January 13, 2023 at 7:36 a.m.
Mentor 1, Student 0
Hodag hoops pulls away in second half to defeat Antigo, former assistant Smith
Mentor 1, Student 0
Former Hodag coach Rich Fortier fell to 3-16 against Rhinelander with Lakeland's loss to the Hodags last week. Derek's younger brother, Nate Lemmens, is just 1-7 against his alma mater during his tenure at Wausau West.
Another name was added to that list Tuesday night.
Will Gretzinger scored 18 points and Kyle Brown chipped in 12 as the Hodags pulled away from Antigo for a 60-45 victory at Sheldon Fieldhouse. It was former RHS assistant Shaun Smith's first crack at the Hodags as Antigo's head coach.
His debut against the Hodags ended the same way as it did for Fortier and Nate Lemmens - in defeat.
"Shaun's a great coach. He's doing a great job here. We miss him but this is a great opportunity for him. We had a good talk before the game," Derek Lemmens said. "I told those guys, this is a game where your opponent is going to know each of you better than any team moving forward. They're going to know our tendencies. They're going to know what we do better than any team. So if they take it away, we've got to have an answer for that."
Rhinelander (4-6, 2-2 Great Northern) won, in part, by breaking some of its own tendencies through the first nine games of the seasons. The Hodags were, perhaps, the most aggressive they have been all season attacking the basket. Though Rhinelander shot only 40% (19 of 47) from the field, they took 32 2-point attempts compared to only 15 3s - by far the biggest ratio of 2s to 3s all season. That also resulted in a season-high 22 free throw attempts.
On the other side, the Hodags slowed down Antigo's offense, especially in the second half.
The Robins (1-10, 1-4 Great Northern) led 24-23 at halftime, thanks in part to going 11 of 15 from the field in the first 18 minutes. Antigo was held to 8 of 29 shooting in the second half. Gretzinger hit a 3 to put the Hodags up for good just 30 seconds into the half and Rhinelander used a 17-4 run to pull away, taking a 51-37 lead with 3:06 remaining.
"It's a big deal that we start attacking and are not settling," Lemmens said. "We start doing little things finishing play defensively. Our physicality made us seem like we're bigger than we are. That's what we have to understand. If we're physical, we can overcome a few of those things."
That especially held true against Antigo big man Mason Gray. The 6-7 senior finished just below his average, with 15 points and 15 rebounds on the night and was saddled with foul trouble in the second half, picking up his second, third and fourth fouls all while being out-positioned for rebounds by strong Hodag boxouts.
Rhinelander held its own on the glass, getting out-rebounded 35-25 against a much taller Antigo squad.
"I was really pleased with the guys and their effort, especially rebounding," Lemmens said. "Guys really teamed up, hit the glass and made an effort to not allow Mason Gray to get deep touches. It was really good to see how hard those guys competed, despite giving up a lot size."
Gretzinger and Brown both had a big second half for Rhinelander. Gretzinger scored 14 points after the break while Brown had 10 over the final 18 minutes.
"I think guys got comfortable, got a little rhythm," Lemmens said. "Willy G and Kyle got their rhythm and we were able to open up the court a little more in the second half and gets better looks."
Gus Schuessler had 16 points to lead Antigo, which finished the night 43% (19 of 44) from the field.
Rhinelander will look to win its fourth straight game, and move above .500 in the GNC tonight at home against Tomahawk.
"I think we just need to continue to get better at what we do," Lemmens said. "Offensively, at times, we were a little discombobulated and got away from our continuity and were lacking purpose. So cleaning those things up and just continuing to play hard."
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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