RIB LAKE BOYS BASKETBALL - Redmen twice execute late, open up a two-game lead in North

RIB LAKE BOYS BASKETBALL

The freshman in Rib Lake’s starting lineup stole the spotlight down the stretch Tuesday as the Redmen held off Phillips 67-65 to open up a two-game lead over the Loggers and Prentice in the Marawood North boys basketball standings.

Blake Henderson scored eight of the team’s last nine points and finished with a season-high 15 while making six of seven shots from the field, while his older brother Jed Henderson was Rib Lake’s force inside early and finished with 19 points in a big mid-season win that certainly puts the Redmen in a good position as they try to repeat as conference champions.

Rib Lake improved to 6-1 in Marawood play and 7-3 overall, while Phillips and Prentice, the team that beat the Redmen, are 4-3 as Marawood teams are set to hit the midway point of their league season at the end of this week. Rib Lake will finish the first half by hosting Chequamegon at 7:15 p.m. Friday.

The second half of the schedule for Rib Lake, of course, includes rematches with the other five North squads and three more Marawood crossovers with two very good south teams, Auburndale and Stratford, as well as Newman Catholic. So far, Rib Lake is 3-0 in crossovers.

Tuesday’s game was one of the most entertaining of the season as both offenses clicked, especially in the first half, in a fastpaced affair. Rib Lake shot an incredible 66.7% from the field, making 26 of 39 shots and nine of 11 free throws helped seal the win as well. The Loggers were cooled just a bit in the second half by Rib Lake’s move to a 1-3-1 zone but still shot 48.1% from the field (25 of 52), a figure that would win a lot of games.

Rib Lake worked primarily inside through Jed Henderson early in the backand-forth first half, as he had 11 points and three assists in the half. Phillips’ standout junior guard JJ Heikkinen drove his team’s attack with some deep 3s, pull-up jumpers and the occasional drive to the basket. He finished with a game-high 25 points, including 14 in the half. Talon Scheithauer added a couple of 3s and 10 points for Rib Lake, who led at the break 37-34.

Seth Borchardt scored twice and Blake Henderson hit a 3-pointer to help Rib Lake open up a 46-41 lead. Borchardt’s triple put Rib Lake up 49-46 with 11:15 left and that was followed by a Jed Henderson hoop that made it a five-point lead.

The Loggers briefly shifted momentum, getting a steal and a three-point play from Collin Kleinschmidt, a triple from Heikkinen and a Shay Denzine basket to go up 54-53. But another Rib Lake freshman who’s earning more playing time, Lucas Cook, was fouled on a 3-point shot and made all three free throws to give Rib Lake the lead with 7:17 left.

The teams traded scores with Blake Henderson’s score in the post being answered by a basket and, later, a free throw with 2:42 to go by the Loggers’ Lane Abraham to tie it at 60-60. Blake Henderson then hit a wide-open 3-pointer at the 2:19 mark. With 1:15 to go, he cut through the lane, took a bullet pass from Scheithauer and scored through two defenders for a 65-62 lead.

Kleinschmidt had a chance to tie it 56.1 seconds left, but missed the free throw on a potential three-point play. The Loggers, however got the offensive rebound. Blake Henderson foiled that possession by stealing a baseline inbound pass with 18.4 seconds to go. He made one of two free throws to put Rib Lake up 66-64. Denzine had a chance to tie it with 4.5 seconds left, but he made just one of two free throws. Ethan Cook grabbed the rebound for Rib Lake and was fouled with 3.1 ticks left. He made the first free throw and missed the second. All Phillips could get was a desperation half-court heave by Josh Edwards that wasn’t close at the horn.

Borchardt scored 13 points and Scheithauer finished with 12 for Rib Lake. Borchardt had seven assists. Lucas Cook had five points and three rebounds. Ethan Cook had three points, four rebounds and four assists. Jed Henderson was nine of 11 from the field and added four rebounds.

Abraham had 17 points for Phillips, who fell to 6-4 overall.

Before facing Chequamegon, Rib Lake is at Northland Pines tonight, Thursday for a 6 p.m. non-conference game. The tough trip to Auburndale then awaits Jan. 23.

Redmen 42, Royals 39

Four days after getting outscored at the end of the game 7-0 in a three-point loss to Prentice, Rib Lake did the same to visiting Wisconsin Rapids Assumption Friday to steal a key 42-39 Marawood Conference crossover victory. With the win and Phillips’ loss to Newman Catholic, Rib Lake regained sole possession of first place in the Marawood North at the time.

Blake Henderson got a friendly homecourt and rattled in a 3-pointer with 1:45 left to cut Assumption’s lead to 39-38. The Redmen got a stop and took the lead with 1:01 to go when Borchardt hit a short floater in the lane. Jed Henderson then made the key defensive play of the final minute blocking a driving shot attempt by Assumption’s top offensive threat JT Schlaefer off the backboard with 47 seconds left. He also hit two big bonus free throws with 8.1 seconds to go to give Rib Lake its three-point lead, which held when a long desperation 3-point try at the buzzer by Assumption’s Logan Nystrom hit nothing but air.

The late rally ended a game that was tight throughout and marked by a lot of half-court basketball and lengthy possessions. Schlaefer was a handful for the Redmen, slashing his way to 13 points and Chase Leberg added eight, but the Royals didn’t get a lot else offensively. They did shoot the ball well, making 55.2% of their shots from the field (16 of 29), including an impressive 12 of 16 on twopoint shots.

Rib Lake was able to counter that by getting to the free throw line more, making eight of 17 compared to the Royals’ three of 10 and they turned 11 offensive rebounds into more shot opportunities, making 16 of 38 from the field.

Assumption, who fell to 3-3 in Marawood play and 4-8 overall at the time, led most of the game. The Royals jumped out to a 12-3 and 14-5 leads in the first nine minutes, but a quick 7-0 spurt got Rib Lake back in it and there was never more than a two-score lead for either team the rest of the way. Slade Scheithauer’s drive through the middle of the lane jumpstarted the offense. Lucas Cook fed Jed Henderson for a score and he scored himself to cut the Royals’ early lead to 1412. Assumption did go back up by six at 2115, but Jed Henderson’s rebound hoop and a steal and score by Ethan Cook helped get Rib Lake within 21-20 before the Royals took a 23-20 halftime lead on a Schlafer score.

Jed Henderson went on a personal 6-0 run to start the second half, which was answered by a Schlaefer 3. A third-chance opportunity gave Jed Henderson a basket off a Talon Scheithauer assist to tie it at 28-28, then Rib Lake never led until the final minute, trailing 35-30 at one point and 39-35 with two minutes left.

Jed Henderson scored 16 point and had five rebounds in the win. Blake Henderson had a solid outing with nine points and four rebounds. Borchardt had seven points and three assists.

Talon Scheithauer and Lucas Cook scored three each. Slade Scheithauer and Ethan Cook had two apiece. Ethan Cook had seven rebounds.