March 2, 2022 at 3:39 p.m.
March momentum
Hodag Hoops starts WIAA tournament with Antigo rout, Shawano up next
March momentum
The Hodags hit a season-high 11 3-pointers - nine of which were courtesy of Will Gretzinger and Jacksen Smith - as they blew out Antigo 74-39 Tuesday night at home in the regional quarterfinal round of the D2 playoffs.
Smith led all scorers with 24 points while Gretzinger, in the starting lineup for an ill Alexx Huff, had 22. The sixth-seeded Hodags led from tip to final horn and now get set for a regional semifinal contest tonight at Shawano.
"It's nice when the basketball goes through the hoop," Hodag coach Derek Lemmens said. "We came out hot. I was just really impressed, as a sophomore, Willy G coming in, knocking down shots early, getting us a little mojo right off the bat. Smith I think went 4-for-4 (from 3-point range) just shooting the ball well. I thought we were patient and took good shots. Tonight we made shots, which was big for us."
Gretzinger hit his first four attempts from beyond the arc as Rhinelander raced out to a 16-6 lead over the first six minutes. The sophomore had 15 of the Hodags' first 19 points and put the exclamation point on Rhinelander's dominating first half, knocking down a fadeaway mid-range jumper just before the buzzer to put the Hodags ahead 38-17 at the break.
"He's our best 3-point shooter, statistically, this season and he brings a lot of important things," Lemmens said of Gretzinger. "His ability to makes shots (is huge), but there you have gym rat. There you have a kid who's always spending time in the gym. That creates confidence. He sees the ball go through the hoop a lot and that swag carried into the playoffs."
Antigo (3-22) never had an answer. Junior Mason Gray was virtually the Red Robins' entire offense in the first half. The 6-6 forward had 14 of Antigo's 17 points in before the break, but was shut out in the second half. Conner Kolz, Antigo's leading scorer in Great Northern Conference play this season, was held scoreless in the first half before recording seven points in the second.
"Mason's just so big and physical and such a great athlete. Keeping him off the glass, that's just a challenge," Lemmens said. "I thought the guys did a pretty good job of it. Him and Kolz, that's their heartbeat and the rest of the guys need those two to create. I thought we did a nice job containing those two and force other guys to have to play a role beyond what they're comfortable doing. That really helped."
Antigo hung around against Rhinelander during the team's two regular season meetings - losing by 10 and 13 points in relatively low-scoring affairs. That was not the case Tuesday night, as Rhinelander had the lead to 20 points with 4:19 remaining in the first half and used a 12-0 run midway through the second to go up 57-28 and put the game out of reach against. Antigo, which averaged only 40.3 points per game in the regular season, could never match the Hodags' offensive firepower.
"Being able to make shots early gets them playing from behind right away," Lemmens said. "They can't just control tempo. They had to play faster. I thought that was important. It also just gave us a little extra energy, which we were able to be a little better on the defensive end because of our offense."
Senior Ty Welk added nine points for Rhinelander off the bench. He was one of eight Hodags who scored in the game as the team shot 51% from the field (24 of 49) and 11 of 17 from beyond the arc. Antigo was held to 29.5% on 13 of 44 shooting.
The win gave Rhinelander (11-13, 6-6 Great Northern) an opportunity to face Shawano (16-8, 8-6 Bay) for the second time this season. The Hodags upended the Hawks 58-52 in Shawano Dec. 12. Rhinelander led by as many as 11 points in the second half of that contest before withstanding a rally.
"These guys know that they can do it. We know we can play with them, but we also know they're good," Lemmens said. "They've only been getting better. They played a good conference, so they've been challenged. They're going to be ready for us."
Smith had 19 points in the first meeting against Shawano while fellow senior Ryan Jamison had 12 points and nine rebounds. Michael Metcalf-Grassman averages 19.3 points per game for Shawano and scored 14 against the Hodags.
Shawano struggled from the field in the first meeting, shooting just 8 of 32 from 3-point range and 29.7% overall.
Yet, Lemmens said Shawano is the No. 3 seed for a reason.
"They're so athletic and they have great depth," he said. "When you're watching, it just feels like five of the same guys. They're long, athletic. They pressure. They're patient offensively. They run some really good stuff. They're well coached. They're challenging. We're going to have to make shots. We're going to have to be patient and play our pace and we've just got to hang around and let the pressure get to them."
Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. in Shawano. The winner of tonight's game will either travel to second-seeded Mosinee or host seventh-seeded Merrill tomorrow night in the regional finals.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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