Hodag Hoops gets past Medford in GNC opener

The Rhinelander High School boys’ basketball team was pushed by a young Medford squad much of the way Friday night but, eventually, the Hodags’ experience prevailed as they began their quest for a third straight Great Northern Conference title.

Devon Feck scored 23 points, leading three Hodags in double figures, and Rhinelander defeated Medford 71-57 at the Jim Miazga Community Gymnasium.

The Raiders (0-2, 0-1 Great Northern) kept up with Rhinelander (3-0, 1-0 Great Northern) much of the first half, trailing 39-35 at the break. The Hodags finally slowed the Raider offense in the second half and used a late 7-0 run to put the game out of reach. 

Still, it was a hard-fought battle against a team Rhinelander knocked off for the conference championship in the final game of the last two regular seasons.

“They’re competitive team. They just get after it. They’re gritty. In the first half, we just weren’t ready for it, I don’t think, yet. Then in the second half, the guys adapted and matched that intensity,” coach Derek Lemmens said. 

    Rhinelander’s Devon Feck hits a fadeaway jump shot over Medford’s Devin Dassow during the first half of a GNC boys’ basketball game at the Jim Miazga Community Gymnasium Friday, Dec. 5. Feck scored a game-high 23 points in Rhinelander’s 71-57 win over the Raiders. (Bob Mainhardt for the River News)
  

Jatyn Barkus had 15 points, and Abe Gretzinger added 14 as the Hodags shot 44% on the night (23 of 52). 

Medford made it a two-point game on two occasions early in the second half before Rhinelander finally started to take control. Feck had a 3-point play to cap off an 8-3 run that made it 49-42 with 11:24 remaining. 

Rhinelander took its first double-digit lead on a pair of frees throws by sophomore Vince White with 6:51 to play and junior Rowan Wiczek scored his lone points of the night on a 3-point play that made it 62-50 with 6:12 remaining.  

Two of Medford’s returning all-conference honorees got it back to an eight-point gap with 3:41 to play. Nick Krause converted an and-1, and Devin Dassow knocked down a 3 to cut the lead to 62-54, but the Hodags scored the next seven capped off by a Sawyer Bishop layup that put Rhinelander up 15 with 1:54 remaining. 

Defense and rebounding allowed the Hodags to pull away in the second half. The Raiders were 12 of 23 from the field in the first half and were even with the Hodags on the glass. Medford was only 9 of 24 in the second half, and the Hodags were plus-16 on the boards.

“I thought our guys, our core guys, really came in and kept us around offensively knocking down shots. And as we started just getting more aggressive, I thought we defended better in the second half, and we definitely rebounded better,” Lemmens said. “It’s just understanding, ‘You’re bigger go up and get it.’ And I thought our guards, Rowan and Jay, were in there as well. It was a much different mindset with the rebounding in the second half.”

The lead changed hand 10 times during a back-and-forth opening sequence. Gretzinger’s second of back-to-back 3s gave Rhinelander the lead for good, up 17-15 with 11:32 left before the break. Rhinelander pushed the lead to eight, but back-to-back makes by Medford cut the lead to four at halftime. 

Lemmens said Rhinelander’s early-season concerns in man-to-man defense were exposed in the first half by a well-disciplined Medford offense. 

“We got a lot of young guys, and the communication and the switching piece, were still a step behind,” he said. “They’re the type of team that when you’re a step late, they’ve got you beat by two steps. You saw that on display with the number of slips and just rhythm 3s that they were able to get, just running their stuff well.”

Krause scored 18 points for Medford, Peyton Ried had 15 and Dassow scored 11 for the Raiders. 

White had eight points off the bench for Rhinelander while Evan Shoeder chipped in six points and seven rebounds. 

    Rhinelander’s Devon Feck hits a fadeaway jump shot over Medford’s Devin Dassow during the first half of a GNC boys’ basketball game at the Jim Miazga Community Gymnasium Friday, Dec. 5. Feck scored a game-high 23 points in Rhinelander’s 71-57 win over the Raiders. (Bob Mainhardt for the River News)
  

The Hodags have scored at least 70 points in each of their first three games and have had at least three players in double figures in all three contests. 

“We have so many guys that can do things offensively, so we’re expecting a whole team worth of guys pitching in,” Lemmens said. “This isn’t a group that you can just take Devon out or just take Devon and Jay. We’ve got multiple weapons, and we can do it from inside and out. It’s just, can we harness that, and can we have a little better structure in our offense where we’re using our skills not independently, but kind of all together as one.”

The Hodags are back in action tonight at Wittenberg-Birnamwood in a non-conference contest. The Chargers edged Menominee Nation 61-58 in their opener on Thursday.

“They’re going to play zone from what I saw, so we’re going to have to, see our first real zone this year and they’re going to be physical,” Lemmens said. “They’re always (setting) just hard screens, pushing around underneath. So another game where we’re going to have to match physicality.”

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].