December 7, 2022 at 11:50 a.m.
Hodag Hoops falls to Wausau East in OT
Hodag Hoops falls to Wausau East in OT
The Hodags relinquished a four-point lead over the final 40 seconds and eventually lost in overtime, 78-70, on the road at Wausau East Tuesday night.
Will Gretzinger scored a career-high 29 points for Rhinelander (1-2, 0-0 Great Northern), which rallied from down as many as 19 points in the first half. The Hodags led by as many as seven late, but Jayden Garrett had five of his 16 points in a 9-2 Wausau East run over the final 2:05 of regulation. Jesse Napgezek scored 19 for the Lumberjacks (2-3, 0-0 Wis. Valley), including East's first eight points in overtime.
Rhinelander committed five turnovers over the final minute of regulation and overtime, a tough learning experience for a team with only a couple of players who logged meaningful varsity minutes prior to this season.
"I just didn't have us prepared for that situation," Hodag coach Derek Lemmens said. "We haven't done enough reps on that. I didn't use timeouts appropriately down the stretch and, again, inexperience, things that we can learn from, things we can get better.
"It doesn't hurt us in conference. Obviously, it stings. It does hurt us in regionals but it's a good lesson for us moving forward and it's valuable experience, as bitter as this is at the moment."
A Max Ratty runner gave Rhinelander a 64-60 lead with 45 second left, but Garrett answered with a baseline drive the other way. Wausau East then stole the ball on the inbounds play and got a layup from Charlie Cayley with 28 seconds left to tie it.
East got the ball back after a Rhinelander offensive foul, but Isaac Rozwadowski missed a pull-up 8-foot jumper and Rhinelander's Kaleb Winter had a desperation three-quarter court heave clang off the front iron as time expired.
East took the lead for good on a similar sequence in overtime. Napgezek drove to the hoop to tie it at 68 with 2:34 left. He then stole the ball shortly after the inbounds pass and scored the go-ahead layup with 2:27 left. East made its final eight free throws to ice it while Rhinelander went just 2 of 7 from the field in the extra session.
It marked the second straight year the Hodags fell to the Lumberjacks in overtime. Wausau East defeated Rhinelander 79-75 in an extra session last December in Rhinelander.
Rhinelander sending the game to overtime seemed far-fetched early in the contest. The Hodags gave up a 16-2 run to start the game and found themselves down 29-10 with just more than six minutes to play in the opening half. East cooled off and Rhinelander finished the half on a 12-2 run to pull within single digits, down 35-26 at the break.
"We came out really flat, just not ready," Lemmens said. "I really tip my hat to the guys for not just folding, but fighting back and making a run before the end of the first half and then carrying that momentum into the second half.
Gretzinger scored 17 points in the second half and finished the night 7-of-16 from deep. He made a 3 to give Rhinelander its first lead, up 50-49, with 7:30 to play in the second. It was a nice bounce back game for the junior and lone returning starter from last year's team. He was held to 2 points and 0-for-12 from 3 in a Nov. 29 win at Crandon.
"He made some big shots and he was a big energy burst for us," Lemmens said. "We need him to play and need him to score points. He's had a first two games that he's struggled, but I thought he did a great job tonight, handled the basketball well for us as well. And what I'm most impressed with is he's getting a lot of rebounds for us. He's been one of our leading rebounders each time. That's key because that helps us initiate our offense."
There were three ties before the Hodags went on an 8-1 run thanks to 3s by Gretzinger and Kyle Brown, and a runner by Jordan LeGere to go ahead 62-55 with 2:10 remaining. Garrett answered with a quick 3 on the other end to spark East's run to close the second half. Brown then missed the front end of a 1-and-1 before Charlie Cayley scored to cut the lead to 62-60 with 1:03 left.
Though Rhinelander did not have any players foul out, foul trouble was a theme for the team, which put Wausau East to the line 33 times in the contest. The Lumberjacks were already in the bonus just seven minutes into the second half and East held a 17-point edge at the foul line in the contest.
"We sent them to the free throw line an awful lot - a lot of reaching, a lot of slapping where we could have just made them play fast and they would have ran themselves into troubles," Lemmens said. "When you're on the road, that happens and that's why we've got to be that much better showing our hands and, again, we just need to be the aggressors inside and win the position battles."
Rhinelander also struggled with Wausau East's height as Charlie Cayley and his older brother, Jack, each finished with double-doubles. Charlie Cayley had 16 points and 12 rebounds while Jack Cayley added 11 points and 10 rebounds. Caden Werth also had 10 points for East, which shot 45% (23 of 51) from the field.
"We've got to understand we're giving up size in every game that we play and we've got to have a little different mentality," Lemmens said. "We can't be sheep. We can't be soft. We really need to be more aggressive."
LeGere nearly had a double-double for Rhinelander off the bench, despite his 5-10 frame. He finished with 12 points and nine boards.
"He came in and made some huge plays. He's a tough matchup when he plays that 5 (center) position," Lemmens said. "That's one of the things that excites us. We don't have a lot of size but, on the other end, we can be a tough matchup. I thought he made some really big plays, wasn't afraid of the moment."
The Hodags were 38% from the field (25 of 65) and 12 of 36 from beyond the arc.
Next up, Rhinelander opens GNC play at Northland Pines this evening. The Eagles, one of the favorites in the conference this season, checked in at No. 5 in the latest WisSports.net Division 3 coaches poll, released Tuesday.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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