RIB LAKE BOYS BASKETBALL - Rib Lake blows out Chequamegon, wins 2-OT thriller at Pines
RIB LAKE BOYS BASKETBALL
The offense clicked virtually from start to finish Friday for the Rib Lake Redmen, who pulled away from Chequamegon with a 20-2 first-half ending run that sent them to a 77-40 boys basketball victory.
The win put Rib Lake at 7-1 in the Marawood North standings at the midway point of the conference season. The Redmen hold a two-game lead over 5-3 Phillips and a three-game lead over 4-4 Prentice heading into the second half, which begins for the Redmen tonight, Thursday, with a 7:15 p.m. showdown between divisional leaders at Auburndale. The Eagles also got through the first half in the South Division at 7-1.
Rib Lake (9-3 overall) used good ball movement, solid 3-point shooting, especially in the first half and some good high-low action from its posts as well to shred the 2-3 zone the visiting Screaming Eagles used through much of Friday’s contest. The Redmen shot 52.7% overall from the field (29 of 55), including 10 of 26 from long range (35.5%).
Talon Scheithauer was five of 12 from behind the 3-point arc and led all scorers with 21 points. He was one of four Redmen in double figures. Jed Henderson posted another double-double with 15 points and 12 rebounds, six on each end of the floor. Jeremy Wiitala was on fire while playing the last 10 minutes, hitting five of seven shots to score a season-high 11 points. Freshman Blake Henderson continue his strong January, scoring 10 points and adding six points and six rebounds.
While the Screaming Eagles fell to 3-10 overall and 1-7 in conference play, they did play right with the Redmen for about the first 12 minutes. In fact, they were the team that came out smoking from 3-point range, getting one from Mason Paholke, one from Norson Rodriguez and two from Marcus Purdy to take an early 14-12 lead. Two free throws by Purdy with 8:15 left tied the game at 18-18.
That was the last contact Chequamegon had with the home team.
Blake Henderson broke the tie scoring off high-low inside work with Lucas Cook. Slade Scheithauer hit two free throws at the 7:15 mark and Jed Henderson sank his only 3-point attempt of the night. Blake Henderson’s 3-ball pushed the lead to 2818 and forced a Chequamegon timeout at the 4:29 mark. He hit another one after that, and Jed Henderson and Talon Scheithauer both got inside scores before Paholke finally scored for Chequamegon. But that was answered by Talon Scheithauer’s 3-pointer with 10 seconds left that gave Rib Lake a commanding 3820 lead.
The momentum carried right over into the second half as Seth Borchardt made two free throws and Jed Henderson scored on two offensive putbacks for the first six points. After a Purdy score, Talon Scheithauer hit two more 3s for the knockout punch at 50-22. From there, Wiitala’s hot streak and a 3-pointer from Ethan Cook were the catalysts that stretched the lead as high as 39.
Borchardt finished with five points, six assists and five rebounds. He blocked three shots. Ethan Cook scored five points and added two assists and two steals. Slade Scheithauer and Lucas Cook scored four each. Cook had three assists and Scheithauer had three rebounds. Josiah Mann got his first varsity basket late in the game. Brady Heiser had four rebounds. The Redmen dominated in that department, 44-21.
Purdy led Chequamegon with 15 points and Cooper Michalski added 10.
After the battle in Auburndale tonight, Rib Lake hosts Owen-Withee Monday in a key non-conference battle in terms of post-season seeding. Then it’s off to Athens for a Marawood North matchup on Tuesday. Both games tip at 7:15 p.m.
Rib Lake 62, Pines 59
The end-game execution wasn’t perfect Thursday, but the Redmen still got it done escaping Northland Pines with a 62-59 double-overtime win, the team’s third straight victory that went down to the final shot.
A game Rib Lake had controlled since the middle of the first half and led 41-27 with 8:25 to go got away when the Redmen went ice cold from the free throw line and committed a couple of untimely turnovers. The Eagles got three 3-pointers from Jonathan Miller and one from Nolan Huelskamp to cut into that lead and Miller, a 6-5 senior, got an offensive rebound basket to put the Eagles up 50-49 with 51 seconds left.
From that point on, free throws became an even bigger story, along with a few clutch field goals.
First, Borchardt hit two huge free throws for Rib Lake with 7.6 seconds to play, putting the Redmen on top 51-50. Miller, though, got fouled while attempting a go-ahead shot in the lane with 1.7 seconds left. He made the first free throw but, after a Rib Lake timeout, missed the second, sending the game to overtime.
Jed Henderson answered an AJ Muench basket with one in the lane to tie the game at 53-53 during the first overtime and Borchardt’s clutch 3-pointer after a Cody Vojta score put the Redmen up 56-55 with 1:41 to go. Vojta hit one of two free throws left to tie it.
Rib Lake turned the ball over, giving Pines a chance to win it, but Muench just missed a 3-point shot from the right corner at the buzzer.
The Eagles’ Jack Albrecht sank two free throws and Muench made one of two for a 59-56 lead halfway through the fourminute second overtime. But Jed Henderson erased that with a right-wing 3-pointer with 1:32 to go. Mylo Albrecht’s 3-point try just rolled off the rim and he missed a rebound chance. Rib Lake got that rebound and went the other way with Talon Scheithauer getting fouled in the lane. He made one of two free throws with 48 seconds left for a one-point Rib Lake lead.
Vojta got to the rim but missed. A tie-up on the rebound went to Pines. Lucas Cook then came up with the defensive play, drawing a charge on Vojta for his fifth foul with 19.5 seconds left. Borchardt made one of two free throws five seconds later. Miller’s 3-point try was long and Blake Henderson got the rebound with 4.4 ticks left. He made one of two free throws. Eagle Jacob Beer got a decent look at a straighton 3-pointer from about 35 feet at the buzzer but it back-rimmed out.
Rib Lake led by as much as seven in the first half before Pines ended the half on a 10-5 spurt to get within 23-21. The Redmen started the second half with a 153 surge that included two straight Borchardt hoops and 3-pointers from Talon Scheithauer, Blake Henderson and Borchardt. A second 3-ball from Scheithauer made it 41-27 before Pines began its comeback.
Talon Scheithauer and Jed Henderson scored 15 points apiece, Borchardt had 14 and Blake Henderson added 12 for the Redmen. Slade Scheithauer, Ethan Cook and Heiser each chipped in a basket. Jed Henderson completed a double-double with 13 rebounds and added four assists. Blake Henderson just missed a doubledouble with nine rebounds. Talon Scheithauer had six assists and Borchardt had five.
Miller led Northland Pines with 14 points, while Mylo Albrecht had 12 and Jack Albrecht scored 11.
Rib Lake made 14 of 27 free throws, which wound up being just enough. Pines was 12 of 19. The Eagles were just seven of 34 on 3-point shots, which hurt them too. Rib Lake was 10 of 23.
