Hodag Hoops falls in OT to Medford

The Rhinelander High School boys’ basketball team came into Raider Hall Thursday night looking to kick off a daunting three-game stretch and keep itself in the driver’s seat in the Great Northern Conference title race. The Hodags left disappointed, as a team searching for a signature victory let another close game slip away.

Carson Carbaugh stole an inbound pass and made a transition layup with 25 seconds remaining in overtime as the Raiders outlasted Rhinelander 57-55 Thursday night in Medford. 

That kicked off a busy stretch of three games in less than 48 hours for the Hodags. Rhinelander bounced back Friday night with a 61-24 win over Tomahawk, but then fell in another close contest Saturday, losing 52-50 to Oshkosh West in a game played at UW-Stevens Point.

The biggest game of the three was undoubtedly the matchup against the Raiders. The Hodags overcame a 10-point second half deficit and tied the game on a Devon Feck 3 with 12 seconds to play in regulation, but fell a game behind conference leading Mosinee in the GNC standings, with Medford sitting only a half game further back in the third. 

“We had some good chances. We just made some mistakes. They made some plays. It was just a hard-fought game both ways,” Hodag coach Derek Lemmens said.

    Medford’s Carson Carbaugh makes a transition layup against Rhinelander’s Devon Feck during overtime of a GNC boys’ basketball game in Medford Thursday, Feb. 1. Carbaugh’s make broke a 55-all tie and proved to be the game-winner as the Raiders defeated the Hodags, 57-55. (Bob Mainhardt for the River News)
  

The Hodags (11-8, 7-2 Great Northern) had the ball and a tie game with 33.4 seconds left in overtime. Rhinelander tried to draw up an inbound play for Feck, who had a team-high 18 points off the bench, but Carbaugh jumped the route and intercepted Seth Nofftz’s inbound pass. He made the layup on the other end and the Hodags missed twice down the stretch on attempts for game-winning 3s.

Afterward Lemmens second-guessed his call on the ill-fated inbound play. 

“It was something different. They know our stuff pretty well, so we just gave them a different look,” he said. “These guys haven’t ran it, so there’s not familiarity with it. That’s probably something I shouldn’t have gone with. I just think every part of that was executed poorly. We didn’t set a good screen. We didn’t set up our cut and then we just didn’t read the defense and they jumped the pass. They continued to play aggressive and he made a really nice play. 

“We had the tie game, we had the ball. That’s probably not a time for me to do something different. I probably should have gone with something we’re more comfortable with. At the end of the day, that’s probably a big mistake on my part.”

After Nofftz missed a go-ahead 3 attempt, the Hodags caught a break when Medford’s Tanner Hraby missed the front-end of a 1-and-1. Rhinelander got the rebound and called timeout with 4.0 seconds left, but only managed to get off a off-balance desperation 3 by Feck just before the buzzer. 

Hraby proved to be a Hodag killer in the contest, scoring a game-high 36 points that included a 7 of 13 night from beyond the 3-point line. 

“It’s frustrating. We talked about our game plan and that was a big part of the game plan was (Hraby) doesn’t shoot,” Lemmens said. “We support our teammate, whoever’s guarding him and someone else beats us. We did not a do a good job of that. We had mental lapses across the board. Kudos to him for making everything he shot but, at the end of the day, he shouldn’t have been getting those shots if we defend as a team. Next time around, we’ll be better prepared for that.”

Trailing 24-20 at half, the Hodags gave up an 8-2 run to start the second and fell behind 32-22 less than three minutes in. Rhinelander answered with eight straight, but Medford responded with a Nick Steliga runner that kicked off an 8-2 run that got Medford’s lead back to eight at the halfway point of the second. 

Will Gretzinger had 13 for Rhinelander and had a personal 8-0 run, tying the game on a driving layup with 7:41 left, but the Hodags would go without a field goal for more than four minutes after that and Medford took a 47-43 lead with 2:16 to play. 

Feck got the Hodags within a point on a 3 in the corner with 36.7 seconds remaining. Hraby burned the Hodags for a layup off an inbound play, Feck hit again from the top of the key to eventually send the game to overtime.

