Boys' hoops: RHS can’t keep up with No. 4 SPASH

A big first half run proved too much for the Rhinelander High School boys’ basketball team to overcome against one of the best teams in the state Tuesday night.

Grant Chandonais had 17 points, leading four Panthers in double figures, and Stevens Point cruised to a 69-54 win over the Hodags at the Jim Miazga Community Gymnasium.

    Rhinelander’s Seth Nofftz is fouled by Stevens Point’s Grant Chandonais during the first half of a non-conference boys’ basketball game at the Jim Miazga Community Gymnasium Tuesday, Feb. 6. The Hodags fell to the Panthers, 69-54. (Bob Mainhardt for the River News)
  

The Panthers (18-2, 6-2 Wis. Valley), who checked in at No. 4 in the latest WisSports.net D1 coaches poll, raced ahead 42-18 at the half and led by as many as 27 in the second. Rhinelander chipped away with a late run, but had a hard time stopping SPASH, which finished the night just under 57% from the floor on 30 of 53 shooting.

Much of the time, SPASH was a step ahead of the Hodags in transition, leading to easy layups.

“Just not sprinting back defensively, again the story continues to be for us the details,” Hodag coach Derek Lemmens said. “We’ve talked about that, just the execution of the details. When we get overplayed we back cut and understanding that all these little things are really what create what we see as the big plays. We’ve got to do all the little things instead of always searching for the big plays — sprinting back on D, positioning on defense, moving the basketball on offense.”

Rhinelander never led in the game but was well within shouting distance, down 13-11, after a Will Gretzinger baseline runner with 11:33 left in the half. Chandonais answered with a 3 left of the key off an offensive rebound, and the Panthers put the throttle down from there. They led 24-14 with 7:54 left in the half, and 33-18 with 3:31 to play before scoring the final nine of the half.

“First half I thought we missed some good looks, missed some layups,” Lemmens said. “We had some opportunities early to kind of make it an interesting game and we missed out on those. They capitalized on them and then we gave them some easy opportunities. That combination led to the loss.”

The Hodags had their best run of the night, an 11-4 push, to get within 54-34 with 10 minutes to play. Seth Nofftz and Truman Lamers hit 3s in the final two minutes to bring the final margin down to 15.

The Hodags also shot better than 50% from the floor, going 21 of 41 on the night, but the Panthers limited Rhinelander’s offensive opportunities, forcing 16 turnovers.

“I thought our offense was a lot more patient and it did move well but it wasn’t always purposeful,” Lemmens said. “These are things we can build on but, at the end of the day, I thought we put up a pretty good fight after some adversity in the first half. I thought guys could have kind of folded, but they came back and kind of punched back. That was good to see.”

Noah Marschke added 13 points, Amon Konopacki had 12 and Baraka Makalin had 10 for the Panthers in the contest. Lamers and Gretzinger each scored 14 to lead the Hodags while Devon Feck chipped in 10 off the bench. 

The loss was Rhinelander’s third in the last four games, but the Hodags (11-9, 7-2 Great Northern) now enter a key stretch of conference games, beginning with Lakeland at home this evening. If the Hodags are able to successfully knock off the T-Birds tonight, Mosinee on the road next Friday and Medford at home Feb. 22, they would earn at least a share of the GNC title.

“We have weird energy right now. I know a big part of that is it just doesn’t feel like we’re in the running for the conference, but we are,” Lemmens said. “We control our own destiny still. We’re in the driver’s seat. We’ve got to go out with great energy, take care of these conference games and start building some momentum so we can finish the season strong and really be the team that we’re capable of being.”

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].