Hodag hoops blows out Merrill 72-28

MERRILL — The Rhinelander High School boys’ basketball team came out of the holiday break Thursday, Jan. 8 with a statement performance on both ends of the floor as it looks to establish itself as the team to beat in the Great Northern Conference.

Devon Feck had 17 points, Evan Shoeder had a double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds, and the Hodags blitzed the Merrill Bluejays in the second half en route to a 72-28 road victory.

The Hodags (8-1, 4-0 Great Northern) had four players in double figures while Merrill (3-7, 1-3 Great Northern) had none. The Bluejays were held to just under 19% from the field and a 12-plus-minute field goal drought from late in the first half to midway in the second allowed the Hodags to turn a tight game into a blowout. 

Rhinelander showed no signs of rust, despite playing just one game in a nearly three-week stretch from Dec. 20 to Thursday. 

“That was a big statement win on the road and guys feel good about that,” coach Derek Lemmens said. “And with this big stretch, when you’re competing against yourselves and you’re competing against the alums, it’s kind of hard to see where you’re at. So to be able to play against a good team in their place, that’s a nice barometer to measure.”

A 44-point victory was far from anticipated, despite Merrill’s record. The Bluejays previous four losses were all by seven points or fewer, including a 68-65 overtime loss to fellow GNC unbeaten Mosinee back on Dec. 12. 

Lemmens said he was weary about the Bluejays’ zone defense — especially considering the troubles Rhinelander had shooting the ball against trapping zones employed by Wittenberg-Birnamwood and Antigo last month. There were no such issues on Thursday. Rhinelander was 8 of 16 from beyond the arc and shot 54% (30 of 56) overall in the win. 

“They’ve really given a lot of teams a hard time — and really good teams are struggling to pull away from them,” Lemmens said. “So we’re really nervous about this, and I thought the guys executed things really well on the offensive end, and then defensively just played with a lot of purpose. We didn’t allow a lot of easy touches or rhythm shots, and then once we started getting the lead, it kind of snowballed.”

The lead changed hands five times over the first nine-plus minutes, with the Hodags taking the lead for good on a pair of 3s by Feck that made it a 16-12 affair. Tyson Ott scored on a drive to the basket for Merrill with 5:34 remaining in the first that cut the lead to 2, but the Bluejays didn’t make another shot from the floor with an Alex Koblitz putback with 8:50 remaining in the second. 

Rhinelander stretched the lead to 27-16 at the break and was up 46-18 before Merrill finally broke its field goal spell. 

The Hodags further got Merrill out of sorts in the second half when they jumped into its 1-3-1 zone. The Bluejays turned the ball over 15 times in the second half, leading to several breakaway baskets. Abe Gretzinger scored the final four of his 12 points on the night off steals, and Jatyn Barkus finished a 10-point night with a rim-rocking dunk in transition with 4:03 to play.

“I think that just change of pace disrupted a little bit and allowed us to get some easy baskets and it really, I thought, took away their will to even compete at that point,” Lemmens said. “So I thought guys did a great job having active hands. We were a long team. So we can we can bring a lot of length and disrupting that 1-3-1 when we do it correctly.”

Shoeder had the hot hand for Rhinelander early, scoring the team’s first six points. He also started the Hodags’ scoring in the second half and hit a key 3 that made it 38-18 with 13:47 remaining. Shoeder collected his second straight double-double after collecting 11 points and 11 rebounds in a 69-44 win over Waupaca Dec. 30.

“He did a great job inside. He’s that 5-man that can step out and shoot the 3, and he did a much better job finishing tonight too,” Lemmens said. “So, you know, if him and Abe continue to finish around the basket, they’re really going to be a dynamic duo inside.”

Feck finished the night 5 of 10 from beyond the arc. He’s shooting just under 64% from distance over the last four games (21 of 33), but is also contributing in other ways. He collected six rebounds on Thursday and added four assists.

“He does such a great job of looking off his passes and setting the defenders, getting them out of position with his eyes, and he sees the floor so well,” Lemmens said. “And it’s great when your top scorer can also be a passing threat because it just makes it very hard to stop.”

Eli Burtman scored nine points to lead Merrill. Ott, the Bluejays’ leading scorer (12.0 ppg) was held to just four in the contest. Cooper Wendorf added seven points, but was saddled with foul trouble much of the contest. 

Thursday’s win kicked off a key mid-season stretch for the Hodags that includes a looming showdown with Mosinee this Friday at the Jim Miazga Community Gymnasium, but first the Hodags hit the road tonight to take on a Lakeland team that, like Merrill, has been competitive in a number of games, even if the results aren’t showing in the win-loss column. 

“They are gritty. If they’re hitting their shots, then that just makes them all the more dangerous,” Lemmens said. “We’re gonna have to definitely defend the arc. And I think we have to win the inside significantly. You know, that needs to be a game again where Evan and Abe and Vince just take over, and they own the paint on both ends.”

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].