Hodag Hoops cruises past Waupaca

The Rhinelander High School boys’ basketball team cruised to a wire-to-wire victory over Waupaca Tuesday, Dec. 30, but coach Derek Lemmens felt his squad left some things on the table against the short-handed Comets.

Jatyn Barkus had 16 points to lead all scorers, and Evan Shoeder had a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds, as the Hodags defeated Waupaca 69-44 at the Jim Miazga Community Gymnasium. 

    Rhinelander’s Evan Shoeder drives to the basket during the first half of a non-conference boys’ basketball game against Waupaca at the Jim Miazga Community Gymnasium Tuesday, Dec. 30. Shoeder recorded 11 points and 11 rebounds for Rhinelander in a 69-44 win. (Bob Mainhardt for the River News)
  

Even with convincing win, Lemmens said he didn’t feel his squad was as crisp as it could have been against a winless Waupaca squad that was without its two leading scorers — seniors Kanye Bessman and Austin Adamczak. 

“The second half was better but I just felt like, on both ends of the ball, we just lacked energy and focus tonight,” Lemmens said. “It’s a Waupaca team that’s missing some key guys, and they really hung around. So, hopefully that’s just a little holiday rust, because I know we’re better than that, but we’ll take a win.”

Despite a 14-2 run to open the game, the Hodags (7-1, 3-0 Great Northern) let the Comets (0-6, 0-3 North Eastern) claw back within 20-16 with 4:23 left in the first half — mainly because four 3-pointers let Waupaca hand around. Rhinelander went on a 9-4 run to close out the half to take a 29-20 lead at the break and then scored the first nine points of the second half to re-establish control of the contest. 

The Hodags shared the wealth in the contest, with six different players scoring at least eight points. In addition to the 16 from Barkus and 11 from Shoeder, Rhinelander got 12 points from Abe Gretzinger, nine from Vince White and eight each from Devon Feck and Rowan Wiczek.

The Hodags finished the night 55% (29 of 53) from the floor and had 14 assists in the contest. 

    Rhinelander’s Vince White attempts a 3 over Waupaca’s Carter Solberg during the second half of a non-conference boys’ basketball game at the Jim Miazga Community Gymnasium Tuesday, Dec. 30. White had a season-high nine points off the bench for the Hodags in a 69-44 win. (Bob Mainhardt for the River News)
  

In particular it was a good outing for the Hodags’ forwards — Gretzinger, Shoeder and White. White’s nine points off the bench were a season high and the trio’s 32 combined points were the most since they scored 35 in a 62-42 win at Antigo Dec. 12. 

“We like what we can be inside when all three of those guys are taking advantage of opportunities and finishing,” Lemmens said. “We leave a lot of points on those short hooks that we miss, but we’ll continue to work on those, and we like our inside-out ability. So, depending on the team, the different matchups, we know we have guys that can step up and make something happen.”

Max Olson had 16 points off the bench to lead Waupaca, while Erik Harms, Westen Lauritzen and Carter Solberg had eight points each. While Lemmens said the was disappointed with the open looks his team gave up from the outside, Waupaca shot only 33% (15 of 46) on the night and the Hodags limited the Comets to just 8 of 25 from inside the arc.

“We’ve got, again, good length overall. When you have a 6-3 1/2 point guard (in Barkus), that’s long and can get up there, those types of things make it hard to finish around the rim when we’re in position,” Lemmens said. 

Though a loss to No. 7 (D3) Wittenberg-Birnamwood is the only blemish on the Hodags’ record so far through the first third of the season, Lemmens said he is looking for his team to make another jump as it gets set to enter the heart of Great Northern Conference play. League action resumes tonight as the Hodags travel to Tomahawk and will continue Thursday when Rhinelander travels to Merrill.

Rhinelander is currently tied for first in the GNC with Mosinee as both teams sit 3-0 in league play.

“It’s gonna be a stretch here (where) we’re back in the fold with conference. So this is our opportunity now to really try to get a few more things in before the Christmas break is over, and then when we get into conference, now we’ve got to start playing our best basketball and finish this first round of conference off in a positive way,” Lemmens said.

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].