Hodag Hoops upsets Mosinee, sets up GNC title game vs. Medford

On Friday night in Mosinee, the Rhinelander High School boys’ basketball team finally got the signature win it has been looking for. That win has set up the Hodags, potentially, for an even bigger triumph on Thursday.

Evan Shoeder made two free throws with 22.6 seconds remaining and the Hodags knocked off Great Northern Conference-leading Mosinee 64-63 on the road.

    Gretzinger
  

Will Gretzinger scored 26 in the contest for Rhinelander which put him over the 1,000-point mark for his career. He reached the milestone on a deep 3 that gave the Hodags the lead in the final minute.

The win puts Rhinelander (14-9, 9-2 Great Northern) into a three-way tie for first in the GNC with one game remaining. The Hodags and Medford will play a de facto conference title game at the Jim Miazga Community Gymnasium on Thursday, with the winner clinching at least a share of the conference. 

Mosinee (18-4, 9-2 Great Northern) can still earn a share of the conference title if it defeats Lakeland on the road Thursday.

“Guys stepped up and guys made it happen,” Hodag coach Derek Lemmens said. “On the road, with the conference championship in the mix, it’s huge. These guys need to be excited. They need to celebrate it but, starting tomorrow, we’ve got one more game to win.”

Devon Feck added 19 for Rhinelander. Mosinee got a 27-point, 16-rebound effort from forward Landen Thomer while point guard Keagen Jirschele scored 15. However, Jirschele’s inability to make clutch free throws down the stretch played a massive role in the comeback win for the Hodags — who trailed by seven with 4:46 remaining.

Rhinelander got within 61-59 on a pair of Feck free throws with 1:33 remaining. Jirschele then missed the front end of a 1-and-1 for Mosinee. Gretzinger put Rhinelander in front on a 25-footer from the top of the key with 51 seconds left. While it initially appeared Gretzinger would need 28 to hit the 1,000-point plateau in Mosinee, an audit of his stats after the game confirmed that the make gave him 1,002 for his career.

He became Rhinelander’s first 1,000-point scorer since 2018 grad Owen White.

“I have not had a lot of 1,000-point scorers. We’ve always valued team players, so to see a person achieve that is really special,” Lemmens said. “It’s always good to see when guys put that much time and effort and energy into goal, when they accomplish milestones within that. He’s very deserving. This is a kid who, all summer long, is in the gym, in the weight room. He’s always asking to get in. He’s always at open gyms. He’s always putting the time in. This is just a well-deserved milestone that he can celebrate and be proud of the rest of his life.” 

Gretzinger’s milestone 3 gave the Hodags the lead only for a moment, as Thomer answered with two charity tosses on the other end with 40.1 seconds left. 

Rhinelander appeared to be setting up to take the last shot, but Mosinee’s David Haskins was called for an off-ball foul against Shoeder, giving the sophomore a chance to put the Hodags in front. He knocked down both free throws as Rhinelander finished the night 9 of 10 from the line.

“For a sophomore to step up in that environment and knock those down, that was huge,” Lemmens said. “It was exciting for him and, moving forward, hopefully that brings him a little energy and makes him feel good about what he’s capable of doing.”

Jirschele was fouled on a drive on the other end with 6.5 seconds left. With two chances to tie, he missed the first free throw off the front iron and the second one to the right, but won a scramble into the corner for the offensive rebound and Mosinee called timeout with 3.2 seconds left. 

Aiden Shaughnessy caught the inbound pass and missed a driving attempt off the right baseline and time expired before either team could grab the rebound.

Lemmens said the Hodags executed defensively in the game’s biggest moment.

“We got the ball not in Jirschele’s, not in Thomer’s hands. We made someone else step up and it was exciting,” he said.

Rhinelander held Jirschele six points under his season average, and to only five assists. Lemmens credited senior Will Quinn, who had the man-to-man assignment on Jirschele much of the night. 

“Will Quinn bothered the heck out of Jirschele again,” Lemmens said. “Jirschele missed some free throws down the stretch and I honestly think the fact that he could never get a rhythm offensive played a huge role in that.”

Mosinee, which lost sharpshooter Garrett Shupe to a wrist injury midway through the season, finished the night 0 for 12 from 3-point range and shot 43% from the field (23 of 55) overall.

Rhinelander, by comparison, was 7 of 20 from deep and shot 45% (24 of 53) overall.

“Guys made big shots. Devon and Willy G made some big shots. Evan made some clutch free throws to put us up one. A lot of guys stepped up in a lot of ways,” Lemmens said. “We got beat a little on the glass, which is something that I hope we can shore up moving forward but, overall, we played a pretty solid game. When they made their little runs, we answered and we didn’t disappear. We hung around. Late in the game, those guys made plays.”

Rhinelander led much of the first half, up by eight with 3:10 remaining off a Feck corner 3, but Mosinee closed on a 10-2 run, capped by a Thomer drive to tie the game at 32 at the break.

Mosinee traded Rhinelander two makes for one on a number of occasions early in the second, pulling ahead 48-41 on a Thomer spin in the late with 10:35 remaining.

The Hodags were still down seven with less than 4 1/2 minutes to go, but Feck made a layup and Gretzinger finished a right baseline drive to cut the lead to 55-52. After Mosinee stretched the lead to 59-53, Gretzinger answered by making four straight free throws on back-to-back possessions to make it a two-point game again with 2:55 left.

It all sets up a massive game in Rhinelander on Thursday night as the Hodags seek their first conference title since the 2017-18 season while Medford tries to claim its third conference title in the last four years. 

“That’s why you play the game,” Lemmens said. “Hopefully we come up with a plan to prepare for this, we play well and can celebrate that again. It’s not going to be an easy task. Medford’s a gritty, hard-nosed team that’s always in the mix. This is something we’re going to have to go out and earn.”

The Hodags would already have at least a share of the conference locked up if not for a 57-55 overtime loss at Medford back on Feb. 1. Senior Tanner Hraby went off for 36 points in that contest and the Hodags shot only 37% on the night. 

Aside from those two factors, Lemmens said the Hodags need to take better care of the basketball in Thursday night’s rematch.

“We had 17 turnovers, some of them live ball that gave them rhythm looks,” he said. “We just have to be stronger with the basketball. Those are things we’re really going to emphasize.”

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].