Team preview: RHS boys’ basketball

Save a Cinderella run to the sectional semifinals in 2022, the last five years have been pretty lean for the Rhinelander High School boys’ basketball team compared to its lofty standards.

The Hodags have had only one winning season in that time, and that came in the COVID-condensed 2020-21 campaign. Last year, the Hodags withstood a litany of injuries as they went .500 in the Great Northern Conference, and only 9-16 overall. 

Despite all of that, with a number of key players returning and with some big departures elsewhere in the conference, coach Derek Lemmens said he believes his team has the pieces to contend for its first GNC title since the 2017-18 season.

“We have the ability to win this conference. I for sure think that,” he said. “But we also have the ability to lose to all those other teams. We’re not going to be a given for anything. We’ve got to play hard and make sure, game in and game out, we’re prepared and giving our best effort.”

The Hodags are bolstered by the fact that they have one of only five returning players in the Great Northern Conference to have earned all-conference recognition last year. That’s senior guard Will Gretzinger, who averaged 15 points per game las year and was Rhinelander’s leading 3-point shooter (69 3s, 35.4%), top free throw shooter (33-42, 78.6%) and top rebounder at 4.6 points per game.

Junior Truman Lamers returns after averaging 9.1 points a game off the bench, despite missing nine games due to a knee injury. Senior guard Will Quinn is back after leading the team in assists (3.4) and steals (2.2) per game. The Hodags will look for an uptick in production from senior forward James Heck, who averaged 3.3 points and 3.1 rebounds per game last year. 

Add to that mix a couple of underclassmen who showed flashes at the end of last year in junior Seth Nofftz and sophomore Devon Feck. Feck had 13 points off the bench in a playoff win over Ashland last February. Both he and Nofftz are outside threats that the Hodags hope will take some of the defensive attention off of Gretzinger.

“We have a lot of weapons, a lot of guys that can do things,” Lemmens said. “We still have to, at times, let the offense run a little bit, move the D. Sometimes we try to attack a little too fast but, overall, we’ve been really pleased with what we’re seeing.”

Rhinelander once again figures to be undersized up front. Seniors Garrett Younker and Max Ratty are not on the roster to start the season as they continue to work through complications from knee injuries that sidelined them most or all of last year. Sophomores Caden Sieker and Evan Shoeder are expected to add some depth in the front court, but Lemmens said he expects the make-up of his team to be very similar to last year.

“We’ve got some beef, when you look at guys like Sieker and James. We’ve got some thick guys, but we don’t have a lot of towers,” he said. “We do have a lot of guys that can make shots. That’s going to have to be one of the things we rely on. We have to make shots. We want to push in transition. We want to attack the hoop and we want to just kind of stretch teams out and open up the court for ourselves.”

Lemmens said he expects a much bigger role for Quinn this year, not as just a facilitator and a defender, but as someone who can score from time to time.

“Will Quinn has been active offensively. He is not hesitating. When he’s open, he’s taking rhythm shots,” he said. “Defensively is were his bread’s really going to be buttered. He’s going to be a disruptor, he’s going to be a great leader for us, but he has to have an offensive presence and, so far, we’re seeing that.”

Rhinelander opens the regular season at home tonight against Crandon, a team the Hodags beat 60-37 in non-conference play a season ago. Lemmens admitted the Cardinals come in to the Miazga Gym as a bit of an unknown, but noted the main focus for tonight’s game will be evaluating his own team ahead of the GNC opener at home against Antigo on Dec. 1.

“Overall, I’m just saying what do we need to be,” he said. “We go right into Antigo and we know a little about them. Crandon’s going to be a great first game so that we then have a chunk of time to prepare for Antigo.”

As for the conference, Mosinee figures to be the favorite despite finishing third in the league last year. They return more all-conference players than any other team. Defending conference champion Medford has the lone returning conference first-teamer in Tanner Hraby, but graduated player of the year Logan Baumgartner. Last year’s runner-up, Northland Pines, graduated most of its key players from its best seasons in recent memory. 

“I feel like it’s pretty wide open. Even when you look at Mosinee, I think they are the favorites, for sure, but then after that, it’s pretty wide open,” Lemmens said. “So many good players graduated, but we still have some quality teams in the league. I think it’s going to be a dogfight and every night is going to be interesting looking at the box scores and seeing who came out on top.”

Lemmens said he believes his team can be in that mix. The key will be getting the players to believe that as well and exude that belief on the court. 

“I think we have to be a swag team,” he said. “We have to be a team that’s confident and is able to play fast. If we want to play fast, but we’re a hesitant team, we’re not going to achieve what we want to achieve. If we’re a team with some swagger and some belief and trust in each other, we’re going to able to play fast and that’s when we’re going to be dangerous.”

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].

TEAM SCHEDULE

Date    Opponent    Time

11/21    CRANDON*    7:15 p.m.

12/1    ANTIGO*    8 p.m.

12/5    WAUSAU EAST    7:15 p.m.

12/8    N’LAND PINES*    7:15 p.m.

12/11    at Wittenberg-Birnamwood    7 p.m.

12/15    at Tomahawk*    7 p.m.

12/19    WAUSAU WEST    7:15 p.m.

12/21    at Merrill    7:15 p.m.

12/28    at Ashland    7:15 p.m.

1/2    at Marshfield    6 p.m.

1/5    at Lakeland*    7:30 p.m.

1/9    MOSINEE*    7:15 p.m.

1/12    at Medford*    7:15 p.m.

1/19    at Antigo*    8 p.m.

1/23    WIS. RAPIDS    7:15 p.m.

1/26    at N’land  Pines*    7:15 p.m.

1/30    THREE LAKES*    8 p.m.

2/2    TOMAHAWK*    7:15 p.m.

2/3    Oshkosh West (at UWSP)     1:30 p.m.

2/6    STEVENS POINT    7:15 p.m.

2/9    LAKELAND*    7:30 p.m.

2/13    at Shawano    7 p.m.

2/16    at Mosinee*    7:15 p.m.

2/22    at Medford*    7:15 p.m.

2/27    WIAA regionals    TBD 

* Conference Games | HOME GAMES IN CAPS