Mosinee pulls away late to knock off Hodags, extend GNC lead

Rhinelander and Mosinee will meet one more time this season on the boys’ basketball hardwood, potentially with a Great Northern Conference title in the balance. If the Hodags are going to earn a conference three-peat, they will need to find some answers down the stretch against an explosive offensive team.

That’s where things went awry for Rhinelander on Friday night. Mosinee outscored the Hodags 19-6 over the final 5 1/2 minutes and went on to win a battle for first place in the GNC 75-61 at the Jim Miazga Community Gymnasium.

The loss snapped a six-game winning streak for the Hodags (9-2, 5-1 Great Northern) while Mosinee (11-2, 7-0 Great Northern) won its eighth straight. 

Shots didn’t fall for Rhinelander late. That, foul trouble and a balanced Mosinee offense that had six players score in double figures ultimately spelled doom for the Hodags on their home court. 

“We had a difficult time getting stops,” Hodag coach Derek Lemmens said. “Our 1-3-1 worked really nice in the first half, but when we were in man-to-man, we just we really had a difficult time keeping guys in front and being in an off-ball position. And so those are things that we’re really gonna have to step up if we want to be the team we want to be.”

Forward Evan Shoeder, expected to be a big part of the game plan against Mosinee bigs Treve Stoffel and Brayden Reinke, was saddled with foul trouble much of the game and ultimately fouled out with 7:55 remaining. Reinke, the GNC’s leading scorer, scored 11 of his team-high 18 points after Shoeder fouled out while he and Stoffel combined for 13 of Mosinee’s final 19 points. 

Rowan Wiczek also fouled out with 1:58 remaining, forcing the Hodags to lean on a relatively thin bench.

“That was huge, especially Evan. When you talk about their presence inside and taking away a really important offensive and defensive player for us,” Lemmens said. “And really forcing us to have some guys log a lot of minutes and put guys that have never been there in some big spots. So, it’s a good experience for down the road, but it’s unfortunate that we had him as little as we did.”

    Rhinelander’s Abe Gretzinger puts up a shot against Mosinee’s Bryson Cveykus during the first half of a GNC boys’ basketball game against Mosinee Friday, Jan. 16. (Bob Mainhardt for the River News)
  

Rhinelander was within a point at 56-55 off an Abe Gretzinger putback with 5:48 remaining, but Mosinee scored 10 of the next 12 points to go up 66-57 with 2:32 remaining. The Hodags got back to within seven on two occasions, but back-to-back baskets by Reinke —the latter a dunk after he got behind a pressing Hodag defense on a full court inbound — proved to be the final nail in the coffin. 

Rhinelander struggled from the outside in the second half. Guards Devon Feck and Jatyn Barkus were a combined 0 of 9 from deep over the final 18 minutes. What’s more, the Hodag offense was its own worst enemy at times. Twenty-two turnovers derailed their efforts, despite a 51% shooting night from the floor (24 of 47).

“We’re just not valuing the basketball. We force things. We’re just a little casual at times, not executing,” Lemmens said. “Our handoffs, I think we lost three handoffs. And those are things we explicitly teach. We just have to be better. We’re either gonna grow and get better from that, or, when we play aggressive teams, this is gonna become the standard. So I’m hoping guys, it’s going to sink in (for them) and we’re going to just be better with it.”

Mosinee punched Rhinelander in the mouth early, jumping out to an 18-5 lead less then seven minutes into the contest. The Hodags claimed back to take the lead 27-26 on a Vince White layup with 4:05 remaining. Rhinelander was 5 of 9 from deep in the first half, and Feck scored 18 of his game-high 24 points before the break as Rhinelander took a 38-33 lead to the half.

Rhinelander maintained the lead over the first several minutes of the second half, but Mosinee went on a 15-3 run to pull ahead 55-49 with 7:35 remaining. Gretzinger kept the Hodags in it with a number of inside finishes as he scored 15 in the contest, but Mosinee was able to keep Rhinelander at arm’s length.

“Guys clawed back, really stepped it up defensively. Devon obviously made a lot of shots and played lights out in that first half,” Lemmens said. “We just couldn’t find that second player until late, when Abe stepped up. But, at that point, we weren’t getting our stops. So it was just a lot of things that we need to get better at.” 

Mosinee was 49% (24 of 49) from the field. Reinke finished the night with 16 points while Stoffel added 14 points, seven rebounds and five assists. Mosinee got several contributions elsewhere, however. Carson Balgord hit three 3s as part of a 13-point night while Sebastian Anderson, Bryson Cveykus and Omar Ingram scored 10 points each.

“The way they got them is frustrating. I thought a lot of our guys just weren’t good defensively,” Lemmens said. “And the film will either prove me right or prove me wrong, and we’ll learn from it. But we all have to step up. I thought we did a nice job with those (Reinke and Stoffel), but those two are great distributors, and they find open guys, and the open guys are ready for that moment.”

With Merrill upsetting Medford 81-80 in overtime on Thursday night, the conference essentially became a two-horse race between Mosinee and Rhinelander at the halfway point of the league slate. Rhinelander dropped a game and a half behind Mosinee in the GNC with the loss, but the remaining six teams in the GNC all have three or more losses. 

A rematch Feb. 26 to end the regular season in Mosinee could determine if Rhinelander, Mosinee or both squads will hold the conference championship trophy. However, Lemmens cautioned there are plenty of potential pitfalls for both teams the second time through the GNC.

“This conference right now, with Merrill being added, is full of landmines,” he said. “Merrill and Medford are both really dangerous, (Northland) Pines is dangerous. Lakeland’s playing much better, and they’re starting to find themselves without Evan Zoch. And then you even have Antigo, really just getting in games. The conference is gonna be a grind. So this is not the end of the world, but we’ve put ourselves in a spot where we better bring it every day, or we’re gonna find ourselves in a bad spot.”

Rhinelander is back in action tonight at Shawano and will resume GNC play at Medford this coming Friday night. 

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].