RIB LAKE AT TARGET CENTER - Redmen get varsity split with Avail Academy in Target Center trip
RIB LAKE AT TARGET CENTER
The Rib Lake basketball program had a memorable experience Friday, putting its varsity and JV teams on the floor at the Target Center in Minneapolis, home of the NBA’s Minnesota Timberwolves and WNBA’s Minnesota Lynx.
The Redmen took on the Avail Academy of Minnesota in Friday’s games and earned a split at the varsity level.
The Redmen controlled the girls game and handily beat the Valor 50-13 for their sixth win of the year against 10 losses. Avail Academy is currently 7-10.
Details of that game were not available at press time.
The Lady Redmen are back in action tonight, Thursday, visiting Abbotsford in Marawood North play. The Falcons won the first meeting between the teams 52-39 back on Dec. 5.
Rib Lake hosts another North rival, Chequamegon, Monday at 6:30 p.m. in the make-up date of a Jan. 12 weather postponement. The Redmen will head to Wausau Feb. 1 for a Marawood Conference crossover game with Newman Catholic. The start time for that game has been moved up to 6:30 p.m.
In the varsity boys game Friday, Avail Academy started the second half with a 10-2 run that put Rib Lake in an eightpoint hole it just couldn’t quite shoot its way out of in a 48-45 loss.
Redmen got back to even at 38-38 with just under five minutes to play, but Jacob Ritzema’s left-corner 3-pointer with 4:26 left broke that tie and put the Valor ahead for good, though Rib Lake had its chances to steal it at the end.
Neither team would say it shot great in the big arena setting. In fact, Ritzema’s 3 was the only one the Valor made in the game in nine attempts. Rib Lake was five for 24 from deep and just 18 of 63 from the field overall (28.6%). The Redmen were just 12 of 31 on shots in the paint. Avail Academy’s offense featured constant movement and cutting and was geared toward scoring inside. The Valor made 20 of 46 two-point shots, including 15 of 39 in the lane, to boost its overall field goal percentage to 38.2%, just enough to improve to 10-4 at the time.
After the Ritzema 3, the Valor got a transition basket from Lincoln Bock to go up 43-38. Talon Scheithauer hit two free throws for Rib Lake at the 3:21 mark. Two missed free throws by Avail gave Rib Lake a chance to draw closer but the Redmen couldn’t convert. The Valor then got a key hoop from Zachariah Schaap off a high post assist from Ritzema to go back up by five with 2:26 left.
Andrew Wudi missed a good look in the paint and Avail turned that into a free throw to go up 46-40 with 1:35 left. But Seth Borchardt made it a one-possession game again by nailing a 3-pointer for the Redmen with 1:24 left.
Jackson Blomberg stole the ball and Borchardt found a driving lane, but his layup was cleanly rejected by Schaap. Rib Lake forced an inbound turnover out of a timeout and made it a 46-45 game when Blomberg put back a Dominic Quednow miss with 35.9 seconds to go. He was fouled on the shot but didn’t connect on what would have been the tying free throw.
Rib Lake had three fouls to give before finally putting Avail into the bonus with 16.7 seconds left and Ritzema hit two big free throws. Avail’s perimeter defense gave Rib Lake little room on its final possession, which ended in a desperation 3 from Borchardt from 30 feet out that bounced off the back of the rim.
The first half was tight with the teams never being separated by more than four points. Scheithauer hit an early 3 for a 7-6 Rib Lake lead and Wudi had a chance at a four-point play, but missed the free throw keeping the Redmen in a 14-13 deficit at the time. Quednow’s rebound bucket shortly after that put Rib Lake ahead 15-14 and Scheithauer scored on a drive to the rim and Donovan Sutherland scored off a Quednow assist for a 19-16 lead with 5:55. That could’ve been a three-point play, but the free throw was missed. Rib Lake made just four of 11 free throws, while Avail was only five of 13.
The game was tied 22-22 at the half and was tied 24-24 early in the second after Quednow’s backcourt steal and score when Avail went on its 8-0 spurt with four points apiece from Schaap and Luke Van Geest.
Wudi scored 13 points to lead the Redmen and he had seven rebounds. Scheithauer had nine points as did Quednow, who had 11 rebounds and four assists. Blomberg had five points, eight rebounds and four steals, Sutherland scored four points, Borchardt had three and Jed Henderson had a basket, three rebounds and three assists.
Schaap led Avail with 18 points, while Ritzema had 11.
