Hodag Hoops gets back on track with 63-45 win at Rapids

There wasn’t a lot flash Tuesday night as the Rhinelander High School boys’ basketball team bounced back into the win column, and that’s just how head coach Derek Lemmens likes it. 

Jatyn Barkus scored 20 points to lead all scorers and the Hodags took care of business in the paint as they raced to a 63-45 victory on the road at Wisconsin Rapids.

    Rhinelander’s Evan Shoeder attempts a shot over Wisconsin Rapids’ Jarrett Szelagowski during the first half of a non-conference boys’ basketball game in Wisconsin Rapids Tuesday, Jan. 28. Shoeder had 14 points in the Hodags’ 63-45 win. (Bob Mainhardt for the River News)
  

Evan Shoeder added 14 points, all within close proximity to the hoop, Truman Lamers had 11 and the Hodags (10-4, 5-2 Great Northern) were an efficient 53% from the field (27 of 51) as they led wire-to-wire over the Raiders. 

“I thought both offensively and defensively we did good things and just played a pretty consistent game,” Lemmens said. “We weren’t trying to make flashy plays all the time. We are a lot more patient and took a little more pride in our defense.”

Brody Gilbertson led Rapids (0-14, 0-6 Wis. Valley) with 15 points and five rebounds, and the Raiders kept things close in the first half thanks to five made 3-pointers. The Hodags eventually started to slowly pull away from an undersized Rapids’ team that lists only one player taller than 6-foot-1. The Hodags shot 61% inside the 3-point line and doubled up Rapids on the glass, 36-18.

“A lot of it was dishes off penetration. We got to the post and really nice job sitting in the short corner,” Lemmens said. “Then we were stepping up and getting opportunities to get some layups on our drives and got out transition a little. It wasn’t so much beating them up inside as much as getting behind them and getting those layups ... I thought overall we kind of owned the paint.”

Jarrett Szelagowski scored 11 for the Raiders and was 3-for-3 from beyond the arc in the first half. Rhinelander never trailed in the first half, but Rapids was within 3, down 19-16 with 9:10 left in the half before the Hodags got some separation and took a 29-23 lead to the break. 

Rapids got the lead down to three again on a Gilbertson putback early in the second half, but Rhinelander answered with a 9-1 run to build its first double-digit lead of the night and Rapids got no closer than six points the rest of the way. 

“When you have a guy (Szelagowski) that’s 3 for 20 on the season (from 3) going 3 for 3 in the first half, you know it caught us a little off guard,” Lemmens said. “But I thought in the second half guys did a better job of scrambling and helping helpers, and overall, I was pretty pleased with our defensive job.”

Barkus finished the night 8 of 13 from the field as he totaled a career-high for Rhinelander. 

“He got inside, he got dribble penetration. He was really strong with the ball on all of his finishes. There was a lot of contact going through guys and he was just kind of crafty. I thought this was one of his better games when it comes to the offensive end and then again he was back defensively where he had a big assignment. He did a great job keeping one of their main guns under control.”

Sean Roenius added 10 points for Rapids, which finished the night 39% from the field (16 of 41).

Overall, Tuesday’s win was a needed one for the Hodags, who had lost four of their previous six games to fall out of first place in the GNC. 

“You know we’re just right now reeling, trying to find our identity and then get this ship righted again and that was a good step forward. It was nice,” Lemmens said.

The Hodags return home tonight to face Northland Pines. Rhinelander defeated the Eagles 65-48 in Eagle River Dec. 13, but lived off an early 21-2 run in that game while the Eagles shot just under 35% in the contest. Lemmens said the Hodags have to be ready for a more efficient Pines squad tonight.

“They do they have that ability, so we’re going have to make sure to defend and really close out and get you know for contested shots,” he said. “I thought they missed a lot of good opportunities early against us at their place and I thought we missed some opportunities. I thought we didn’t play that great but they didn’t play very well either. It’s a dangerous team but it’s a team that we know that we step on the court, we can work the basketball and get really good shots against.”

Tip off is set for 7:15 p.m. at the Jim Miazga Community Gymnasium. 

Jeremy Mayo 

may be reached at 

jeremy@rivernews

online.com.