“It was good to see him in the clutch,” Lemmens said of his sophomore shooter. “We know that he’s ready for these moments and I liked how we continued to fight. We put ourselves in a good spot but, at the end of the day, they made the play and it was on their court.”

The Hodags struggled offensively, shooting just 37% (23 of 62) from the field overall and 28% (7 of 25) from distance. Feck and Gretzinger were the team’s only double-digit scorers.

“Offensively, we sputtered all night, too many turnovers. We didn’t move the ball well,” Lemmens said. “Credit to them. I think in the second half we were doing a better job of looking inside but I felt like, early on especially, we were kind of scared. I think if we play with a little more confidence, a little more poise and just focus on moving the ball a little better, good things will happen.”

Medford shot 40.4% (21 of 52) from the field and was 9 of 27 from deep on the night. 

Though the loss was a setback, the Hodags will get another crack at the Raiders Feb. 22 in Rhinelander and still can clinch a share of the GNC if they win their final three conference games. 

“We are in control, 100% of our destiny,” Lemmens said. “These are the types of things, they strengthen us and make us better as we continue to more toward our goal. We don’t need anyone to do anything for us. We just keep doing what we need to do and we’re ending with a conference championship.”

Hodags 61, Tomahawk 24

    Rhinelander’s Truman Lamers dunks off a steal during the first half of a GNC boys’ basketball game against Tomahawk at the Jim Miazga Community Gymnasium Friday, Feb. 2. (Bob Mainhardt for the River News)
  

The Hodags used a 30-1 run in the first half to take control on Friday night as they defeated the Hatchets 61-24 at the Jim Miazga Community Gymnasium. 

After a slow start that saw the Hatchets take an early 5-2 lead, Rhinelander put the throttle down and led 39-11 at halftime. 

“I thought the guys came out and they were ready to go. They played some solid basketball and were able to build the lead,” Lemmens said.

The Hodags spread things around in the contest, which served as the middle game of the three-game stretch. Rhinelander used an all-senior starting five on Friday before putting its traditional starting lineup in about four minutes into the contest. The rotation built the lead in the first half and, by the time the second rolled around, the Hodags got all 15 players on the roster into the game, subbing in a fresh five at a time. 

“We had three, five-man platoons and all three groups did a great job sharing the ball and just playing basketball,” Lemmens said. “When guys were on the court, they played hard. They were not thinking about tomorrow, but we were able to do things knowing we have that kind of game.”

As a result the Hodags had 13 different players score in the game, led by Truman Lamers with 12. Feck had 11 and Gretzinger had 10. Tyler Sundquist paced Tomahawk with seven points. 

Oshkosh West 52, Hodags 50

In what has become a bit of a broken record for the Hodags, a second-half comeback ran out of steam on Saturday in a two-point loss to the Wildcats at Quandt Fieldhouse. 

Down 24-22 at half, the Hodags tried to claw back after falling behind by multiple possessions in the second half, but ran out of time. 

“It’s kind of that same timeframe where it’s back and forth and we put a little stretch together where we give up some baskets, we don’t take good shots or we turn it over and suddenly we’re playing from behind at the wrong time,” Lemmens said. “Overall, we just ran out of clock. We made a 3 to make it two, but the clock just kind of ran out on us.”

Will Gretzinger led the Hodags with 18 points while Feck chipped in 14. Rhinelander stayed afloat in the game thanks to shooting 10 of 15 from 3-point range, but the Hodags were only 10 of 28 from inside the arc and missed all five of their free throw attempts in the contest. 

Additionally, the Hodags committed 17 turnovers. Lemmens said though the Wildcats are 6-13 on the season, their defense was strong — which stands to reason as a member of the powerful Fox Valley Association.

“They play Oshkosh North, they play Kimberly, they play Neenah, they play Fond du Lac, Appleton North, Hortonville,” he said. “They’re playing the top teams in the state every night. For us to go toe-to-toe and our guys saw these guys guard the best players in the state, so you’ve got to do more than just dribble around. It was a good wake-up call moving forward for us.”

Rhinelander returns home this evening to face No. 4 (D1) Stevens Point in a non-conference contest at the Miazga Gym.

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].