Hodag Hoops cruises past Tomahawk

Even with its leading scorer on the bench, the Rhinelander High School boys’ basketball team had more than enough firepower to take care of Tomahawk in Great Northern Conference play last Friday night.

Evan Shoeder scored 15 points and sophomore Abe Gretzinger tallied 14 in his first varsity start as the Hodags raced past the Tomahawk Hatchets 76-22 at the Jim Miazga Community Gymnasium.

Gretzinger, who has provided a spark off the bench so far this year, got the start in place of Truman Lamers — who suited but did not play while dealing with an undisclosed medical concern. 

It was a forward-focused night for the Hodags, who also got nine points from Hayden Schommer off the bench. Rhinelander (6-0, 3-0 Great Northern) shot nearly 51% (33 of 65) from the field and had a 56-12 edge on points in the paint. 

“We were hoping it would be because we knew that we had the size advantage inside. We were hoping that the guys would really see that opportunity and take advantage of it,” Hodag coach Derek Lemmens said. “I think they did, especially the first half. I thought Evan was really aggressive on the glass, Hayden was pounding the ball inside, Abe. They just did a lot of strong stuff in the post, so it was good to see.” 

Rhinelander led wire-to-wire in the contest and outscored the Hatchets 30-9 over the final 9:06 of the first half to take a 48-18 lead to the break. The defense locked in from there, allowing the Hatchets just one field goal and four total points in the second half. 

Tomahawk (2-4, 0-3 Great Northern) was still somewhat within shouting distance, trailing 18-9 off a 3 by Jeremiah Johnson with 9:12 left in the half, but Gretzinger answered with back-to-back and-1s on the following two possessions, and the Hodags scored 15 in a row to put the lead to 33-9 with 5 minutes left till the break. A mini 7-3 run got the Hatchets back to within 20 with 3:29 before the break, but Rhinelander closed on a 12-2 run to lead by 30 at halftime.

The Hodags spread the wealth around during the game, with eight different players scoring at least six points. Devon Feck was held to seven and did not make a 3-pointer — ending a 31-game streak with at least one triple for the junior — but he had a team-high nine assists and the Hodags finished with 19 helpers on the night. 

“Guys shared the ball well,” Lemmens said. “That’s one thing about this team, they all want to do well, but they like to share the ball and do well together, so that’s always special.”

Tyler Sundquist scored 10 points to lead Tomahawk, which was held to 28.1% shooting (9 of 32) and committed 34 turnovers.

Despite sitting undefeated through six games, Lemmens said there are still things he wants to see the team clean up before hitting the heart of the regular-season schedule.

“I want to see us run our offense against a really good team,” he said. “I want to see us have to defend against a really good team, have to truly communicate and scramble and be purposeful in our actions and value possessions. So those are all things I want to see how well we do that.”

The Hodags, who debuted at No. 10 Tuesday in the WisSports.net D2 coaches poll, should have a chance to do that this weekend as they travel to Wisconsin Dells for two games. That begins late this afternoon with a game against Ripon (1-7, 0-0 East Central), followed by a showdown against Wisconsin Dells (4-2, 1-0 South Central), a team that was ranked in D3 earlier this season.

“This is where we now get opportunities to see what are we? What can we do against some of these teams like Wisconsin Dells,” Lemmens said “If we feel like we belong with this group, now it’s our time to prove it.”

Lemmens honored for milestone

    Rhinelander High School boys’ basketball coach Derek Lemmens holds the plaque he received from the RHS activities department for earning his 200th career victory prior to a GNC boys’ basketball game against Tomahawk at the Jim Miazga Community Gymnasium Friday, Dec. 20. (Bob Mainhardt for the River News)
  

Prior to Friday’s game, the Rhinelander High School Activities Department honored Lemmens for reaching 200 career victories — a feat he accomplished back on Dec. 10 in a 63-59 win over Wittenberg-Birnamwood. 

A number of alumni who Lemmens coached were on hand for Friday’s game to honor the accomplishment. As was former Rhinelander head coach Rich Fortier, who congratulated Lemmens with a roughly five-minute speech. 

Fortier was head coach during Lemmens’s playing days at RHS, which included a run to the WIAA Division 1 state tournament in 2001. Lemmens took over the job after Fortier stepped down following the 2009-10 season. Fortier eventually returned to the bench at Lakeland, where he and Lemmens met 23 times — with Lemmens holding a 19-4 record against his mentor.

Fortier said Lemmens possesses the work ethic, organization, intelligence, compassion and vision to be a successful head coach and added, “his attention in detail, his game management and most notably his ability to inspire kids are all second to no one.”

“Rhinelander is lucky to have Derek Lemmens,” Fortier said. “I love that young man. Really he and his brother Nate too (head coach at Wausau West) are like my little brothers. Derek, congratulations on the first 200. I hope there are hundreds more for you.”

Following Fortier’s speech, RHS activities director Brian Paulson presented Lemmens with a plaque commemorating his 200th win while Lemmens received a standing ovation from the Miazga Gym crowd. 

“It was special,” Lemmens said. “It was great to see all those guys come back and that’s one of the most rewarding things, is being able to see these guys when they’re coming back. They’re adults who, they’re doctors, they’re teachers. You know, it’s just so neat and to be able to have the opportunity to have a role in their lives and be able to have those special moments with those guys and seeing them come back that’s really special, and I’m very fortunate.”

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].