WIAA DIV. 5 BOYS BASKETBALL - Offense never really clicks; Redmen fall to O-W in final

WIAA DIV. 5 BOYS BASKETBALL

As Rib Lake and Owen-Withee came down the stretch in their tense WIAA Division 5 boys basketball regional final Saturday night, it became apparent that one shot or one turnover could make the difference.

In the last 11 seconds, the key shot and key defensive play were both made by the Blackhawks.

Quinn Hatlestad got a friendly bounce on a 10-foot baseline jumper to put fourthseeded Owen-Withee up by one with 11 ticks left and Mason Gay knocked the ball away from Rib Lake’s Dominic Quednow just when it appeared he was going to get a potential game-winning shot ending the Redmen’s fine 2023-24 season with a 45-43 upset loss to the fourth-seeded Blackhawks.

The Redmen, who finished 21-6 and earned the top seed in the WIAA sectional half-bracket, never really got into an offensive groove, yet still seemed on a few second-half occasions to be on the verge of pulling away. But in a game where shots weren’t falling at a high percentage for either team, Owen-Withee (18-9) got four big hits when it needed them in the last seven minutes and earned its spot in the sectional semifinal tonight, Thursday, in Medford’s Raider Hall against third-seeded Winter (20-7).

“It’s a tough one especially for the seniors,” Rib Lake head coach Todd Henderson said. “It’s one of those where you feel like you’re a better team, but (Owen-Withee) played better that night. It’s one of those you’d like to have back.

We just didn’t play particularly well on offense, especially in the first half.”

Rib Lake fell behind 9-0 to start the game but rallied to take an 18-16 lead before settling for an 18-18 halftime tie. The Redmen scored the first six points of the second half to seemingly seize control and still led 31-27 following a Seth Borchardt basket with 8:02 to go, but that’s when Owen-Withee started to knock down clutch shots.

The first was Hatlestad’s 3, just the second triple of the game for Owen-Withee, that put his team up 32-31 with 6:59 to go. Talon Scheithauer’s basket off a Seth Borchardt assist put Rib Lake up 36-32 with 5:34 left, but Owen-Withee got an offensive putback from Winston Poehler, his only basket of the game, and then another 3-point hit from Hatlestad to take a 37-36 lead with 4:14 left.

Gay’s 3-pointer put the suddenly-hot Blackhawks up 40-36 with 3:30 left.

“I think Owen-Withee just did a good job,” Henderson said. “They had a couple of guys step up and knock down some 3s in the second half. Hatlestad really played well. I think we had him shut down through the first half and then he scored all of his points in the second half. He kinda carried their team and showed some senior leadership there and showed why he was a first-team all-conference player for them. He showed it in the second half.

“They made those tough shots when they needed it. Defensively we were trying to keep them from scoring inside and they hadn’t been knocking down a lot of 3s on us. Then they hit a couple.”

Rib Lake responded with some big plays of its own. The Redmen broke down Owen-Withee’s 1-2-2 and got a Donovan Sutherland basket on what could have been a three-point play. The free throw was missed. Owen-Withee turned the ball over and Rib Lake’s Jackson Blomberg drove the lane and dished to Dominic Quednow, converted a three-point play to put the Redmen in front 41-40 with 1:56 left. Hatlestad’s free throws with 1:21 left were countered by Quednow’s driving floater at the one-minute mark, putting Rib Lake on top 43-42.

Rib Lake nearly forced a turnover when it had Hatlestad triple teamed on the baseline, but the deflected ball bounced back to Hatlestad, leading to Owen-Withee taking its last timeout with 19.1 seconds left. Out of the timeout, the Blackhawks got the ball on the right block to the 6-3 Hatlestad, who was well defended by two Redmen. But his shot hit both sides of the rim, bounced straight up and dropped through.

“You force a guy into a mid-range fadeaway,” Henderson said. “That’s about the best you can hope for defensively, besides a turnover. But as far as getting off a shot, that’s probably the lowest percentage shot in high school basketball, that fadeaway mid-range. You have to give credit to him for making it.”

