RHS Sports recap: Friday, Feb. 16

Boys’ swimming: Rhinelander 2nd, WIAA Division 2 state meet

The Rhinelander High School boys’ swim team walked out of Waukesha with another trophy on Friday night. It was silver this time around as the Hodags scored four runner-up finishes and took second overall in the WIAA D2 state meet. 

The Hodags took the runner-up spot in all three relays, breaking the school record in the 400 free relay in the process as the team of Brock Arrowood, Zacha King, Mathias Fugle and Samson Shinners posted a time of 3:12.08.

King added a runner-up finish in the 100 backstroke and broke a school record in the 200-yard individual medley (1:57.08), taking fifth in that event. Shawn Denis broke the school record in the 100 breaststroke (58.98) in a fifth-place finish. Fugle and Shinners added the Hodags’ two other podium finishes, taking fifth and sixth in the 100 freestyle.

Rhinelander beat Whitefish Bay by 21 points for the runner-up spot — the fifth second-place finish in boys' program history. McFarland, last year’s runner-up to Rhinelander, won the state title.

Boys’ basketball: Rhinelander 64, Mosinee 63

Evan Shoeder made two free throws with 22.6 second left and the Rhinelander High School boys’ basketball team picked up a huge road win Friday night, knocking off GNC-leading Mosinee 64-63. 

The Hodags trailed by as many as seven in the second half, but went ahead on a Will Gretzinger 3 with 51 seconds left. Mosinee’s Landen Thomer made a pair of free throw with 42.1 seconds left to put Mosinee back ahead. 

After Shoeder’s makes, Mosinee’s Keagen Jirschele missed two free throws and Mosinee missed a baseline runner by Aiden Shaughnessy for the win at the buzzer. 

Gretzinger paced the Hodags with 26 while Feck added 19. The win sets for the Hodags (14-9, 9-2 Great Northern) sets up a showdown with Medford in Rhinelander on Thursday in which the winner of the game will earn at least a share of the conference title.

Girls’ basketball: Mosinee 53, Rhinelander 47

The Rhinelander High School girls’ basketball team could not overcome a shooting drought early in the second half in a 53-47 loss to Mosinee to close out the regular season Friday night in Rhinelander. 

The Hodags were held without a point for the first 9:47 of the second half, as Mosinee built its lead to 16. The Hodags finished the game on a 11-2 run, but ran out of time. 

Morgan Van Zile led Rhineladner with 17 points while Aubryn Clark had 10. Lily Treder finished with 7 but made her 76th 3-pointer of the year early in the contest, setting a single-season school record. 

Rhinelander (16-8, 9-3 Great Northern) will open the WIAA playoffs at home against Green Bay Southwest Feb. 23.

Full reports will be published in Tuesday’s River News.