WIAA DIV. 5 SECTIONAL FINAL: TURTLE LAKE 53, RIB LAKE 45 - STATE BERTH WAS WITHIN REACH Rib Lake’s late lead wiped out by Lakers’ 10-0 closing run

WIAA DIV. 5 SECTIONAL FINAL: TURTLE LAKE 53, RIB LAKE 45

The momentum was theirs, they had grabbed the lead after trailing by eight at halftime and it felt, for a moment Saturday, that the Rib Lake Redmen’s run in the WIAA Division 5 boys basketball tournament was going to continue in Madison.

But, after Brandon Wagner’s five straight 3-pointers were largely responsible for Rib Lake’s early deficit, one big 3-ball from Turtle Lake’s Brody Tarman swung the momentum back the other way late and the Lakers held on from there to win the sectional final played at Altoona High School 53-45.

Wagner finished with 23 points –– only four in the second half –– and he was nearly matched by Rib Lake’s Jed Henderson, who scored his 19th and 20th points of the game with a drive through the middle of the lane and left-handed lay-in with 4:40 left that put the Redmen on top 45-43. Rib Lake got a stop on Turtle Lake’s next possession and, for those supporting the Redmen, it felt like the pieces were falling into place.

However, the Lakers got a stop of their own and Tarman, a sophomore, got an open look from the right side that he buried with 3:51 left to put Turtle Lake back on top 46-45. The Redmen missed their last five shots from the field and turned the ball over twice while Turtle Lake clinched its spot at state with a game-ending 10-0 run.

“I think we were just a shot away from really turning the tide,” said junior guard Seth Borchardt, who had 13 points and five assists. “In the last couple of minutes you play a totally new game depending on if you’re down or tied.”

“We battled back there after having being down a little bit,” Rib Lake head coach Todd Henderson said. “I think we had a two-point lead with about four minutes to go. I thought it would be back and forth and it might just come down to the end of the game. Unfortunately it didn’t come down to a last-second shot. They executed a couple more plays down the stretch than we did. A couple calls didn’t go our way that I think we were hoping for. You could just feel the momentum shift there at the end of the game.

“But hat’s off to Turtle Lake. They have a great team.” Rib Lake finished its fine season 21-8, while the Lakers improved to 21-5 and drew the fourth seed in Division 5 state play at the Kohl Center. They’ll get a tough challenge against top-seeded Cochrane-Fountain City (26-2) at 9:05 a.m. Friday in the semifinal round.

Three-point shooting probably would be viewed by most as the key statistical difference in Saturday’s game. Wagner, a 6-6 junior who got Turtle Lake to the final with an almost-miraculous four-point play with 1.2 seconds left in Thursday’s 51-50 sectional semifinal with Spring Valley, was five for five from long range to start the game and ended the first half with 19 points as the Lakers led 30-22 at the break. Still, Rib Lake was matching the Lakers nearly point-for-point until Turtle Lake got late baskets from Camden Davis and Brady Jobe to double its lead from four to eight.

Turtle Lake finished seven of 18 from 3point range, while Rib Lake was just three of 21. Tarman hit the other two for Turtle Lake, both in the second half, when he scored all 10 of his points.

Jed Henderson curled around a Talon Scheithauer screen for a three-point play that gave Rib Lake a 7-5 lead 2:37 into the game. Wagner’s third triple and 11th point of the early going put the Lakers up 13-9. Scheithauer swished a 3 off a Henderson kickout pass, but Wagner answered that. Borchardt countered with a triple for Rib Lake to make it 16-15, but Wagner drained another one to force a Rib Lake timeout at 19-15 with 9:56 left in the half.

“Our whole offense is just based on patience and moving the ball as a team,” Borchardt said of Rib Lake’s solid start offensively. “When you do that, everyone stays calm. We’re working together, everyone touches the ball. We all just trusted each other. We trust each other. We know someone is going to get the open look and then, if you get down by a little bit, don’t worry, it’s a game of runs.”

Defensively, Rib Lake knew at that timeout it had to change things up.

“It was basically ‘Jed you’re not helping off 35’ to ‘Jed you’re face-guarding 35 and not letting him get the ball,’” Jed Henderson said. “That’s something I’ve never done before. I just tried my best. When we went to the 2-3 (zone), that helped. They did a good job lobbing it inside too. They’re a good team.”