Rib Lake called an immediate timeout to set up its last shot. The Redmen got what they wanted with senior guard Andrew Wudi getting penetration into the lane with an option to shoot or pass. He dished to his left to Quednow, who spun for a potential layup, but Gay ripped the ball away and Quednow was called for a foul in the scramble for the loose ball with 2.9 seconds left.

“That’s what we wanted,” Henderson said. “Andrew could have possibly shot. The goal was to get Dominic on one side, Jackson (Blomberg) on the other side and have Andrew drive the middle. If he could get to the hole, get to the hole, but whichever side the help comes from, dish it to that guy. To me, those are the three guys if you want a chance to win the game.”

Gay made one of two free throws and all Rib Lake got after that was a 60-foot prayer from Scheithauer that went unanswered.

Early on, a handful of turnovers and missed shots at point-blank range put Rib Lake in its 9-0 hole. The Redmen didn’t score until their Marawood North Player of the Year Jackson Blomberg finally hit a short shot off an inbound play more than 6:30 into the game. Then, sophomores Borchardt and Jed Henderson gave the Redmen a spark and relieved some of their early tension.

Borchardt sank a 3-pointer to make it 9-5 with 8:45 left in the half, and his second triple cut the deficit to 11-8. The 6-5 Henderson was key in a late-half surge in offensive rebounding for the Redmen, plus he put down three shots in the lane while scoring seven points. His putback with 2:58 left gave Rib Lake its first lead of the game.

“They came off the bench and played well,” Todd Henderson said. “Jed did a good job finishing at the rim. Guys hit him cutting to the basket and he finished well in there. I thought Seth just did a good job handling the pressure, coming in there and knocking down a couple 3s. That gave us a much-needed spark.”

Rib Lake made just seven of 26 shots from the field in the first half, including just five of 17 two-point shots.

Wudi scored twice around a putback by Quednow to give Rib Lake its biggest lead at 24-18 two minutes into the second half, but the Redmen didn’t fully seize the momentum. They went cold until Borchardt got a 3 to roll in with 12:00 to go, making it 27-23, but Owen-Withee got two baskets from Hatlestad, the first of which came after Vince Henke blocked a potential layup by Jed Henderson, to tie it at 27-27.

Borchardt wound up leading Rib Lake with 11 points. Quednow scored seven of his nine in the second half. Henderson finished with seven and Blomberg had six on a tough shooting night. Wudi and Sutherland scored four points each and Scheithauer scored two. The Redmen finished 17 of 50 from the field (34%), including three of 18 on 3-point shots. Owen-Withee hit four of 10 3s and finished slightly better overall at 15 for 40 (37.5%). The Blackhawks had a 33-30 overall rebounding edge. The Blackhawks had 22 turnovers, while Rib Lake had 19, uncharacteristically high for both teams.

Hatlestad scored all 16 of his points in the second half. Henke and Gay added eight each.

“I thought our defense played well the whole game to keep us in that, especially when the offense was struggling,” Todd Henderson said. “I was very happy with the guys and how they played on the defensive end. I think they made Owen-Withee really work for the points they got.

“I just feel bad for them,” he added. “We thought Owen-Withee was probably really deserving of the two-seed in the sectional. We felt whoever won that game was going to win in the first round of sectionals down in Medford and probably would be facing Solon Springs in the final.”

While the finish was highly disappointing, Henderson said it was a great year for Rib Lake boys basketball.

“These guys and the seniors have a lot to be proud of,” he said. “Twenty-one wins in a season doesn’t happen often. Going 10-0 in the Marawood North and getting a conference title, that is something to be proud of. They’re going to look back on it over time and realize what they accomplished. Having the whole community supporting them and behind them, it means a lot to a small town. There was a lot of excitement.”

Rib Lake’s Dominic Quednow has the basketball tipped from behind by Owen-Withee’s Dominic Sherwood, which breaks up a potential scoring opportunity for the Redmen during the first half of their 45-43 WIAA Division 5 regional final loss. MATT FREY/THE STAR NEWS