March 28, 2022 at 8:18 a.m.
Team review: RHS boys' basketball
Up and down season ends on high note
Team review: RHS boys' basketball
The record will show that Rhinelander finished below .500 for the third time in the last four seasons, going 13-14 overall. However, thanks to one magical week in March, it will also show that this year's team was the first Hodag squad to reach the sectional round of the WIAA tournament since 2014.
"This moment that they created by making it to sectionals, that's their mark on this program, and the excitement they created around basketball, and the amount of people that they had following and supporting them," Hodag coach Derek Lemmens said following the team's sectional semifinal loss to Medford. "Those types of things are how traditions and how programs are not just built but survive. We haven't had this opportunity to be in sectionals in eight years. They brought us back to a place that I think we took for granted for a little while there. That's what they can be proud of. They can hang their hat on a lot of things."
Here are five storylines from the recently completed season.
Cinderella run
Despite a 10-13 regular season record, the Hodags entered the WIAA tournament as the sixth seed in an 11-team bracket and heated up at the right time.
The Hodags blitzed Antigo 74-39 in the first round of the playoffs in what many figured to be the last home game of the season at the Jim Miazga Community Gymnasium. That set up a rematch with third-seeded Shawano, whom Rhinelander beat 58-52 during the regular season.
Despite making only four of their final 12 free throw attempts at the end of regulation, the Hodags managed to find a way into overtime, and got a key offensive foul call on Shawano standout Michael Metcalf-Grassman in a one-point game with 13.6 seconds remaining in the extra session as they went on to win 61-56.
Thanks to seventh-seeded Merrill's upset over second-seeded Mosinee, Rhinelander earned one more home game in the regional final round and withstood a late Merrill run that saw the Bluejays trim a 15-point deficit down to as few as six over the final 3 1/2 minutes before the Hodags held on for a 72-64 victory.
"Guys showed some grit," Lemmens said of Rhinelander's tournament run. "We played with a lot of emotion - sometimes a little too much emotion - but it's great to see that level of passion and emotion. That's kind of what we were missing in some situations where we lost winnable games. Kudos to them to really pulling together and just playing good basketball at the right time."
Some hot shooting did not hurt the Hodags' cause, either. Rhinelander was 29 of 50 from 3-point range in its three tournament wins.
The opposite showed when the clock struck midnight on the Hodags' run. Rhinelander shot only 28% overall and 4 of 20 from 3-point range in a 56-29 loss to Medford in the sectional semifinals. It marked the second straight year, and third time in the last five seasons, that the Raiders ended the Hodags' tournament run.
Mid-season sputter
The offensive woes during the Medford playoff game were the second-worst - in terms of total points and shooting percentage - on the entire season for the Hodags. Only a 27% and 28-point effort in a loss to Stevens Point Jan. 21 was worse.
The Hodags were 8-5 when they took on the Panthers, but that loss triggered a swoon that saw the team drop eight straight games and fall out of any sort of Great Northern Conference title contention.
The team struggled on both ends of the floor during the slump, failing to shoot at least 40% from the field in half of those games. Meanwhile, opponents averaged more than a point per possession in seven of the eight losses and there were five instances in which a team either made 10 or more 3s or shot 50% or better from the 3-point line.
The lowest point in the slide came Feb. 11 at home against Lakeland in which the T-Birds, without leading scorer Will Fortier, shot 62% and beat Rhinelander by four.
"We wait until the game's on the line instead of just coming out with great energy. I don't know. We're in a bad spot right now and we need to find our way out," Lemmens said following that loss.
Biggest win
Prior to the losing streak, the Hodags were an inconsistent squad. They had some big early season wins at D.C. Everest and Shawano, but were also blown out in non-conference game against Marathon, Freedom and Reedsville.
The Hodags' signature win during the first half of the season came at home Jan. 4 against Medford. Rhinelander took advantage of some cold Raider shooting. Medford shot only 21% in the game as the Hodags rallied from down 11 with nine minutes to play to win 55-49.
The Hodags had dropped seven of their previous eight contests against the Raiders prior to that victory.
"They really have had our number," Lemmens said. "Their style of play, they play so hard. They just go after you and it's really made our teams uncomfortable in the past. It made us uncomfortable today, but we were able to finally match them defensively. Even though it was ugly, we were able to come out on top."
Statbook
The Hodags had four primary scoring threats this season, led by senior point guard Jacksen Smith, who averaged 17.4 points per game on his way to first-team All-Great Northern Conference honors. The UW-Superior recruit also averaged at team-best 4.2 assists per game.
"Smith, being a first-teamer, I think he's had to carry a lot of the load in a lot of different areas on this team. Whether it's scoring, playmaking, he's been able to do that for us," Lemmens said. "Jacksen to get a first-team, that was nice for him because we just have a lot of very good players in this conference."
An undersized squad, the team's only true post presence was 6-3 senior Jackson Zettler who finished the year with 8.6 points and 4.7 rebounds per game. Zettler was streaky at times for the Hodags. He had 10 games in which he scored in double figures, led by 20-point games against D.C. Everest and Wisconsin Rapids. But he also had 13 games in which he scored six points or fewer.
Senior Ryan Jamison, back with the team after a couple of years away from basketball, averaged 8.4 points per game and led the team with 6.0 rebounds per contest. Sophomore Will Gretzinger came on toward the end of the season as he averaged 8.4 points per game and was a team-best 40.7% from 3. He scored 22 points in a playoff win over Antigo and scored at least nine points in each of the Hodags' final six contest.
What's next
Next season's squad will look significantly different for the Hodags. In addition to Smith, Zettler and Jamison, the team will graduate starter Caleb Olcikas and reserves Ty Welk, Alexx Huff and Jaden Beske.
Gretzinger will be the only player back who scored more than three points per game on varsity. Though there were some clues at the end of the season as to who some of next year's key players may be. Junior Kaleb Winter earned more minutes during the second half of the season in a defensive role and sophomore Max Ratty earned a varsity jersey midway through the year and played some key minutes down the stretch - including hitting a pair of key free throws late in the overtime playoff win at Shawano.
However, the conference figures to be strong again next year with Medford, Mosinee and Northland Pines all returning key pieces from their squads. Lemmens said his team can reload, but it will need a strong offseason in order to be competitive.
"I'm excited about it. JV had a lot of success this year. JV played really well," he said. "The conference is going to be as good as it ever has been. There's a lot of good, returning players. With that being said, I think we have the opportunity to be one of the most complete teams, but what are we going to do in the offseason? This is our choice. We haven't had good offseasons. If guys decommit while other teams are playing (we're in trouble). Medford's going to be in the gym, Mosinee's going to be in the gym, Pines going to be in the gym. They're going to be in the gym. We've got to make sure Rhinelander is in the gym, we're getting better at basketball, we're in the weight room and, if we do those things, I'm very excited about what we could be next year."
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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