RIB LAKE BOYS BASKETBALL - Streak hits seven for RL with tight win at Colby

RIB LAKE BOYS BASKETBALL

The Rib Lake Redmen built a 13-point first-half lead Monday by pushing the pace and attacking the paint area despite the presence of Colby’s 6-6 junior Tucker Hayes.

But the game changed late in the first half and into the second and the Redmen adjusted, succeeding with patience down the stretch in an entertaining 55-50 non-conference win on the Hornets’ home floor.

The win was Rib Lake’s seventh straight, boosting its record to 10-2 heading into a statement Marawood Conference crossover game tonight, Thursday, at home against 11-2 Auburndale.

“It feels good just to be winning again,” said senior Andrew Wudi. “The last couple years we felt like we could’ve been better than we were. Things just never really panned out. It feels really nice to keep these wins going.”

“We’re living up to our potential a little more and starting to figure it out on offense,” said sophomore Seth Borchardt, who hit two of the game’s biggest shots, back-to-back 3-pointers that opened up a 46-38 lead with 11 minutes to go. Rib Lake never trailed from there, though Colby (57) did get within one and was within three going into the final minute.

Colby cut Rib Lake’s 27-14 lead to 30-28 at halftime then switched to 2-3 and 1-3-1 zone looks defensively. Down 36-34, Rib Lake called a timeout with 13:15 left and tweaked its offensive set against the zone, moving Wudi from the top to the high post and getting one of its top scoring threats, Dominic Quednow, out on a wing.

“It was just to throw a different look at them. Put a different passer in there I guess,” Wudi said. “I’m not as much of a scorer. I just try to distribute a little more. It got more shooters on the outside.”

Quednow scored off an inbound play to tie the game, though Hayes answered with two of his team-high 14 points for Colby. Borchardt found Donovan Sutherland for a score at the rim to tie it at 38-38, a driving lane opened for Rib Lake’s other main scoring threat, Jackson Blomberg, and he got to the rim for the go-ahead basket with 12:15 left.

The Redmen then worked the ball nicely on their next two possessions with the left-handed shooting Borchardt nailing 3s from the same spot, just to right of the top of the circle, to make it 46-38.

“Same play,” Borchardt said. “Dominic to Andrew and Andrew found me at the top of the key. I was feeling good from there in warm-ups. Big 3s.”

“He’s finally starting to shoot the ball,” Wudi said of Borchardt, who now averages 5.8 points per game after two straight double-digit outings. “We knew he could do it, but he just wouldn’t shoot the ball. And now he’s finally starting to figure it out that he’s a bigger part of the team than he actually thinks he is.”

“I’m finally starting to figure it out with the guys, getting some chemistry going,” Borchardt said.

With the lead, Rib Lake became extremely patient, passing up good shots while looking for a great one. Blomberg made one of two free throws with 7:41 left to make it a nine-point game, but Colby’s Reed Fleischmann hit one shot then made all three free throws after getting fouled on a 3-point shot with 5:46 to go.

Quednow was blocked on Rib Lake’s ensuing possession, but Borchardt stole a Hornet pass along the baseline. Rib Lake then had a stellar possession with Colby now back to playing man-to-man defense, burning more than a minute off the clock and getting a perfect pass from Talon Scheithauer to Sutherland on a backdoor cut. Unfortunately, Sutherland overlayed the ball and Colby got a 3-pointer from Miguel Morillon to suddenly get within 47-46 with 3:20 to go.

But Wudi somehow found a tight passing window to get the ball to Quednow for a layup on a baseline inbound play with 2:28 left, then after a defensive stop, Wudi carried the ball into the frontcourt and found Quednow for another easy shot at the 1:50 mark to make it 51-46. Joseph Streveler hit two free throws for Colby, then after a Rib Lake turnover, Fleischmann took a shot at a tying 3-pointer from the left corner but missed. Rib Lake turned the ball over again, but Streveler missed a jumper. Rib Lake got the rebound and Borchardt’s pretty assist to Jed Henderson gave the Redmen a big insurance hoop with 22 seconds to go.

Hayes scored for Colby with 9.8 seconds left to make it 53-50. After a Colby timeout, Wudi threw a long inbound pass to Jackson Blomberg, who beat his man for the clinching layup.

“I just saw Jackson one-on-one in coverage on the side, so thought I’d give it a try,” Wudi said.

“We’ve got Andrew working on that QB pass. He’s got that,” Borchardt said.

Blomberg led Rib Lake in scoring with 16 points, plus he added four rebounds and two steals. He scored 11 of his points in the first half, including two 3s. Quednow scored 15 points, grabbed eight rebounds and had two assists.

Borchardt had four assists to go with his eight points. Wudi dished out nine assists while scoring four points and grabbing five rebounds. Henderson and Sutherland both had six points and five rebounds. Sutherland added three steals.

Streveler and Morillon each scored 11 points for Colby.

After tonight’s key game, Rib Lake heads to the Twin Cities Friday to play the Avail Academy of Minneapolis in the Target Center, home of the NBA’s Minnesota Timberwolves and WNBA’s Minnesota Lynx. The two schools will play JV and varsity girls and boys games.

Rib Lake will remain busy next week, hosting Spencer in non-conference play Monday and Athens in a key Marawood North game Tuesday. Those games tip at 7:15 p.m.

This past Friday’s game at Chequamegon was postponed due to the weather. That game will now be played on Feb. 5.

Rib Lake senior Jackson Blomberg accelerates past Colby’s Adrian Lopez and scores an easy transition basket to give the Redmen a 40-38 lead during the second half of Monday’s 55-50 win over the host Hornets. Blomberg led Rib Lake with 16 points in the win, which was the team’s seventh straight. Rib Lake is 10-2 heading into a home matchup with 11-2 Auburndale tonight, Thursday. MATT FREY/THE STAR NEWS