Redmen get a key road win, fall at Marathon

RIB LAKE BOYS BASKETBALL

Moving toward the top of the heap in the Marawood North will require winning road games and stealing a crossover game or two with the South Division.

The Rib Lake Redmen got part of that done Tuesday night.

Rib Lake used a strong second-half effort to get out of a three-point halftime deficit and beat host Chequamegon 64-59.

The win evens Rib Lake’s Marawood record at 2-2, but puts the Redmen at 2-0 against North foes, with both of those wins coming on the road. Chequamegon fell to 1-3 in league play and 1-4 overall. The Screaming Eagles swept the season series with Rib Lake last year and finished second in last season’s North standings behind Athens.

Rib Lake is 3-2 overall and gets its first matchup of the season with Athens Friday in Rib Lake. The Blue Jays will come into the game leading the North with a 2-1 Marawood record. They are 4-1 overall.

Details and statistics from Tuesday’s win were not yet available at press time on Wednesday afternoon.

The Redmen will finish the pre-holiday portion of their schedule by playing at Abbotsford Tuesday at 7:15 p.m. in game two of a girls/boys doubleheader and by playing at Pittsville in non-conference play on Dec. 22.

Marathon 80, Rib Lake 51

As feared, 6-9 junior center Grant Warren was a major problem, scoring 25 points and grabbing 15 rebounds, and Tyler Underwood slashed his way to 17 points as well in Marathon’s 80-51 win over visiting Rib Lake Friday evening.

The Redmen played a solid first half offensively, but they cooled off in the second half and could not keep pace with a Red Raider team that was simply solid in all phases while improving to 4-0 overall and 3-0 in Marawood Conference play.

Jackson Blomberg had a solid offensive night for Rib Lake, scoring 17 points on seven-of-16 shooting from the field. Blomberg was aggressive right off the bat, scoring off the opening tip and adding two more scores, one of which came off a nice Tanner Vlach assist to forge an early 6-6 tie. The Redmen continued to get good looks when Marathon switched into an extended 1-3-1 zone about four minutes in, freeing up Dalen Gebauer for a baseline jumper and Vlach for a pair of 3s, the second of which pulled Rib Lake within 17-16 with just under 10 minutes left in the half.

Unfortunately, the Redmen could never find a defensive scheme that could consistently slow down the Red Raiders, who shot 55.7% from the field (34 for 61) overall. If Warren got established in the post, he was virtually unguardable. He made 11 of 15 shots from the field. Underwood made eight of 16 shots from the field and dished out four assists while finding the driving lanes throughout the night. Cooper Hoeksema was the assassin from outside, leading Marathon with three hits from 3-point range while scoring 13 points.

Marathon went on an 11-2 run, capped by a Hoeksema 3, to extend to a 28-18 lead. Blomberg answered with a 3 and hit another one late. That late shot, combined with a Michael Borchardt triple, kept Rib Lake within striking distance at the half at 37-29.

Marathon shot 60.7% from the field in the second half (17 of 28) and steadily pulled away. It was 46-35 when Underwood made a nice pass in the lane to Mason Seehafer for a layup, Underwood scored, Warren got an easy one of a baseline inbound, Drew Love knocked down a corner 3 and Warren got a stickback to open up an insurmountable 57-35 lead with just over 13 minutes to go.

Rib Lake wound up shooting 30.1% for the game (22 of 73) after starting out at 33%, both from 2-point and 3-point range in the first half. The Redmen forced 17 turnovers while committing just 12. Marathon had a big 50-32 rebounding edge and had a 56-24 advantage in points in the paint.

Vlach hit double figures for Rib Lake with 10 points, four rebounds, three steals and two assists. Borchardt finished with nine points, five rebounds and four assists. Donovan Sutherland had six points, seven rebounds and three assists. Gebauer had five points off the bench, Andrew Wudi was held to two points, four assists and two rebounds and Talon Scheithauer hit a shot at the final buzzer.