By HodagSports.com Staff
Rhinelander's Taylor Fawley gets boxed out in a battle for a rebound during the second half of Tuesday's WIAA Playoff game at Eau Claire Memorial. The Hodags were outrebounded 35-11 and ousted from the postseason in the first round for a third straight year (Bill Pierre photo).
EAU CLAIRE – The 2009-10 season came to an end for the RHS Boys Basketball Team Tuesday at Eau Claire Memorial blew a close game open with a 16-2 run late in the third quarter and early into the fourth and went on to a 63-43 victory.
In the end, Rhinelander had two glaring weaknesses in this game, their second half shooting and their rebounding.
“From the middle of the third quarter on, I just thought they made more plays than we did,” said RHS Boys Basketball coach Rich Fortier. “They were able to score the basketball a lot of different ways. Our inability to score wasn’t good.”
Rhinelander shot 43 percent from the field in the first half, but was just 6-of-24 (25 percent) from the field in the final 16 minutes of the game. Four of those field goals came in the final 1:40 of the contest.
Rhinelander shot 1-of-11 in the third quarter as a two-point halftime deficit ballooned to 11.
“I’m really disappointed with how we shot in the second half more than anything else,” said Fortier. “We had an opportunity and had we been able to match their scoring, we could have kept it close. We just couldn’t make those shots. Had we gone 5-for-11 in the third quarter, that’s eighth more points and were down three heading into the fourth.”
When the Hodags missed, they could not control the glass. Rhinelander was outrebounded 35-11 for the game and 20-4 in the second half.
“Our inability rebounds is something we battled at times all year and it was no different tonight,” added Fortier. “We just couldn’t corral anything. We couldn’t keep them off the (offensive) glass. You’re not going to win many games when you get tripled in rebounding.”
Memorial built a ten-point lead with 3:17 remaining in the first half, but the Hodags finished the second quarter on an 8-0 run to cut the lead to 26-24 going to the locker room. They were still within three early in the third quarter until Zac Mestelle hit back-to-back threes to stretch the lead to 37-28.
Blake Hartl scored 11 of his game-high 20 points in the final quarter as the game got out of hand. Spencer Tollefson had 15 points and seven rebounds for the Old Abes.
Senior Mike O’Melia had 12 of his team-high 13 points in the first half. Troy White had nine points and five rebounds for the Hodags.
Tuesday’s game was the last one in an RHS uniform for O’Melia, Chris Sykes, Andrew Young and Tyde Terzinski.
“I thanked them for all the time they put in,” Fortier said. “If you added up the hours they put into this fine game, it’s astonishing. There’s never a lack of effort with those guys. They’re as coachable a crew as I’ve had. You can’t ask than more than that.”
Rhinelander finished the year 5-18. It was the team’s third losing season in a row and fourth in the last five years.
--
BOX SCORE: Rhinelander at Eau Claire Memorial – Tuesday, March 2, 2010
RHS 11 13 7 12 – 43
ECM 16 10 16 21 – 63
Field Goal Shooting: RHS 15-45, 33%; ECM 24-39, 62%
3-Point Shooting: RHS 3-14, 21%; ECM 6-15, 40%
Free Throw Shooting: RHS 10-15, 67%; ECM 9-17, 53%
Rebounds: RHS 11, ECM 35
Turnovers: RHS 9, ECM 18
Rhinelander: Mike O’Melia (5-10 FG, 2-4 FT, 13 pts.); Troy White (3-7, 3-3, 9); Andrew Young (2-3, 0-0, 5); Dylan Smith (2-4, 0-0, 4); Isaac Pierre (1-4, 0-0, 3); A.J. Berrell (0-0, 3-4, 3); Chris Sykes (0-8, 2-4, 2); Cale Henk (1-1, 0-0, 2); Colton Funk (1-2, 0-0, 2); Tyde Terzinski (0-2, 0-1, 0); Taylor Fawley (0-4, 0-0, 0).
Rebounds: White 5, Ryan Morris 2, Young 1, O’Melia 1, Sykes 1, Terzinski 1
Eau Claire Memorial: Blake Hartl (8-13, 3-4, 20); Spencer Tollefson (7-10, 1-2, 15); Ricky Caldwell (2-2, 2-3, 7); Zac Mestelle (2-3, 1-4, 7); Michael Roden (2-3, 1-2, 6); Alex Reichert (1-4, 0-0, 3); Will Wallo (1-2, 0-0, 2); Joe Liegel (1-2, 0-0, 2); Bobby Nylund (0-0, 1-2, 1).
Rebounds: Wallo 8, Tollefson 7, Mestelle 5, Roden 5, Hartl 3, Reichert 3, Caldwell 2, Cole Scanlan 1, Nyland 1.
3-Point Field Goals: RHS – Young, O’Melia, Pierre; ECM – Mestelle (2), Caldwell, Hartl, Reichert, Roden
Rhinelander (5-18, 2-10 WVC)
Eau Claire Memorial (18-5, 10-2 BRC) vs. Eau Claire North, 3/6
-- For more photos from the game, click on the link below to visit our Photo Gallery. --
Website Link: www.hodagsports.c...
|
