January 9, 2023 at 8:12 a.m.
Hodag hoops denies Lakeland 68-57
Hodag hoops denies Lakeland 68-57
Will Gretzinger scored 19 points to led four Hodags in double digits as Rhinelander defeated Lakeland 68-57 at the Jim Miazga Community Gymnasium.
Rhinelander (3-6, 1-2 Great Northern) shot 56% from the field and led by as many as 22 points in the second half. The T-Birds (6-4, 1-2) made things interesting with an 11-0 run midway through the second, but never got closer than nine points down the stretch.
"That was a big game," Hodag coach Derek Lemmens said. "Guys played well right from the start. I think they just came out, kept the game simple, played hard, played together and it was good basketball."
Rhinelander started fast for the second straight game, opening the contest on 20-6 run. The Hodags stretched the lead to as many as 19 in the first half before taking a 33-16 lead to the break.
The Hodags hit only three 3-pointers in the first half, but they were timely makes by Gretzinger and Kyle Brown at the end of the opening 20-6 salvo. After failing to shoot better than 40% in each of its first seven games, Rhinelander has now shot better than 50% in each of its last two contests - backing up a nearly 60% effort from the field in a 85-46 win over Ashland Dec. 28.
"We gave ourselves that cushion with the way we played," Lemmens said. "Our patience offensively, knowing when to attack, when to make the extra pass, that's the best I think we've done offensively. Defensively, we played hard. When we made mistakes there were times we were able to overcome of it because we were just playing hard and hustling. That's a big step forward for us."
Rhinelander appeared to be in command, up 52-30 with 9:27 remaining, but Lakeland scored 11 unanswered points over the next 2 1/2 minutes, capped off by a Carter Quade 3, to halve that advantage.
The teams traded baskets from there until back-to-back late 3s from Lakeland's Will Fortier made it 66-57 with roughly 40 seconds left. It was too little, too late for the T-Birds.
Still, Lemmens said his team could improve in a late-game scenario like it had on Friday. The Hodags committed eight turnovers, all in the second half, as Lakeland ramped up the pressure.
"When you have a lead like that, you can't start playing to not lose. I really thought we didn't meet passes well every time and then just getting past the defense and realizing they didn't suddenly disappear. They're behind you. We had some tap behinds. We've just got to be a little more aware," he said. "Those are all things that are going to come with experience. We haven't had to close a lot of games out, so this is some of their first times closing them out in these situations. I thought, overall, they did a pretty good job."
Brown added 13 points for Rhinelander. James Heck and Kaleb Winter, coming off career-highs in their last contest against Ashland, bettered those marks on Friday. Heck finished with 11 points, while Winter chipped in 10.
"James finished around the basket, which was huge. Kaleb made some clutch free throws down the stretch," Lemmens said. "A lot of good things happened and, it is. It's a team effort. Every game we play has to be a team effort. We don't have a dominating aspect about us. We've got to do it together. Today was really beautiful basketball."
Though Lakeland held a 36-19 edge on the glass, Rhinelander outscored Lakeland 36-20 in the paint and held the T-Birds to 39% shooting overall (19 of 49).
"Overall, we worked hard," Lemmens said. "Our rotations, at times, were slow, but we were able to make up for some things just because we were working hard.
Will Fortier scored a game-high 20 points for Lakeland. He's the youngest son of Lakeland head coach, and former Rhinelander head coach, Rich Fortier, who fell to 3-18 against his former team.
"Richie has done so much for Rhinelander - two conference championships, three trips to state," said Lemmens, who was the point guard on the 2001 Hodag team that Rich Fortier led to state. "I got to play for him. I coached with him. He's been a huge role model for me. I'm going to miss coaching against him when he's done."
Brayden Wiczek added 12 for Lakeland while Quade and Ryan Carlson scored nine points each.
Next up, Rhinelander faces Antigo tonight in a second half of a girls-boys doubleheader at Sheldon Fieldhouse in Antigo. It will be the first game for Lemmens against former assistant coach Shaun Smith, who scored his first win as Antigo's head coach Friday night with a 65-48 victory over Tomahawk.
"I'm excited for the opportunity Shaun has in Antigo and the guys are excited to play against him," Lemmens said. "We have to stretch them and we're going to have to make shots. We can't trade twos. We have to turn them over a little bit and we've just got to do a great job not allowing deep touches and finishing the play on the glass."
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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