Hodags dismantle Crandon in opener

Judging from the way it performed in its season opener Tuesday, Nov. 25, if the Rhinelander High School boys’ basketball team isn’t where it wants to be yet, that’s an ominous sign for the competition.

Devon Feck scored 21 points to lead four Hodags in double figures and Rhinelander cruised past Crandon 83-25 at the Jim Miazga Community Gymnasium. 

The Hodags (1-0, 0-0 Great Northern)) seized control with a 30-4 run midway through the first half and led 47-11 at halftime. All five members returning off the rotation from last year’s GNC-championship squad scored at least eight points and the Hodags appeared to be in midseason form, at least on the offensive end of the floor.

“I thought we pushed the ball really well,” Hodag coach Derek Lemmens said. “Guys, were looking forward. That was one of the things that frustrated me in our scrimmage (Nov. 24 at Wausau West) is I didn’t feel like we ran the floor with purpose, and we weren’t looking up. I thought we did a great job of that tonight.”

Crandon scored the opening point of the game, but junior Rowan Wiczek answered with a bucket on Rhinelander’s first possession and the Hodags led the remainder of the contest. 

Senior Evan Shoeder made it 15-5 with a score in the post four minutes in and the Hodags put the throttle down from there. The lead went to 25-7 with 10 minutes left in the half on a dunk by senior Jatyn Barkus in transition off a steal. Rhinelander pushed the lead to 39-9 with 4:25 remaining and eventually took a 36-point lead to the break.

    Rhinelander’s Devon Feck goes in for a layup during the second half a non-conference boys’ basketball game at the Jim Miazga Community Gymnasium Tuesday, Nov. 25. Feck made all eight of his field goal attempts and scored a game-high 21 points in the Hodags’ 83-25 win. (Bob Mainhardt for the River News)
  

Feck was saddled with some early foul trouble, picking up his second foul roughly 3 1/2 minutes into the game, but didn’t pick up another foul the rest of the way. The senior was a perfect 8 of 8 from the floor — including 3 of 3 from beyond the arc — to lead all scorers. 

Rhinelander didn’t need much of the 3-ball as it had success getting out in transition and getting to the rim. The Hodags finished the night 61% from the field on 37 of 61 shooting, despite going only 3 of 13 from 3-point range. 

“We are really confident in our first five, and we look at those next guys coming in as only going to get better as the season moves on,” Lemmens said. “There’s a lot of potential in that. They’re not there yet, but they’re going to get experience under their belt. They’re going to get some practices under their belt. They’re going to start to build that camaraderie and start to understand some of the little details that these more experienced guys already know, and they’re going to be great contributing members by the end of the season.”

Deegan Kircher paced Crandon (0-1, 0-0 Northern Lakes) with eight points while Konnor Gerow had seven. The Cardinals were held to 22% (11 of 49) from the field and committed 25 turnovers in the contest. The only sign of weakness from the Hodag defense came on the glass, as Rhinelander gave up 12 offensive rebounds that led to nine second-chance points. 

“I didn’t think our guards did a great job of supporting. You know, they were kind of waiting for the ball to be rebounded instead of giving our bigs some help,” Lemmens said. “I think still defensive positioning and on ball (defense). We got some guys that do it really well, but we have a lot of guys that really struggle with it. We’ve got to get better at that real soon.”

Junior Abe Gretzinger added 16 points for the Hodags, Barkus had 12 and junior Rowan Wiczek added 10. Shoeder finished one bucket shy of a double-double, collecting eight points and a game-high 14 rebounds. 

    Rhinelander’s Vince White puts up a shot over Crandon’s Tanner Bradley during the first half a non-conference boys’ basketball game at the Jim Miazga Community Gymnasium Tuesday, Nov. 25. White scored six points, leading the Hodags’ bench. (Bob Mainhardt for the River News)
  

The blowout gave the Hodags an opportunity to extend its bench and give some extensive minutes to the reserves as they jockey for spots in the rotation. Sophomore Vince White had six points and three rebounds off the bench. Juniors Jackson Weinzatl and Conner Rappley had four points each and sophomore Tommy Eades had two. Senior Chase Bishop and junior Sawyer Bishop also saw the floor in the contest. 

“I thought they made the most of it,” Lemmens said of his bench. “They came in. They played solid basketball. They moved the ball well. Most of them got into the scorebook and overall, I mean, it was just a good all around game.”

The result was similar to last year’s opener for the Hodags, who won 72-22 at Crandon last November. The Cardinals went on to win a share of the NLC crown and had a 13-12 record overall. 

The Hodags were slated for one more non-conference tuneup prior to a showdown with Medford this Friday at the Miazga Gym. That was a road trip to Ashland Monday night that concluded after press time for today’s edition. 

Between last Wednesday’s snowstorm cancelling practice, and a couple of days off during the Thanksgiving weekend, Lemmens said there was not a lot of time to fine-tune things between the Crandon and Ashland contests. 

“(It’s) going to be about finding our legs, getting in continuing to stay in shape, and then perfecting what we want to do offensively and just trying to get a little crisper, and defensively improving our movement off of the ball,” he said.

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].