Hodag Hoops holds year-end banquet

One day after its postseason run came to an end in the WIAA regional finals, the Rhinelander High School boys’ basketball team officially put a bow on a memorable, but ultimately bittersweet, 2024-25 season.

The Hodags held their season-ending banquet last Tuesday in the James Williams Middle School cafeteria. All seven members of the rotation at season’s end were among the award winners for the Hodags, led by senior Truman Lamers, who garnered  four awards on the evening including most valuable player. 

The banquet was going to be held Tuesday, regardless of whether Rhinelander won or lost its regional final contest against New Richmond. That game was moved from March 8 to March 10 by the WIAA to provide New Richmond relief from having to play games on three consecutive nights. Hodag coach Derek Lemmens said he appreciated all those who were able to attend on relatively short notice and less than 24 hours after what he called a “special” season for Hodag basketball concluded. 

“There’s something special about Rhinelander basketball. We saw it last night if you were in the gym,” he said. “These are the atmospheres, these are things that just don’t happen at any school. So I hope all players here realize how fortunate we are to have the support from the community and the school like we do. And I hope that continues to drive the players sitting here that have to replace these seniors and get them to understand that with all of this comes a responsibility because fans came to watch because these guys are fun to watch. These guys were skilled, they played hard, and they played together.”

Lamers finished as the Hodags’ leading scorer this year at 13.4 points per game and was, arguably, the team’s most dynamic playmaker. He had 23 dunks on the season, led the team in steals at 2.9 a contest and added four rebounds a game.

Lemmens credited Lamers, the Hodags’ lone first-team all-Great Northern Conference selection, for playing within the Hodags’ system this year and doing plenty that doesn’t show up in the box score — as evidenced by the team-high eight charges he took on the year. 

“Last year, we had a lot of conversations about shot selection and moments, and it wasn’t happening this year,” he said. “I felt like he was always trying to play the role that the team needed. The dunks were a lot of fun for a lot of fans and he did a lot of things that were very flashy and beautiful to see, but he also did a lot of things that were gritty. He’s not afraid to take a charge, not afraid to do those types of things that are going to change games.”

Lemmens said a number of players could have been considered for MVP and sacrificed some personal numbers for the betterment of the team.

“We have a lot of kids that have taken basketball very serious, that have poured their heart and soul into this,” he said. “So to get those players to take that and put it on the back burner and do what’s best for the team, is really special. We had a lot of MVP-caliber players and players that said, ‘We’re doing what the team needs.’”

Junior Jatyn Barkus earned the team’s Mr. Defense award and fellow junior Evan Shoeder was named Mr. Hustle. Sophomores Abe Gretzinger and Rowan Wiczek shared most improved honors, while Lamers and fellow seniors Seth Nofftz and Greyson Gremban shared the Hodag award. Honors were voted on by the players. 

    Rhinelander High School varsity boys’ basketball award winners pose for a photograph following the team’s banquet at the James Williams Middle School cafeteria Tuesday, March 11. Pictured, from left to right, are Evan Shoeder, Jatyn Barkus, Rowan Wiczek, Abe Gretzinger, Seth Nofftz, Devon Feck, Truman Lamers and Greyson Gremban. (Jeremy Mayo/River News)
  

Barkus was second on the team in deflections (53) and tied for second in blocked shots (11), all while drawing the matchup against some of the top shooters Rhinelander faced during the stretch run. He was paired against Medford’s Charlie Gierl, Rice Lake’s Zach Orr and New Richmond’s Connor Raleigh over the final three games and, in all three cases, limited the numbers of looks they got from beyond the arc to below their season averages.

“He changed games without showing up as much in the scorebook, but he would change the outcome of a game because he said, ‘I’m going to shut this guy down and I’m going to keep him out of the scorebook.’ And that’s every bit as important (as scoring),” Lemmens said.

Shoeder led the team in blocked shots (16) and second-chance points (46). He was also second on the team in points off turnovers. Lemmens credited Shoeder’s success in those metrics to the forward’s ability to run the floor. 

“When you’ve got a big that’s willing to just run the rim, every single time, just run the floor as hard as you can, it changes the game,” he said. “Evan was willing to do that. Evan sprinted the rim. Evan was covering ground. Evan became a really good defender himself because of how hard he hustled and how hard he worked, and those types of things again, game changing plays just because he’s willing to outrun someone.”

Gretzinger and Wiczek both worked into rotational roles off the bench as sophomores. Gretzinger averaged 8.5 points and 3.6 rebounds per contest —and was particularly impactful over the final five games of the season in which he averaged 10.4 points and 6.0 rebounds a contest. Wiczek averaged 2.6 points and 3.6 rebounds a game. Lemmens pointed to a key offensive rebound and an assist late in the first half of the New Richmond game as examples of Wiczek’s improvement throughout the year.

“Those types of things, these are sophomores — against seniors — doing those types of things,” he said. “It’s great that they’re improving, but the fact that they are improving as much as they are, I hope that this just continues into the next years.”

Feck, Nofftz and Gremban all earned the Hodag award for their character on and off the court and, coincidentally earned all-academic honors from the Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association as well. 

“These are guys that are doing their job in school, doing their job on the court, doing their job off the court. These are guys that are high character, and they’re also the ones that just do an amazing job at school as well,” Lemmens noted.

Feck earned the award as the winner of the team’s season-long free throw ladder contest at practice. That’s not surprising, considering he put together one of the best seasons at the foul line in recent Hodag history, shooting 95% (54 of 57) on the year. 

Rhinelander went 19-6 on the season to win its second straight Great Northern Conference title, and seventh overall as a member of the conference. In his closing remarks, Lemmens thanked the senior class for returning the Hodags to the status of perennial conference championship contenders and challenged the underclassmen to continue that tradition of excellence. 

“Seniors, thank you so much. We can’t thank you enough for all the time, all the things that you’ve done for this program, not just for you, but what you’re going to do for the years to come and the impact that you’ve had on the future of this program,” he said. “For the rest of you that are coming back, and hopefully you’re all coming back, I just want to say, here we are. We’ve done some really special things. So you get to write the next chapter. What do you want the next years to be? Because the next years are your years. This is now your time. The seniors’ season is over. It’s now your time. And that time starts right now. That clock starts right now.”

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].