Hodag Hoops fends off Lakeland, maintains GNC lead

MINOCQUA — The Rhinelander High School boys’ basketball team found itself on the ropes again Friday night on the road at a Great Northern Conference rival which, on paper, it should be stronger than. The difference Friday, unlike last month at Antigo, was the Hodags were able to do just enough offensively to avoid another major upset.

Devon Feck scored a game-high 21 points and was a perfect 13 for 13 from the foul line as Rhinelander held off Lakeland 62-57 in Minocqua. The win kept the Hodags (14-5, 8-2 Great Northern) tied for first in the conference race with Medford, with two games remaining.

It wasn’t easy for the Hodags, who shot just 33% from the field (17 of 48) and were 3 of 18 from beyond the arc. Lakeland (8-13, 4-7 Great Northern) took a brief lead roughly six minutes into the second half and stayed right on the Hodags’ heels the entire way. However, unlike last month’s 8-point loss at Antigo, the Hodags did just enough to seal the win. Going 25 of 34 from the foul line in a whistle-happy contest helped Rhinelander’s cause. 

“You know, we’d like to win by 30, but all you have to do is win by one, so we have to celebrate. We have to be proud, happy and pleased with a victory on the road with a conference opponent,” Hodag coach Derek Lemmens said. “It was a gritty game. I thought guys got an opportunity to play and get some valuable experience to close a game down the stretch. So I thought this was well-fought and I thought the guys found a way.”

Jackson Burnett led three T-Birds in double figures with 17 points, but committed a key turnover late. He threw a pass wide of Alton Jackson out of bounds with 21.2 seconds left and Lakeland trailing 60-57. Seth Nofftz made one of two free throws on the other end with 13.4 seconds left. The Hodags got a rebound off a missed 3 by Jackson with 7 seconds left to seal the win. 

Rhinelander wasn’t able to shake Lakeland despite leading 50-43 with 5:43 remaining. Lincoln Friedley answered with a quick 3 — the T-Birds were 6 of 15 from deep in the contest —and then Evan Zoch made both ends of a 1-and-1 to trim the lead to two with 4:51 to play. 

Rhinelander got the lead back to six on a make down low by Evan Shoeder with 2:13 remaining, After the teams traded free throws, Jackson hit from the top of the key to make it 58-55 with 1:13 left. Shoeder made one of two free throws on the other end before Burnett made a driving layup to cut the lead to 59-57 with 39.1 seconds to play.

“I thought we had moments to really put the game away and then we would allow, you know, strings of possessions where we didn’t execute on offense and had a letdown on defense,” Lemmens said. “I thought we played pretty solid defense, but we really had a lot of mental lapses, and every time we did, it felt like they made the shot.”

Rhinelander led by as many as 10 in the first half, though a 3 by Burnett cut the advantage to 27-20 at the break. 

Lamers scored the first basket of the second half, a dunk off a steal, but Lakeland responded with a 16-5 run  from there and went up 36-33 on a 3 by Burnett with 12:22 to go. The result was far different than the 70-30 win the Hodags scored over the T-Birds last month in Rhinelander.

“We just have to understand that we’re going to get team’s best night after night, especially in a rivalry like this,” said Lemmens, who has now won 25 of his last 29 contests against the T-Birds.

Foul trouble was an issue for both teams Friday night. Zoch, Lakeland’s leading scorer, picked up three fouls less than nine minutes into the contest, and sat virtually the rest of the first half. The Hodags had three starters — Feck, Lamers and Jatyn Barkus — all pick up their second fouls with just more than eight minutes to play in the first.

“A lot of big players in this game were sidelined with foul calls and other guys had to step up,” Lemmens said. “I thought we had a stretch there where we really you could tell that with those three not on the floor, we were going to have some issues on both ends. So, we just had to kind of roll the dice a little bit, and I thought Truman and Dev and Jay played really intelligently despite the fouls.” 

    Rhinelander’s Devon Feck attempts a free throw during the second half of a GNC boys’ basketball game in Minocqua Friday, Feb. 14. Feck scored a game-high 21 points and made all 13 of his free throw attempts in the Hodags’ 62-57 win. (Bob Mainhardt for the River News)
  

Rhinelander’s Feck scored a season high for in the contest. Though his struggles from the outside continued — he was 2 of 9 from 3-point range in the game — he was clutch at the foul line as he improved to 98% on the year from the stripe (40 of 41).

“Dev’s a phenomenal free throw shooter, so we’re going to shoot a good percentage if he’s shooting the free throws,” Lemmens said. “I thought, the right guys were taking the free throws, which is always nice, but the ability to make them, that’s important in these types of games.”

Lamers added 16 points for the Hodags while Shoeder had 12 points and nine rebounds. 

Zoch scored 14 of his 16 points in the second half while Friedley chipped in 11 off the bench. Lakeland shot just over 40% (17 of 42) from the field but, ultimately was undone by 21 turnovers. 

The win allowed Rhinelander to keep pace in a tight three-way GNC race. The Hodags remained tied for first in the conference with Medford, which knocked off Northland Pines 47-29 on Friday. Mosinee remained a half-game back of the co-leaders thanks to a 83-17 rout of Tomahawk. Rhinelander closes out the conference season against the two other title contenders, hosting Mosinee on Friday before traveling to Medford next Thursday.

“We got to get it figured out because we’re not going to be able to continue to shoot like this from the field and pull these games out,” Lemmens said. “We have to find what I know we are capable of doing. So, we’re going to be doing a lot of reflecting this weekend because we’re running out of time. We’re trying to figure it out.”

Rhinelander is hoping to find a bit of confidence tonight when it hosts Laona/Wabeno in a non-conference matchup at the Jim Miazga Community Gymnasium. The Rebels come in 11-10 on the year following a four-point loss at Antigo on Friday.

“We need a game at home where we can really get ourselves energized, get up and down the floor, hopefully find our rhythm offensively and then hopefully take some momentum into Friday,” Lemmens said.  

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].