March 2, 2023 at 8:37 a.m.
Plenty in reserve
Hodag Hoops' balanced attack downs Ashland, Fox Valley Lutheran ahead in WIAA tourney
Plenty in reserve
Rhinelander used a balanced attack - six different players had at least eight points - and rolled past Ashland 73-49 in a Division 2 regional quarterfinal at the Jim Miazga Community Gymnasium. The win advanced the Hodags (9-15) to a regional semifinal matchup tonight at top-seeded Fox Valley Lutheran.
Rhinelander was missing senior sharpshooter Kyle Brown due to illness but got a lift from its bench. Sophomore Truman Lamers, in his first game action since Jan. 24 (knee), scored 14 points. Freshman Devon Feck had 13 and Rhinelander's reserves outscored Ashland's 32-5 in the contest.
"They shared the basketball really well, and I liked that guys were aggressive for their own shot," Hodag coach Derek Lemmens said. "I feel like we've had some games where guys are passive and don't want those opportunities. I thought, today, everyone hunted them. And we had us down for 19 assists. Guys were sharing the basketball and creating opportunities for each other."
After a sluggish start, the Hodags found their legs against a defensively-challenged Ashland team, that came into the contest allowing nearly 72 points per game. The Hodags shot 55.2% from the field, marking the first time since a 68-57 win against Lakeland Jan. 6 that the team shot better than 50%. The 73 points were the second-most the team has scored this year, behind only the 85 Rhinelander put up in the regular season meeting against the Oredockers Dec. 28.
Lamers helped ignite Rhinelander's go-ahead run. He scored on a putback with 8:15 left in the opening half to give the Hodags their first lead, up 14-13. He capped off a 10-2 run a minute later with a steal and dunk in transition to put Rhinelander ahead 18-15.
"He brought us a huge spark. He brings us just a level of athleticism," Lemmens said. "When you've watched us all season long and now you see Matthew (King) and Truman out on the floor, it's a totally different team in terms of athleticism. We have that, but we haven't been able to consistently have it this season due to injury and whatnot. (Truman's) really going to be important moving forward because it's just another offensive threat."
It was Feck's turn to step up after Ashland got back to within a point. The freshman knocked down back-to-back 3s to put Rhinelander up seven and the Hodags eventually took a 31-25 lead to halftime.
"The kid can shoot the basketball. He's a gym rat. He loves the game and he's put in a ton of time," Lemmens said. "It's great to see opportunity and then him being able to take advantage of it."
Will Gretzinger, Rhinelander's leading scorer, had 12 of his 14 points in the second half as the Hodags pulled away. Rhinelander used a 15-3 burst to go ahead 48-33 with 9:20 left. Ashland got back to within 12, but Rhinelander answered with a 3 from Seth Nofftz, a putback by Kaleb Winter off a Will Quinn steal, followed by another steal and layup by Quinn to go ahead 59-40 with 6:44 to play.
Xander Parduhn had 17 points for Ashland while Derek Ollanketo had 16. The Oredockers finished the night just over 46% (18 of 39) from the field, but committed 15 turnovers.
"We pressured the ball nice, but we have to be in position better off the basketball," Lemmens said of his team's defense. "That's something we've been preaching, and that's something we're going to keep emphasizing, working on and looking at on film but, overall, I feel our guards can apply a lot of pressure and bother players. We just need to continue to support those guys off the basketball and continue to improve there."
After the game, the Hodag student section fired off canisters of confetti to celebrate its seniors in what will be the team's final home game.
"The adversity they've been facing all season long with injuries and all that, they're able to win two out of the last three home games and send it off in the playoffs with a W," Lemmens said. "I think that's great to be able to do that and we're able to give that other senior (Brown) his chance to step in and play some playoff basketball."
The Hodags will have their hands full tonight against Fox Valley Lutheran, which went 21-3 overall during the regular season, finished tied for first in the North Eastern Conference (16-2) and comes in on a 10-game winning streak. It will be Rhinelander's first matchup against the Foxes. Lemmens said he doesn't mind the unfamiliarity, which is true for both sides.
"I've always liked that, traditionally. I felt like we've run into some situations where we've played teams so many times and they can have different wrinkles and we're reacting to that," he said. "This group hasn't seen us. They haven't played against us."
The Foxes are averaging 71 points per game on the season and are led by a pair of 6-3 junior guards, Adam Loberger and Sam Ferge, who are averaging 16.8 and 13.1 points per game, respectively.
"We're excited for this opportunity, but we're going to have to play good basketball," Lemmens said. "They defend. They're just solid with the basketball. They've got a lot of skilled players. They shoot the ball really well. It's going to be one of those things, and they're at their home court, but this is playoffs and, you know what, this is what we play for. We have that opportunity. We're going to go make the most of it."
Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. in Appleton.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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