Hodags Hoops wears down Antigo

The Rhinelander High School boys’ basketball team was efficient offensively Friday night, but it was what coach Derek Lemmens saw on the other end of the floor that got him excited.

Rhinelander put the clamps on Antigo defensively and got a 19-point effort from senior Will Gretzinger in a 56-34 victory over the Robins to open Great Northern Conference play at the Jim Miazga Community Gymnasium. 

Antigo (1-3, 0-1 Great Northern) shot 32% from the field and had a difficult time finding open shots against a pesky Hodag man-to-man defense. Rhinelander (2-0, 1-0 Great Northern) limited Antigo to 37 shot attempts Friday night after holding teams to fewer than 40 field goal tries only twice all of last season. 

“I haven’t seen that level of defense from a Rhinelander team in several years,” Lemmens said. “It’s great to see that identity again. Our offense, I thought, was efficient. I thought guys did really good things, but it’s not like we were on fire by any means. (It’s encouraging) to know that we just kind of hung around and our little spurts we were able to build leads because we weren’t giving them any of those spurts.”

Similar to the win for the Hodag girls earlier in Friday night’s doubleheader, the Hodag boys withstood an early Antigo push and took the lead for good on a first-half run sparked by 3-point shooting. 

Rhinelander hit 3s on five straight possessions — three by Gretzinger and two by Seth Nofftz — to go up 16-8 with 10:26 to play in the first. The Hodags inched away from there, leading 26-16 at the break and ballooned the lead to 42-21 with just under 10 minutes to play. 

Rhinelander finished the night 9 of 18 from distance, something Lemmens said can be an effective weapon for the Hodags all year. 

“The 3-ball’s a weapon of ours. It’s going to be something that we want to use all season long,” he said. “We’ve got guys that can do it. It was great to see Seth come out and knock some down early. Willy G is always going to be a threat and we’ve got some other guys that can do it. I’m just waiting for them to blow up on the scene.”

    Rhinelander’s Evan Shoeder attempts a 3 during the first half of a GNC boys’ basketball game against Antigo at the Jim Miazga Community Gymnasium Friday, Dec. 1. (Bob Mainhardt for the River News)
  

Truman Lamers added 11 points for the Hodags and sophomore Evan Shoeder chipped in nine points off the bench. Though undersized, Lemmens said he was pleased with his forwards Shoeder, fellow sophomore Caden Sieker and senior James Heck — who was back in the starting lineup Friday after missing the season opener against Crandon due to illness.

“I think those three all bring some physicality. When you have Evan, he’s able to stretch defenses with his shooting. Then Caden and James are just two really strong kids,” Lemmens said. 

Jake Verhasselt finished with 9 points to lead Antigo after hitting a trio of first-half 3 pointers. Nobody else scored more than five points as former Hodag assistant coach Shaun Smith fell to 0-3 against Rhinelander. 

After a solid start to the season, Lemmens said he was pretty upbeat about his team’s chances in the GNC, a race that became even more wide-open on Friday after Lakeland upset reigning conference champion Medford 57-53 on the road.

“I think us, Medford, Lakeland, we’re all going to be really battling and I think, from the first few views, Mosinee has to be the favorite, but I really like — especially when we defend like this — what I’m seeing so far,” he said. “This 

team’s got great energy, and we’re just going to continue building and growing.”

Rhinelander ventures outside of the GNC tonight to take on a Wausau East team that is off to a 3-0 start and comes into the Miazga Gym tonight averaging just under 89 points per game. 

“They are scoring a lot of points,” Lemmens said. “They’re the exact opposite of what this game was. I thought Antigo did a nice job of controlling the tempo and making us work. East’s going to try to make this a 60-70 possession game. Now we’re going to have to play a little differently. I’m excited for that challenge.”

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].