Feck’s 30 leads Hodag Hoops past pesky Lumberjacks

Wausau East might not be the same team that played at the Kohl Center last March in the WIAA Division 2 state tournament, but the Lumberjacks certainly gave the Rhinelander High School boys’ basketball team everything it could handle Tuesday night in non-conference play.

Devon Feck scored a career-high 30 points and added nine assists as the Hodags fended off Wausau East 74-63 at the Jim Miazga Community Gymnasium.

Feck hit seven 3-pointers, matching a career-best. Two of them came during a 9-0 run midway through the second half that put the Hodags (13-2, 7-1 Great Northern) ahead for good.

“I don’t think it was our best game, but we did enough and some guys stepped up late and made some really big plays,” Hodag coach Derek Lemmens said. 

Abe Gretzinger added 10 of his 11 points in the second half as the Hodags recovered after squandering a 10-point lead with 14 minutes to play. 

Miles Casey led Wausau East (3-10, 2-2 Wis. Valley) with 25 points, including a personal 7-0 run that ended with a banked-in 3 to put East up 49-48 with 11:20 remaining. A Gretzinger layup on the other end gave the lead back to the Hodags and Feck followed with a triple that made it a four-point game. Following a Rowan Wiczek free throw, Feck made another to make it 57-49 with 7:37 left.

East had cut the lead to five points, down 65-60, with 2:11 remaining, but Gretzinger made a reverse layup on the other end to put the lead back to seven. Feck surpassed his previous career-high of 25 with a three-point play with 56.8 seconds left and made two more free throws late to get to the 30-point mark as he surpassed 900 points for his high school career.

“Devon Feck hit big shot after big shot, and those are the types of things you have to do, because when we’re not playing our best, we need guys to step up, and he did that,” Lemmens said.

The Hodags overcame another slow start in the contest, spotting East an early 10-2 lead. Rhinelander answered with a 17-4 run to go up 19-14 before East answered back with six straight points. 

Rowan Wiczek had nine points for Rhinelander and put the Hodags back ahead 22-21 on a 3 with 4:15 left in the half. Jatyn Barkus added 14 points for the Hodags, including a 3 just before the buzzer that made it 34-28 Rhinelander at the break. 

Barkus made two more 3s early in the second half as Rhinelander built a 45-35 lead. The Hodags made a season-high 13 triples in the contest, which helped against the Lumberjacks’ tall and athletic zone.

“I felt like we made big shots and we needed big shots. And that’s huge,” Lemmens said. “Other than the one big run in the second half, we didn’t allow East to go on any big runs, but on the other side of that coin, we did allow them to just kind of hang around. We’ve got to get a little more consistent so that when we have our runs, we can get that separation without giving it back.”

Robbie Angiulli, a 6-8 forward, had 15 points for the Lumberjacks and Wausau East finished with a 34-26 edge on the glass. Both Gretzinger and Evan Shoeder fouled out late in the contest, but East was playing catchup by that point and was unable to utilize the size mismatch.

“I think our bigs tonight, it’s been a while since we faced a team that has more size in the paint than us,” Lemmens said. “I think that we didn’t really match that challenge very well, and that’s something that we got to learn from and grow from.”  

Rhinelander finished the night an even 50% from the field on 28 of 56 shooting while Wausau East shot just under 46% (25 of 55). East knocked down eight 3s in the contest, including 5 of its first 6 to start the second half. 

While Wausau East’s record doesn’t look impressive, the Lumberjacks are on par with the middle-to-upper teams in the GNC. East had a two-point win over Medford Dec. 30 and lost by seven to Northland Pines on Jan. 20. Tuesday’s win was also key as the Hodags scored a victory over a potential regional opponent.

“It’s unfortunate because some of our big wins are against good teams that don’t look good on paper,” Lemmens said, noting the computer formula that replaced coaches meetings for seeding the WIAA basketball tournaments a couple of years ago. “I know East has three wins, but they’re a very capable and difficult team. They offer a lot of challenges when it comes to matchups and they’ve played a very tough schedule. I think sometimes when you look at them and Medford, those types of things can be deceiving, but we just have to keep doing what we can to control our destiny the best we can. Then, whoever we run into in the playoffs, we’ve got to be ready for.” 

Rhinelander 90, Tomahawk 25

    Rhinelander’s Evan Shoeder goes up for a dunk on a fast break during the first half of a GNC boys’ basketball game against Tomahawk at the Jim Miazga Community Gymnasium Monday, Jan. 26. The Hodags had six dunks in the contest as they blew out the Hatchets, 90-25. (Bob Mainhardt for the River News)
  

Rhinelander blitzed the last-place Tomahawk Hatchets at home Monday night, cruising to a 90-25 victory. 

Rhinelander opened the game on a 28-3 run and never looked back, taking a 53-10 lead to halftime. 

The Hodags spread the wealth around. Barkus had 16 points, Gretzinger had 15 and Evan Shoeder chipped in 10. Four more players — Feck, Wiczek, Vince White and Tommy Eades — scored eight points each and all but one player who got into the contest scored for the Hodags. 

“I thought the guys just kept things simple, and when they got rhythm shots, they took them,” Lemmens said. “They were patient defensively and waited for the right times to attack. It led to some really nice looks, some dunks. You know, they played against the game, and I thought it was pretty well played.”

Rhinelander feasted on turnovers, as it outscored Tomahawk 43-2 off turnovers and 28-0 in transition. That led to six dunks in the first half, including three by Barkus and two by Shoeder.

“We got some guys that can get up, so when they’re given those opportunities in transition, it’s fun to watch,” Lemmens said. “Jay and Evan getting out there and even Vince, we said he had half of one. So that was nice to see guys attacking the rim.”

Rhinelander finished the night 59% from the field (39 of 66), its best shooting night of the season. Eades (8) and Sawyer Bishop (7) scored season-highs off the bench for Rhinelander and junior Grant Gremban, a recent JV call-up, scored his first varsity basket in the contest. 

“These guys work hard too, so it’s nice when there’s opportunities like that where they can step on their home floor, play in front of their fans, and put on a little bit of a show in the process,” Lemmens said.

Logan Norman paced Tomahawk with 11 points as the Hatchets shot 32% (10 of 31) from the field.

Up next

The Hodags host Antigo at home tonight in the second half of a girls/boys doubleheader at the Jim. Tipoff will be approximately 7:45 p.m. 

The Hodags won the first meeting 62-42 in Antigo Dec. 12 after leading by only one at halftime in the contest.

“We came out really flat at Antigo, so we want to come out with great energy this time around and get them playing from behind, get them on their heels right away,” Lemmens said.

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].