Time for the madness

The Rhinelander High School boys’ basketball team saw last year’s conference championship season end in the regional semifinal round of the WIAA tournament at the hands of the Rice Lake Warriors. Following another conference title, the Hodags are looking to avoid the same fate tonight, and this time, will have home court advantage on their side.

It’s a rematch of last year’s regional semifinal tonight at the Jim Miazga Community Gymnasium. The Warriors, the seventh-seed in the 12-team regional draw advanced with a 78-56 win over 10th-seeded Lakeland at home on Tuesday night. The Hodags, following an 18-5 regular season and a 10-2 mark in the GNC, drew the second seed and the opportunity to host the regional finals tomorrow night at the Jim, if they get by the Warriors (15-9, 6-8 Big Rivers) tonight. That contest would be against either third-seeded River Falls, or the winner of the regional quarterfinal between sixth-seeded New Richmond and 11th-seeded Ashland, which was postponed to Wednesday night after press time for today’s edition due to inclement weather. 

“Guys are excited about it,” Hodag coach Derek Lemmens said as his team vies for its first trip to sectionals since 2022. “I think our practices have been going well. Offensively, we’re starting to find ourselves a little bit. Our second team is really been doing a great job of challenging us night in a night out which is important because we just have to be ready. I think these are all games that we can win and they’re all games that we can lose, so it just comes down to can we execute down stretch.”

    Rice Lake’s Zach Orr attempts a 3-pointer over Lakeland’s Noah Bruckner during a WIAA boys’ basketball tournament game in Rice Lake Tuesday, March 4. Orr shot 10 of 14 from beyond the arc and scored a game-high 30 points in the Warriors’ 78-56 win. (Bob Mainhardt for the River News)
  

First thing’s first, the Hodags are looking to avenge last year’s 57-45 loss to the Warriors in Rice Lake. Doing so will likely boil down to how effectively the Hodags can limit Rice Lake’s outside shooting, in particular from standout senior guard Zach Orr. 

Lakeland struggled in that regard Tuesday as the Warriors hit 14 triples in the 22-point win. Orr had 30 points to lead the outside barrage as he finished the game 10 of 14 beyond the arc. 

It wasn’t just the volume of 3s, but the times when Orr hit them. Lakeland trailed by two late in the first half, but Orr hit two 3s as part of a 8-0 run over the final 1:05 as Rice Lake took a 38-28 lead to the break. Lakeland fought back from down 19 to get to within 10 with 6 minutes to play, but Orr again connected on back-to-back triples, part of a 16-4 run that put the game out of reach. 

Orr came into the postseason as the Warriors’ leading scorer at 15.7 points per game and was hitting at more than a 35% clip from the outside. Rhinelander had some success limiting Orr in last year’s playoff matchup, holding him to 15 points on 6 of 18 shooting, and will need a similar defensive effort tonight.

“We’re going to do everything in our power not to give Orr 3-point shots,” Lemmens said after watching Tuesday night’s game. “He had 10 tonight, and you know, Lakeland is a team that really packs there. They’re kind of, ‘That’s our thing, beat us from the outside.’ Rice Lake did. We have to know where Orr is it all times and make sure we’re doing whatever we can to stop him.”

The Warriors have other guys who can shoot from the outside. Seniors Evan Strand and Will Johnson have 41 and 38 3s on the season, respectively, and both come in averaging more than 10 points a contest. Forward Will Svendsen averages 14.3 points and 5.3 rebounds per game, but isn’t adverse to stepping outside on occasion, as he’s 37% from 3-point range. 

It figures to be strength on strength tonight as Rice Lake is hitting nearly 34% from beyond the arc as a team while Rhinelander is limiting opponents to less than 27% from distance and held Medford to 7 of 26 in last Thursday’s conference championship-clinching win.

One player the Hodags won’t have to deal with tonight is JT Schradle, who graduated after a big game inside against Rhinelander last postseason. He finished with 22 points and seven rebounds in that game and was a big part of a physical Warrior attack that wore down Rhinelander in the second half of that game. While Rice Lake has some inside presence this year, Lemmens said his team is more equipped to battle the Warriors down low opposed to last year. 

