat the Hodags 54-50 at the Jim Miazga Community Gymnasium.
The Raiders (20-2, 10-0 Great Northern) clinched a share of the conference title with the win. Rhinelander (10-5, 7-3) was technically still alive as the week began, but needed to run the table this week while Medford needed to lose last night to Northland Pines, and then lose at Mosinee on Thursday.
"They would have to flat out fall on their face," Rhinelander coach Derek Lemmens said. "It's not happening. We knew that this was our shot."
Down 49-47 after a Jackson Labs 3 with 40.9 seconds left, Ross Skeen got a steal in the backcourt against Medford and dished it off to Jacksen Smith, who missed a layup. Skeen missed the putback, and Medford's Ty Baker hit two free throws on the other end after securing the rebound.
Skeen hit a 3 with 12.9 seconds left to cut the lead to 52-50 but Medford, which finished 16 of 20 from the foul line, got two free throws from Joey Sullivan to ice it.
"I'm disappointed because this is a conference championship," Lemmens said. "We knew that. That hurts but, at the same time, it feels good because so many times this year I'm just pulling my gray hair out trying to figure out what's it going to take for this group to play to their full potential and I thought tonight and Mosinee were two games where we came as close as we can to our potential. That's exciting because we want to be playing that good of basketball this late."
Rhinelander fared much better than an 83-47 blowout loss at Medford Dec. 18. The Raiders came in averaging 75.6 points per game in conference play, the Hodags held them well below that as Medford shot 41% (16 of 39) from the field.
"The guys just played so hard. That's the best team defense I think we've played all year," Lemmens said. "They had to earn everything. They've got so many offensive weapons. So they score. That's what they're going to do. They're good. There's a reason they're ranked, but I thought everything they had, they had to earn. Guys like Travis Towne, Ross Skeen did a great job cleaning up the glass."
Ultimately 24 turnovers and a 5 of 11 night from the foul line did in Rhinelander. The Hodags led 24-23 at halftime and were up 37-32 with 11:38 to play before Medford's high-scoring duo of Peyton Kuhn and Logan Baumgartner got going. Kuhn tied it on a 3 with 10:07 remaining and Baumgartner gave the Raiders the lead with another triple with 8:52 to play. Baumgartner finished with a game-high 14 points while Kuhn had 13 and Baker added 11.
Smith had 13 points for Rhinelander, Towne added 11 points and nine rebounds and Skeen chipped in 11 points.
On Saturday, Medford earned the No. 1 seed in a six-team regional for the WIAA playoffs. Rhinelander received the No. 2 seed and will host the winner a Mosinee-Wausau East regional quarterfinal game next Friday night at the Miazga Gym. Should both Medford and Rhinelander win their regional semifinal games, they would meet for a third time Feb. 20 at Raider Hall in the regional finals.
"I'd love to see Medford again, but we just have to keep our mojo going and take it one game at a time," Lemmens said.
In the meantime, Rhinelander looks to close the regular season on a positive note. After facing Lakeland last night in Minocqua, the Hodags travel to Tomahawk tonight and finish the regular season at home against Antigo on Thursday.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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