February 27, 2023 at 12:56 p.m.
Hodag hoops fends off Tomahawk in regular season finale
WIAA playoffs start tonight vs. Ashland
Will Gretzinger and Kyle Brown combined to hit nine 3-pointers and the Hodags fended off Tomahawk on the road 52-42.
The win gave Rhinelander (8-15, 6-6 Great Northern) a solo fourth-place finish in the conference, but it was not the effort Lemmens hoped his team would have against the last-place Hatchets (5-18, 0-12) ahead of tonight's postseason opener against Ashland.
"We were able to pull it off, but it was not a great performance on our behalf. We didn't do a lot of things very well," Lemmens said.
Tomahawk closed to within four, down 46-42, off a Tyler Jablonski free throw with 2:30 remaining. Jordan LeGere answered with a basket in the post on Rhinelander's next trip down the floor and Tomahawk was unable to make another shot. The Hodags made four of their final six free throw attempts to account for the final margin.
Though the Hodags hit 10 3-pointers, held the Hatchets to 34.7% shooting (17 of 49) and held a 41-32 advantage on the glass, Lemmens said if was another night where his team struggled on both ends of the floor.
"We just lacked energy and, offensively, we didn't shoot the ball great (19 of 55, 34.5%). We weren't overly patient," he said. "We didn't have much inside presence at all. It's just kind of that same things where we're not making shots, we're not making plays.
"Defensively, that might be the worst defensive game we played. Not a single guy could keep a guy in front and still didn't do a great job boxing out. It was just disheartening to see all the details and all the things we didn't do tonight."
Rhinelander trailed only once in the game, off a Jablonski pull-up that made it 6-5 Tomahawk three minutes into the contest, but the Hatchets hung around. They tied the game on a couple of other occasions in the first half before Rhinelander used a 12-5 run over the final 5:28 to take a 32-24 lead to the break.
Gretzinger scored 20 points and added 10 rebounds for Rhinelander in his first double-double of the season. His 3 from the top of the key made it 39-28 Rhinelander with 15:09 remaining, but Tomahawk scored the next eight, capped off by a Gavyn Palmer make through contact that cut the lead to 39-37 with 7:51 to play.
Palmer, who led the Hatchets with 16 points, missed the subsequent free throw and the Hodags answered with a Seth Nofftz triple on the other end of the floor. Gretzinger then stole the ensuing inbound pass and make a layup to quickly build the lead back to seven.
Brown added 18 for Rhinelander as he and Gretzinger combined to score 38 of the Hodags' 52 points.
The Hodags open the WIAA tournament at home against Ashland tonight in a D2 regional quarterfinal game. Rhinelander is the No. 8 seed as it faces the ninth-seeded Oredockers (7-17, 6-12 Heart O'North). The winner will travel to top-seeded Fox Valley Lutheran for a regional semifinal contest on Friday.
"At the end of the day we get a game on our court to kind of work some of the kinks out and some of the playoff bugs," Lemmens said. "We need to have a great practice on Monday and come out with great energy Tuesday. I can't imagine energy's going to be a challenge on Tuesday and, if it is for anyone, we just move on down the line and find someone different. That's playoff basketball."
The Hodags stand a decent chance of snapping out of their late-season offensive funk against an Oredocker team that's allowing 71.7 points per game on the season. That includes an 85-46 loss to Rhinelander back on Dec. 28 which still ranks as the Hodags' best offensive performance of the season. Rhinelander shot 59.6% from the field and was 11 of 21 from distance.
Rhinelander also forced 26 turnovers which led to 37 points in that contest. Lemmens said he expects Ashland will be better prepared for the Hodags' pressure in the rematch and that Rhinelander will have to slow down senior guard Xander Parduhn, who's averaging 18.5 points per game on the season. He scored 15 in the first meeting against the Hodags.
"I think we need to make sure we take their lefty, No. 4 (Parduhn), out of the game," Lemmens said. "We need to make other guys handle the basketball. We need to make them play fast. I still think we can get turnovers, but it's not just going to happen. We have to be solid and smart. Then, offensively, we have to execute. We've got to take good shots. We've got to get the lead and not be playing from behind. We can't make it a game where it's close and be patient. We've got to make them feel like they have to make something happen and, hopefully, we can build on that."
Tonight's game tips off at 7 o'clock at the Jim Miazga Community Gymnasium.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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