“I expect, on our court, for the physicality be less than last year and us to be able to really hold our own inside,” he said. “I think they have some nice bigs, but I think we have some nice bigs. I’m excited to see those pieces square off but at the end of the day, the big difference for Rice Lake was made 3-point shots. So we’re really going to have to go back similar to our Medford mindset where we’re defending that 3.”

If the Hodags get by the Warriors, they will likely have to tackle another Big Rivers squad on Saturday night. Both River Falls and New Richmond were right around .500 on the year, with River Falls 13-11 and New Richmond 12-12. Both possess leading scorers who shoot better than 40% from distance —Brody Graetz for River Falls and Connor Raleigh for New Richmond. Both have big forwards inside who will be tough to contain.

Lemmens said the team would try to do some advance scouting on Saturday’s potential opponents on Wednesday, but its primary focus is getting past Rice Lake tonight.

“We don’t really know a whole lot. We’ve watched a little bit but both teams, they’re just quality teams,” he said. “They played really difficult schedules. They have an inside presence and they have players that can play on the outside, so it’s just those types of teams that can do a little bit of everything.”

Wednesday ended up being a film study day for the Hodags, with district facilities closed because of a snowstorm. Lemmens said the team practiced an additional half hour on Tuesday in anticipation of the snow day. 

“We will just try to think the game a little more tomorrow since we can’t actually play it and then Thursday we just have to put together a great practice before the game,” he said.

Tickets for tonight’s game will be available at the door starting at 6 p.m. Because it is a WIAA tournament game, there will be a $6 admission fee for the game. If the Hodags win tonight, the same procedure will take place for tomorrow night’s game with tickets going on sale at 6 p.m. at the Miazga Gym ahead of a 7 p.m. tipoff.

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected]. 

PLAYOFF OPPONENT CAPSULES

Below is a look at tonight’s playoff opponent for the Rhinelander High School boys’ basketball team and the team’s likely playoff opponents for tomorrow night’s regional final, assuming the Hodags defeat Rice Lake this evening. 

     

#7 Rice Lake Warriors

Record: 15-9 (6-8 Big Rivers)

Record vs. Half sectional: 3-4. Wins — #4 Menomonie, #6 New Richmond, #11 Ashland. Losses — #3 River Falls (twice), #4 Menomonie, #6 New Richmond

Players to watch: Zach Orr (5-11 Sr. G) 15.7 ppg, 2.9 rpg, 4.5 apg, 46 3-pointers (.354 pct.); Evan Strand (6-1 Sr. G) 10.3 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 41 3-pointers (.306 pct.); Will Svendsen (6-3 Jr. F/G) 14.3 ppg, 5.3 rpg; Will Johnson (6-4 Sr. F), 10.2 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 38 3-pointers (.345 pct).

     

#3 River Falls Wildcats

Record: 13-11 (7-7 Big Rivers)

Record vs. Half sectional: 4-3. Wins — #5 Medford, #6 New Richmond, #7 Rice Lake (twice). Losses — #4 Menomonie (twice), #6 New Richmond.

Players to watch: Brody Graetz (6-1 Jr. G) 16.9 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 4.9 apg, 43 3-pointers (.417 pct.); Preston Johnson (6-2 Jr. G), 13.9 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 3.8 apg, 35 3-pointers (.289 pct.); Eli Johnson (6-7 Sr. F), 10.2 ppg, 7.6 rpg; Tanner Bottolfson (6-1, Jr. G) 8.2 ppg, 2.3 rpg, 42 3-pointers (.339 pct).

      

#6 New Richmond Tigers

Record: 12-12 (7-7 Big Rivers)

Record vs. Half sectional: 5-2. Wins — #3 River Falls, #4 Menomonie (twice), #5 Medford, #7 Rice Lake. Losses — #3 River Falls, #7 Rice Lake.

Players to watch: Connor Raleigh (5-10 Sr. G) 15.2 ppg, 2.9 rpg, 69 3-pointers (.413 pct.); Jack Charbonneau (6-5, Sr. F), 13.7 ppg, 6.3 rpg; RJ Amundson (6-0 Sr. G) 10.1 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 32 3-pointers (.314 pct.); Abraham Monson (5-10, Sr. G) 6.0 ppg, 2.0 rpg, 4.4 apg.