Offense doesn’t quite click in Marawood loss to Chequamegon

Their defense kept them in it, but a dry spell of two field goals in the first nine minutes of Tuesday’s second half was a killer for the Rib Lake Redmen, who dropped their fourth straight game 66-55 to visiting Chequamegon, the early leaders in the Marawood Conference’s North Division.

A back-and-forth first half ended with Chequamegon holding a slim 30-27 lead. The Screaming Eagles didn’t exactly run away with things in the second half, but they opened up just enough of a lead as time slowly progressed in a half that included 31 fouls and 42 free throws.

“Offensively we’re not operating on all cylinders,” Rib Lake Todd Henderson said. “We’re struggling to shoot the ball right now. I wouldn’t say we had too many turnovers. We had the turnovers at inopportune times, just as we were trying to get back into the game or when we didn’t want to allow them to get a bigger lead.”

It’s not that the Redmen were far off. In the second half alone, at least a handful of shots from either inside or outside the 3-point arc rattled in and out or were just short.

“I can’t fault the effort,” Henderson said. “The guys are really working hard.” For the third straight game, Rib Lake went up against an opponent that featured some size and it, again, was a factor as Chequamegon did a lot of its offensive damage with rebounding. Isaiah Deitz, a 6-5 junior, led that charge with 17 points, including a first-half slam dunk. AJ Morgan, a 6-2 sophomore, stepped out and hit three first-half 3-pointers to finish with 11 points and 6-4 junior Dawson Heizler scored five points and was another Screaming Eagle that was tough for Rib Lake to keep off the glass.

Senior guard Joe Newbury led the Screaming Eagles (2-1 North, 6-1 all) with 20 points while going 12 for 18 from the free throw line.

“Their offensive rebounding got us, Henderson said. “They had too many second-chance points.”

Neither team got much of anything accomplished offensively in the first five minutes of the second half. Finally, Deitz got two free throws off a rebound and he scored again in the paint to push Chequamegon’s lead to 37-29, but Sam Gumz fought through Chequamegon’s posts for a three-point play that made it 37-32 with 11:09 left.

Trey Klemann’s three-point play got Rib Lake within 39-35 with 10:17 left, but Andrew Schienebeck answered with a key 3-pointer. Newbury’s nifty move in the lane ended with a left-hand layup, plus a foul, though he missed the free throw to keep it 44-35. After an exchange of free throws, Michael Borchardt hit a short pull-up jumper to cut the lead to 46-39, but Newbury got to the rim with a stutter-and-go move for a three-point play that made it 49-39 with 8:40 left. The lead hit 12 three times before Rib Lake made one last charge, led by three straight buckets by Logan Blomberg. The last of those scores made it 55-47. Jackson Blomberg’s tough shot over Chequamegon’s posts and then Logan Blomberg’s 3-pointer cut it to 58-53 with a minute left. Two Schienebeck free throws, then a steal by Newbury and his three-point play put it away.

Blomberg led Rib Lake with 16 points, while Borchardt had 12, Tanner Vlach added nine and Gumz chipped in with eight. Andrew Wudi and Klemann finished with three points each and Jackson Blomberg and Jordan Yanko had two points apiece.

Logan Blomberg and Borchardt both hit two 3-pointers. Rib Lake was 15 of 22 from the free throw line. Chequamegon was 28 of 38.

“We’re just not getting into a great rhythm offensively,” Henderson said. “The shots aren’t falling.”

Rib Lake will give it another try Friday when they visit North contender Athens for a 7:15 p.m. tip. Abbotsford visits Rib Lake for another conference battle on Tuesday.

Marathon 82, Rib Lake 44

On Thursday, visiting Marathon shot 53.3% from the field, sank seven 3s, outrebounded Rib Lake 43-18 and forced 21 turnovers by the Redmen in a dominant 82-44 victory.

“We had some problems with their 1-3-1 zone,” Henderson said. “We just had way too many turnovers and gave up too many second-chance points on offensive rebounds.”

Marathon had 14 offensive rebounds, equaling Rib Lake’s defensive total. The Red Raiders’ 6-8 sophomore, Grant Warren, had five of those offensive boards to go with 12 points. Senior Jaden Koeller passed the 1,000-point mark for his career as part of his 23-point night. He drilled four of nine 3-point shots.

Koeller hit three of those triples in the first half, when he scored 14 points and helped the Red Raiders build a 36-15 halftime lead. Tyler Underwood scored 12 of his 14 points in the second half to help Marathon break the game wide open.

Vlach scored 12 of his team-high 14 points in the second half for Rib Lake. Yanko scored all six of his points in the second half. Gumz, Dominic Quednow and Wudi scored five points apiece, Klemann added four, Ryan Buehler hit a first-half 3 and Borchardt scored two.

Gumz had seven rebounds, Vlach and Borchardt both had three assists and Vlach added two steals and a blocked shot.

Rib Lake’s Jackson Blomberg surprises Chequamegon defender Joe Newbury by attacking off the dribble from the top of the key late in Tuesday’s 66-55 loss.MATT FREY/THE STAR NEWS