WIAA DIV. 5 BOYS BASKETBALL - Rib Lake fights off strong effort from Thorp in semifinal

WIAA DIV. 5 BOYS BASKETBALL

While the Rib Lake Redmen got a lopsided first-round WIAA Division 5 tournament win against Butternut on Feb. 27, they got their true welcome to playoff basketball Friday when they took a hard early punch from eighth-seeded Thorp but recovered and won a 61-51 regional semifinal battle.

The top-seeded Redmen trailed by 11 with three minutes left in the first half but turned the game around with an 11-2 halfclosing run that got them within 28-26 at the break. They finally took the lead a little over five minutes into the second half and then took the lead for good midway through the half.

“We were a little nervous honestly,” senior Dominic Quednow said. “But we knew that we were going to come out and play tough defense and they were going to struggle to keep that lead. We just knew that we’re coming out and we’re locking them down. We’re not giving up any easy shots the entire time.”

“We had done scouting and saw that they were a little bit shaky against the 1-31 zone against some teams, so we thought we’d come out in that, we usually play it pretty well,” Rib Lake head coach Todd Henderson said. “But that was the one thing, we couldn’t let them start hitting 3s. We had to get out on their shooters and sure enough, they were hot from 3.

“We just told our guys that’s their best punch right there. They came out firing on all cylinders and we knew once we got through that and settled down and played our game we’d be fine.”

Rib Lake was able to settle things down with its man-to-man defense, improved rebounding as the game progressed and, while the Redmen struggled from 3-point range, making just two of 15 attempts, they outscored Thorp 34-24 in the paint and did just well enough at the free throw line, making 15 of 22.

“I knew we could play good man-toman defense on them and that’s what the guys did the whole rest of the game,” Henderson said. “They just buckled down on defense. We gave up a few too many offensive rebounds in that first half, but they still did a good job of securing the rebounds and getting the offense going, working it around. Thorp did a decent job kind of shutting down (Rib Lake’s leading scorer) Jackson Blomberg, but I think it was just a good team effort.”

Both teams came out firing in a fast-paced start to the game. Donovan Sutherland got three early baskets inside for the Redmen, while Dylan Mattson and Logan Hanson buried 3s for Thorp while the Cardinals’ leading scorer, Brady Stewart had his toe on the line otherwise he would have had another 3. Blomberg hit a 3 while making two straight buckets to give Rib Lake a 15-14 lead, but then the Redmen hit their first dry spell and Thorp took advantage, going on a 12-0 run. Denzel Sutton had a rebound basket and a three-point play, while Stewart followed with a stepback 3 from the top of the key, Hanson drove and scored and Stewart sank two free throws to put the Cardinals up 26-15.

Talon Scheithauer sparked Rib Lake’s run to get back in it over the next three minutes, scoring off a Thorp turnover, getting a three-point play with 1:12 left and then scoring on a spin move inside to pull the Redmen within two.

“Talon’s just grown his game,” Henderson said. “I think he struggled early on this season inside. He was getting blocked or not getting layups in. Now he’s learned to be patient and pivot and he’s become a decent post player. He knows he can jump stop, he can get there, he can work guys over. He can give some good fakes and get some good shots off. He’s just a fun player to watch his development. He still has his 3-point shot and that’s going to be on more than it’s off.”

Scheithauer’s 3-pointer early in the second half got Rib Lake within 32-30, but Mattson’s 3 but Thorp back up by five. Quednow’s offensive rebound turned into a three-point and then Andrew Wudi fed Scheithauer for an inside score that finally put Rib Lake in front 36-35 with 12:54 left. Sutherland came up with a big play that broke a 38-38 tie and put the Redmen up for good. He got a steal, but Rib Lake missed a couple of shots and couldn’t convert. However, Sutherland got a steal in the backcourt after a Thorp rebound and scored.

Rib Lake got the lead as high as six, but Thorp kept hanging around. Scheithauer bounced a beautiful pass to a cutting Quednow for a three-point play that made it 49-44 with 5:11 left. The highlight play of the night for the Redmen came with 1:27 left after Blomberg drew a charge on Thorp’s Evan Hoehn, fouling him out. While running their half-court weave, Wudi drove the middle of the lane, got deep and then, while in mid-air, he wrapped a pass around Stewart to the cutting Quednow, who scored, got fouled by Hanson, his fifth, and made the free throw for a 54-47 lead.

“I just knew Dom was coming,” Wudi said. “I just saw Dom and I was like, ‘he’s there. I got it. Boom.’ He made a great finish and made the play. It was honestly just a huge momentum play for us. I was so happy he made that.”

“That was a dagger in the game right there,” Quednow said.

Quednow led Rib Lake with 17 points and nine rebounds. Sutherland scored 13 points and had eight boards. While Thorp ended the game with a 34-31 edge in overall rebounding, the work those two did on the boards was critical.

“They started off outrebounding us, me and Dom were just like, we’re sick of that,” Sutherland said. “We’re crashing.”

“After a timeout, me and Donovan got together and we were like, we’re not letting these guys get anymore we’re crashing hard,” Quednow said. “They’re not getting any more.”

“It was a fairly physical game,” Henderson said. “They have some good football-type guys and I think it took our guys a little bit to adjust to the physicality and kind of match that. Once they did, they were good.”

Scheithauer’s 14 points also were crucial. Blomberg had nine points and five rebounds. Wudi had five points, three rebounds and three assists. Seth Borchardt chipped in with three points.

Stewart led Thorp (13-13) with 17 points and nine rebounds. Sutton scored 11.

“I think the other key thing was just free throws,” Henderson said. “That’s been kind of our achilles heel at times. At times we’ve shot them well. But I thought our guys did a good job tonight of knocking them down when we needed to. When the pressure was on, they made the shots and made the plays. That’s what’s fun to see, high school kids playing to their potential when everything is on the line. For the seniors, the playoffs are on the line and they want to keep playing.”

Rib Lake’s Jackson Blomberg takes a swipe at the basketball while it’s handled by Thorp’s Logan Hanson during the second half of Friday’s win. MATT FREY/THE STAR NEWS