Hodag Hoops pulls away from Rapids

The hot streak for Rhinelander High School senior shooting guard Devon Feck continued Tuesday night in front of the home crowd. 

Feck knocked down seven 3-pointers, and scored a game-high 28 points, as the Hodags defeated Wisconsin Rapids 63-44 in non-conference play at the Jim Miazga Community Gymnasium.

The seven triples matched Feck’s career high, which he’s already achieved two other times this season — against Northland Pines Dec. 13 and Wausau East Jan. 27. Deep 3s, contested fadeaways, shots through contact, none of that seemed to matter for Feck, who went 9 of 14 from the field Tuesday.

Feck has scored 22 points or more in four of the Hodags’ last five games. The lone exception was a nine-point night against Tomahawk when his services were hardly needed as part of a Hodag blowout win. 

“I don’t know what to say when a guy’s doing that. You know, it’s like, ‘Hey, go for it,’” Hodag coach Derek Lemmens said. “We trust him. I think he’s been playing very highly intelligent, even in these moments where shots are falling. He’s still patient and taking quality shots, but there’s some stretches where he’s not going to be guarded. And it’s fun to watch. Hopefully, you know, he’s able to continue that. But that’s what a lot of gym time does. This guy has put in hours and hours and hours and it pays off.”

Feck closed to within 27 points of 1,000 for his career with the performance and the Hodags (15-2, 8-1 Great Northern) rolled to their sixth straight victory. 

Rhinelander overcame a bit of a rocky start as Wisconsin Rapids (3-13, 0-6 Wis. Valley), led 12-4 early in the contest and had already hit five 3-pointers by the halfway point of the first. The Hodags took their first lead of the night, 19-17, on a Feck 3 with 6:26 left in the first half. Rapids tied it about a minute later but the Hodags closed out the half on a 12-3 run to take a 31-22 lead to the break. 

“We didn’t start out well and they started out hot, in their defense,” Lemmens said. “But we bounced back. I really like how these guys respond when they when they fall into a hole, but now we just need to stop falling into a hole.”

The lead continued to balloon as many as 22 points in the second half. Feck scored the Hodags’ first 14 points of the half, including a 4-point play after getting decked on a left-wing 3 with 13:11 remaining. He capped off his night with a 3 that made it 50-30 with nine minutes to play. 

While Rhinelander’s top scorer was having a big night, the Hodag defense put the clamps on Rapids’ top offensive threat, senior guard Brody Gilbertson. Gilbertson, who came in averaging nearly 27 points per game, was held to 13 on just 3 of 10 shooting Tuesday. The final six of his points came from the foul line over the final five minutes after the outcome had been all but decided. 

Junior guard Rowan Wiczek drew the primary assignment on Gilbertson when the Hodags were in man-to-man, but Lemmens said it took a concerted effort from all five on the floor to keep Gilbertson in check.

“I thought Rowan did just a fantastic job of keeping him in front,” Lemmens said. “There’s was a lot of support and they met him early. He’s so crafty and able to just kind of squeeze in any crevice that he can find. And it just wasn’t there. There was only a handful of times where he was able to do that. So just overall, I thought guys did a great job against him.”

    Rhinelander’s Jatyn Barkus drives against Wisconsin Rapids’ Peyton Ruesch for a layup attempt during the first half of a non-conference boys’ basketball game against Wisconsin Rapids at the Jim Miazga Community Gymnasium Tuesday, Feb. 3. (Bob Mainhardt for the River News)
  

The Hodags shot 52% from the field in the contest (24 of 46) and had a 37-16 edge on the glass against the Raiders. Jatyn Barkus had 10 points, all in the first half, but left the game in the second after colliding with teammate Evan Shoeder while chasing after a rebound. He returned for a short stint before going to the bench for the remainder of the night. 

Zak Mancl was 4 of 9 from distance for Rapids and led the Raiders with 14 points. Cobi Ver Hulst added 10 as the Raiders were held to 31% (13 of 42) shooting. 

Despite their overall struggles this season, the Raiders were 3-0 against the GNC heading into Tuesday night’s contest, with wins over Merrill, Northland Pines and Lakeland. 

“That was a great test for us,” Lemmens said. “I think it’s a really good player (in Gilbertson), and we had to show that we can we can stop a really good player, and the guys around him, especially early on, were making shots. Early on they gave us a really good shot and I thought the guys handled it well.”

Rhinelander back in action tonight at Northland Pines. The Hodags won the first meeting 60-55 in Rhinelander back on Dec. 13. Feck and Northland Pines’ leading scorer, Mylo Albrecht, each had 24 in that contest.

“It’s going to be similar. It’s, let’s keep that cat in front. Let’s not give him rhythm shots,” Lemmens said of tonight’s defensive assignment against Albrecht. “He’s a little different where he’s looking to get the shot more than the attack. But it’s the same idea. And then guys off of the basketball, continuing to support without giving up their assignment on top of it. So, I thought this was a great test in preparation for Friday, and now we just had to go out and execute.”

The game is the second half of a boys/girls doubleheader tonight in Eagle River.

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].