Strong first half sends Hodag Hoops past Antigo

The Rhinelander High School boys’ basketball team built a nice insurance policy Friday night, in the form of a 20-point halftime lead against the Antigo Red Robins. That was good for the Hodags to have in their back pocket considering how much they struggled at times in the second half. 

Devon Feck scored 22 points to lead all scorers, and Abe Gretzinger added 13, as the Hodags got past Antigo 69-46 at the Jim Miazga Community Gymnasium in Great Northern Conference play.

Rhinelander (14-2, 9-1 Great Northern) won its fifth straight game, and 11th of 12 overall, but a sloppy second half left something to be desired for coach Derek Lemmens and the Hodags. Antigo (3-12, 1-8 Great Northern) flustered the Hodag offense after switching to a 1-3-1 zone to start the second half, and the lead got down to 14 points before the Hodags stemmed the tide. 

“We’re frustrated because we just aren’t doing things that we’re capable of doing,” Lemmens said. “Again, we need to celebrate wins. We need to be excited. It’s a rivalry, it’s a conference game. But we have big goals. This team has big goals. We just can’t accept this and be satisfied. We’re very happy. We very pleased. We just can’t be satisfied.”

    Rhinelander’s Jatyn Barkus drives into the lane for a layup during the second half of a GNC boys’ basketball game against Antigo at the Jim Miazga Community Gymnasium Friday, Jan. 30. (Bob Mainhardt for the River News)
  

Rhinelander stammered through the first seven-plus minutes of the second half as the Robins cut the lead to 43-29 — a seemingly unfathomable notion after the Hodags started the game on a 15-0 run to start the game. 

Luckily, the Robins struggled to make shots on the other end of the floor, going 36% on the night (17 of 47), and the Hodags treaded water long enough to finally find their footing, building the lead back to 21 points with 6:13 remaining thanks to a 13-6 run capped by a 3 by Feck. 

“We weren’t moving,” Lemmens said of the Hodags’ struggles against Antigo’s zone. “You know, we worked on actions, and we worked on the attack, and we were doing, I felt a really good job in practice, you know? So then we got in the game, and we really froze. We were trying to throw long passes. We were all just kind of standing in spots. We weren’t moving defenders, we weren’t flashing to openings.”

Sophomore Tommy Eades hit a 3 as part of the decisive run and added a layup that made it 60-42 with 3:21 to play. Lemmens credited Eades for being a spark off the bench when the Hodags needed it, with the offense out of sync and a number of starters in foul trouble.

“Tommy came in and started moving and started hunting, and suddenly things opened up, and coach (Chad) Bolkema made a great adjustment too, using the short corner much better. That was a huge change right there. Those two things really got us back on track,” Lemmens said.

The Hodags dominated inside early, holding a 9-0 margin on the glass at one point early in the first half. Forwards Gretzinger, Evan Shoeder and Vince White combined for 29 points in the game. Shoeder and White pulled down 20 rebounds between them. 

“I thought first half, we really established ourselves on the offensive boards, got some great post touches,” Lemmens said. “And when they flipped the zone, I thought we could have continued that. But, I don’t think our bigs were as physical as they need to be at all times.”

The Hodags finished 50% from the field (28 of 56) on the night, and were 9 of 23 from beyond the arc, led by Feck’s 6-9 night from distance. 

Randy Quevedo had 16 points to lead Antigo while Isaac Buchman added 10 points. The Robins dropped to 1-12 since head coach Chris Schewe was relieved of his duties shortly after the Dec. 12 meeting in Antigo against Rhinelander and was replaced by assistant Logan Doering.

Despite holding the Robins under their season average and forcing 14 turnovers, Lemmens said he was frustrated with his defense’s penchant to foul. The Robins were in the bonus in the second half before they committed their first foul of the stanza.

“I was most disappointed with our defense. I just thought there was a lack of urgency. We fouled a ton. I would love to say 14 to 3 foul count was officiating, but it wasn’t. I mean, it was just us playing poor defense,” Lemmens said.

The win kept the Hodags a game behind Mosinee for first in the GNC. Rhinelander nearly got a gift in that regard on Friday night as Merrill pushed Mosinee to overtime for the second time this season, only to fall 63-58.

Rhinelander ventures outside the GNC again tonight as it host Wisconsin Rapids at the Miazga Gym. 

“Their best player (Brody Gilbertson, 26.9 ppg) is a handful, and it’s gonna require a team defensive effort to stop him, to slow him down,” Lemmens said. 

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].