December 14, 2022 at 1:45 p.m.
Hodag Hoops sputters in Shawano loss
Hodag Hoops sputters in Shawano loss
The Hodag offense sputtered, shooting 34% from the field and committing 17 turnovers, in a 61-36 loss to the Hawks Tuesday night at the Jim Miazga Community Gymnasium.
This was not like last season, when the Hodags used overtime to upset the third-seeded Hawks in the WIAA playoffs. Nor was it like 2021 when the Hodags erased a 15-point deficit over the final five minutes at home to beat Shawano in overtime.
The Hawks (7-1, 1-1 Bay) led wire-to-wire behind a 17-point, 10-rebound effort from senior Michael Metcalf-Grassman and the Hodag offense simply could not keep pace against a taller, more athletic Shawano team.
"When you turn the ball over in the second half - we turned it over 14 times - those lead to easy opportunities. They got out in transition and that's when the score gets away from you," Hodag coach Derek Lemmens said. "I felt like our offense hurt our defense more than anything else."
Kyle Brown led the Hodags (1-4, 0-1 Great Northern) with 12 points on 4-of-7 shooting from beyond the arc. He hit a 3 with 3:02 left in the first half that got the Hodags within five. Rhinelander didn't score the rest of the half and the Hawks ended on an 8-0 run to take a 32-19 lead to the break.
Rhinelander back got within 10 on a Max Ratty 3-point play with 15:32 left in the second but then went 6 minutes, 35 seconds without a bucket. That was the catalyst for a 13-3 Shawano, capped off by a Metcalf-Grassman dunk in transition that pushed the lead to 47-27 with 8:20 remaining.
Offense, or a lack thereof, continued to be a story for the Hodags. Rhinelander has yet to shoot 40% or better from the field this season and Tuesday's loss marked the third time in five games that the Hodags failed to score 40 points.
"Offensively, we're figuring things out," Lemmens said. "We haven't made shots. We're turning the basketball over, just unforced and we just don't move the ball well enough, consistently, to move the D and really break the defense down - all things we have to improve on.
"There's nothing, really, offensively that we were proud of. Another 30-some point game is the result."
Part of Rhinelander's scoring struggles can be traced back to the team's inability to get the foul line. The Hodags were just 2 of 9 from the stripe Tuesday night and are averaging fewer than eight free throw attempts per game so far this season.
"We don't have a strong inside presence. We don't do a great job even attacking. When we do attack, it's usually because it's open," Lemmens said. "We don't have an athletic or powerful player that's going to get in the paint and kind of attack the rim. That's just not who we are. Maybe someone like that will develop but, right now, our strength is really in speed and those back cuts we got inside. Those are the kinds of layups we get more times than not."
Brandon Reed added 11 points for Shawano while Logan Sipple chipped in nine off the bench. Rhinelander did a decent job of slowing down a Shawano team that came in averaging 70 points per game, but the Hawks finished 47% from the field on 21 of 45 shooting.
"Game-wide, our defense was a lot better. We were playing with a lot more energy," Lemmens said. "We were a little outmatched. We made some mistakes, but when we made mistakes there were times where we could still overcome it because we were being aggressive.
"Our defense got a lot better and defense is important. Hopefully that will set the tone and the offense will come."
Will Gretzinger had 10 points for Rhinelander while Ratty chipped in seven. The Hodags had a number of reserves under the weather and senior Jordan LeGere missed Tuesday's game due to illness.
Next up, Rhinelander will face Mosinee tonight at the Miazga Gym. The Indians checked in at No. 9 in this week's WisSports.net D2 coaches poll following a 6-0 start to the season.
"We can't turn the ball over against them like this," Lemmens said. "They want to get out in transition. They want to be on the attack. It's got to be a half-court game for us to hang around. We have to be patient. We have to be decisive and we have to knock down shots."
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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