MAROONED

ANTIGO — Six weeks before the start of the WIAA tournament, the Rhinelander High School boys’ basketball team has found itself at a crossroads. 

The Hodags could still defend as Great Northern Conference champions and make a deep postseason run but, in order to do so, it will need to snap out of its month-long funk and do it soon.

The Hodags suffered their fourth loss in the last six games Friday night — and perhaps the most stunning of the bunch — as they faltered late in a 70-62 defeat at Antigo.

Rhinelander (9-4, 5-2 GNC) struggled with Antigo’s physicality all night, but found itself ahead 61-56 with just under six minutes to play. The Hodags didn’t make a field goal the rest of the way and Antigo (9-7, 3-4 GNC) closed the game on a 14-1 run to earn its first win over Rhinelander in five years. 

The loss dropped Rhinelander out of first place in the GNC, now a game behind Medford. Coach Derek Lemmens said, ultimately, his team’s downfall has been of its own making. 

“It’s the culmination of us again, not learning from our mistakes, doing the same things over and over — bad shots, quick shots, poor defense, just everything. Then on top of it, you know, the other team makes shots,” he said. “We got out-hustled, we got out-played, we got out-classed. It was just it was unfortunate.”

Senior Colton Thomae had 25 points for Antigo. He hit the go-ahead 3-pointer with 2:52 remaining and scored Antigo’s final 10 points by himself as the Robins iced the game away from the foul line late. 

Rhinelander was just 11 of 19 from the foul line and missed a couple of key chances late. Truman Lamers missed the front-end of a 1-and-1 with the Hodags down 2 with 2:20 remaining then Devon Feck missed his first free throw of the season — he had made his first 22 — with 58.6 seconds remaining as the Hodags were only able to get within 66-62 instead of making it a one-score game.

The Hodags also ran into a hot-shooting Antigo team that finished the night 58% (23 of 40) from the floor and was 6 of 12 beyond the arc. Antigo had only three turnovers in the second half as it fended off Rhinelander. 

“They handled the pressure well, they made shots, you know, made us pay when we made mistakes,” Lemmens said. “Again, I think just such a big part is our inability to play good basketball right now, so we really have to find ourselves. We’ve got to grow and move forward.”

Antigo made 8 of its first 10 shots and used a 15-5 run to take a 21-10 lead with 8:15 left in the first half. Rhinelander crawled back and finally took the lead on an Abe Gretzinger putback with 7 seconds left as the Hodags moved in front 35-34 at halftime.

The lead changed hands eight times in the second half. The Hodags though they had re-established control on a lay-up by Lamers followed by a 3 from Evan Shoder that put Rhinelander up 61-56, but back-to-back inside finishes by Scott Hagerty got the Robins within one and set the stage for Thomae to take over. 

    Rhinelander’s Evan Shoeder attempts a jump shot over Antigo’s Luke Bastle during the second half of a GNC boys’ basketball game in Antigo Friday, Jan. 24. (Bob Mainhardt for the River News
  

Shoeder scored 16 points, including 11 in the second half, to lead Rhinelander. Lamers added 15 points and Feck added 13 but the Hodags again struggled to find their rhythm offensively. Rhinelander shot 42% (22 of 52) from the field and committed 16 turnovers. 

“I thought they got physical with us down low, but we’ve got to be able to make shots,” Lemmens said. “We’re getting really good looks. We’ve got to be able to put those in.”

Luke Bastle added 12 points for Antigo and Simon Beck had 10. Those two, combined with Thomae, accounted for 47 Antigo points on Friday. None of the three were in the lineup when the Hodags defeated Antigo 69-40 in Rhinelander back on Dec. 3. It was the first win for former Rhinelander assistant coach Shaun Smith in six tries against his old team.

Ultimately, Rhinelander still has control of its own destiny in the GNC. It can clinch at worse a share of the conference title by winning its final five league games, but the Hodags may have used their final mulligan Friday night. 

“It hurts, we put ourselves in a bad spot, but you know, what we do from this point on is what (determine’s how) the rest of the season’s going to be,” Lemmens said.

Rhinelander travels to Wisconsin Rapids tonight for a non-conference contest and will host Northland Pines at home this Friday. 

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].