“The first one (Wagner) was maybe open on,” Todd Henderson said. “The next ones I thought we had a hand in his face and he still knocked them down. Hat’s off to him. He made big plays in a big game. We did not shoot exceptionally well, but I still think our guys battled hard, played good defense and stayed in the game that way.”

Rib Lake stuck with its man-to-man defense to start the second half and forced three early turnovers with it. It took the Redmen a few minutes to convert offensively, but eventually Ethan Cook’s bucket from the right block, Borchardt’s basket off a Blake Henderson assist and Jed Henderson’s 3-pointer from the right wing cut the deficit to 35-33 with 13:09 to go. Henderson flipped up a shot while trying to draw contact that somehow went in to make it 36-35 with 11:12 left. Freshman Lucas Cook drew a charge 15 seconds later, putting Rib Lake in position to take the lead, but three misses, including a 3-pointer from Ethan Cook that spun in and out, a free throw by Jobe and an offensive putback by Davis stabilized things for a moment for Turtle Lake.

Lucas Cook got to the rim and scored for the Redmen and the Lakers lost Jed Henderson, who got an easy one on a baseline inbound to tie the game at 39-39 with 7:25 left. Tarman hit his first triple 25 seconds later, but Jed Henderson put in an offensive rebound at the 6:01 mark and then Borchardt weaved his way in for a short bank shot with 5:15 left that finally put the Redmen in the lead at 43-42.

Wagner hit one of two free throws to tie it with 4:52 left, Henderson came back with his drive to get Rib Lake’s lead to two.

After Tarman’s go-ahead 3-pointer, Wagner got an easy bucket off a Job feed to give the Lakers a 48-45 lead at the three-minute mark. The Lakers made three of six free throws over the next 2:18 and Lane Hegg’s basket off a Rib Lake turnover in the final seconds set off the celebration on Turtle Lake’s side of the gym.

“We said, ‘OK we’re down eight points, this is kind of how we’ve played all tournament,’” Todd Henderson said of Rib Lake’s halftime chat. “‘We’ll come out, we’ll buckle down, the game’s not over.’ Maybe it just took a little while to warm up. We stuck with them for awhile, they made some plays, we made some adjustments. We just couldn’t quite get over the hump. We used all of our energy getting back in it and they were able to finish.”

“I thought until probably the last final minute that we had it, especially once we tied it back up,” Jed Henderson said. “But we just couldn’t get some shots to fall.”

“Number 35 (Wagner) really shot well in the first half,” Todd Henderson said. “Maybe we should’ve gone to our zone sooner, but we made that adjustment and number five (Tarman) stepped up and hit a couple shots from the outside that they needed too.”

Rib Lake went to its 2-3 zone with about 12 minutes left in the game.

“We played defense well in the second half,” Borchardt said. “We only gave up 23 second-half points.”

Scheithauer scored five points for Rib Lake and added three assists, two rebounds and a steal. Ethan Cook had four points and battled for seven rebounds. Jed Henderson had 11 rebounds. Lucas Cook scored three points and Blake Henderson, while battling some foul trouble, had three assists and two rebounds.

Jobe had seven points, five rebounds and five assists for Turtle Lake, whose head coach Amanda Wagner is the first woman to lead a boys team to the state tournament. Ironically, that feat may very well have gone to Rib Lake’s Carrie Ewan five years ago had the Covid pandemic not stopped the tournament before the sectional final. Other than Jobe and Hegg, Turtle Lake should bring the rest of its key players back next year.

While the loss was disappointing, the season certainly wasn’t and with everyone but senior Brady Heiser potentially coming back, the Redmen fully believe they have a good shot to make another run.

“It was a great season,” Borchardt said. “Our motto throughout the season was to defy expectations. We were picked third in the conference. We got that one. We got the regional. Nobody thought we were going to be here. I want the guys to be proud of that.”

“Just having the freshmen back will be big,” Jed Henderson said. “I’m going to work my butt off this summer. I know all the guys are going to be in the gym a ton. Hopefully we’ll make the run our senior year. It’s something I dreamed of as a kid. I think we all have dreams of making it to state.”

“It was a good run, a great season,” Todd Henderson said. “It’s a good group of guys. This doesn’t change the things they’ve accomplished on and off the court with their Academic All-State award, being the top academic team in the state. I think just character and sportsmanshipwise, these guys just really play the game well and play well as a team.”

For now, the 1985-86 team remains the last from Rib Lake to get to state.

“I know it was 39 years,” Borchardt said. “I guess we’re saving it for 40.”