February 18, 2021 at 8:31 a.m.
Round 3 vs. Mosinee
Hodag hoops opens playoffs tonight against GNC rival
Round 3 vs. Mosinee
Third-seeded Mosinee comes to town this evening for the WIAA Division 2 regional semifinals. The Indians advanced with an 82-62 win over Wausau East on Tuesday night. Rhinelander swept the regular season series with Mosinee, but will need to win once more to potentially get their third crack at top-seeded Medford tomorrow night. The Raiders, who beat Rhinelander twice in the regular season, host Merrill in tonight's other regional semifinal contest.
The Hodags (13-5) have scored almost identical victories over the Indians (16-9) this season. They defeated Mosinee 71-57 in the conference opener back on Dec. 11 in Rhinelander and then scored a 71-56 win at Mosinee Jan. 30.
"We've hit shots against them both games," Hodag coach Derek Lemmens said. "That's always nice. It's nice to get your offense in flow when you're hitting shots. We'll continue to, hopefully, do that. Our offensive movement has been really good against them, so I hope we continue to be patient, move that basketball and really good looks are going to open up."
Slowing down Mosinee begins with limiting first-team All-GNC selection Cyle Kowalski. The senior is averaging 17.6 points per game, but has scored 32 and 22 in the two games this year against the Hodags.
"Kowalski has to be stopped, especially in the open court," Lemmens said. He can do so much in such a fast rate. He gets that ball and he's just gone. Continuing to control him and control tempo, making it a half court game, I think is going to be important."
In addition to Kowalski, 6-5 senior Jake Placek and 6-4 sophomore Davin Stoffel have provided some depth inside for Mosinee, averaging 12.1 and 10.4 points per game, respectively.
Mosinee pulled away late in the first half Tuesday night to take a 39-26 lead on Wausau East at halftime. The Lumberjacks got to within 10 in the second half before Mosinee put the game away. The 82 points were the most Mosinee has scored all season.
Lemmens and the Hodag coaching staff watched the live stream of Tuesday's contest and noted the improved play of Mosinee's bench, which had scored only 11 combined points in the two meetings against Rhinelander this year.
"They had a really nice stretch there and built a lead when some key guys were on the bench," Lemmens said. "That's something we'll have to look at, because the bench has not brought a lot in the games that we've played. To see them have the ability to turn it up at an important time, that was something we definitely took notice of."
Lemmens also stressed that Mosinee likes to thrive on turnovers, which has been a point of emphasis for the Hodag offense this year. He said patience tonight will be a key.
"Offensively, can we be a team that gets a shot every possession," he said. "We've done a much better job of that since Medford - of moving the basketball and moving the D before we look to attack the D. That's going to be the key moving forward. If we try to attack set defenses, we're going to turn the basketball over and bad things are going to happen. If we work and play as a team, I think good things are going to happen."
Tip-off is slated for 7 p.m. at the Jim Miazga Community Gym. The winner of the contest will either travel to Medford, or host Merrill Saturday night in the regional finals.
All-GNC team announced
The Great Northern Conference over the weekend announced its 2020-21 all-conference boys' basketball team. Four Hodags earned recognition.
Seniors Quinn Lamers and Ross Skeen were both unanimous first-team selections. Senior Travis Towne and junior Jacksen Smith both received honorable mention.
Skeen and Lamers were among the conference's top scorers. Skeen averaged 13.9 points per game in league play while Lamers averaged 13.3 points per game. The two combined to make 60 3-point shots in 12 GNC contests. Lamers also averaged 5.6 assists and 3.4 steals per game in league play.
"Ross is shooting so well from 3 on the year, just a really impressive stat considering it's not like he just showed up this year. He's been hitting 3s in this conference for two years," Lemmens said, also noting Skeen's improvement on the defensive end of the floor this year. "Quinn, he had a really nice stat line and just gave us great energy in so many games."
Towne averaged 9.3 points and 6.8 rebounds in conference play while Smith averaged 8.6 points and 3.6 assists.
"Travis came on as the year went along," Lemmens said. "He got better defensively. He led the conference in rebounding. We have him listed at 6-4, but if he's even 6-2 I would be surprised. He's really playing in a spot not made for his size. He's at a disadvantage and just did a great job.
"Smith you saw, the last handful of conference games, when he has the basketball, what he's able to do for us. He's our best creator. Had he not been injured, I think he would have finished higher up - especially when you saw the games against Medford. We struggled without him. The second time with him, we just had so much more control offensively."
The entire All-GNC first-team was unanimous with Skeen, Lamers, Kowalski from Mosinee and Peyton Kuhn and Logan Baumgartner, both from Medford. Kuhn was voted the conference player of the year for the Raiders, who went undefeated in GNC play. Medford's Ryan Brown took coach of the year honors.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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