Redmen got off to good start with 68-53 win at Phillips
RIB LAKE BOYS BASKETBALL
The Rib Lake Redmen only trailed once in their season opener Tuesday and that was after the first basket of the game, but they had to fend off run after run by Phillips before finally pulling away from the home team late in a 68-53 win.
The Redmen got key plays at key times from all seven of the top players in their game one rotation. Three players got into double digits in the scoring column, led by Andrew Wudi’s 19 points. Donovan Sutherland also showed he could be a key player in the post, scoring 15 points in the paint, including eight quick ones in the first half.
Wudi caught fire at the start of the second half in one of the big stretches of the game for Rib Lake. After leading by as many as 10 in the first half, the Redmen saw their lead dwindle to four at halftime at 36-32.
But Wudi opened the second half with a pull-up transition 3 from the right wing. He hit another from the right side two and a half minutes later to push the lead back to 10 again at 42-32. After the Loggers got within six, Wudi quieted the rally with a third triple, this one coming from the left side of the circle. He answered a Nate Belan hoop with yet another bomb, this one coming from the right side of the circle off a kickout pass from Sutherland. Dominic Quednow then got a steal and fed Tanner Vlach for an easy hoop that made it 50-38 with 11:30 left.
Phillips later cut the lead down to 5245, but Wudi got the ball inside to Sutherland for a key hoop and Michael Bor-chardt converted on a drive from the left side to open up a 56-45 lead with 7:49 left.
When Phillips cut the lead to seven again, Quednow made a free throw, Sutherland turned an offensive rebound into a three-point play with 5:07 left and Jackson Blomberg took a key charge against Logger Drew Hauschild, his fourth personal, with 4:48 left.
Rib Lake then delivered the dagger with buckets from Sutherland and Dalen Gebauer and free throws from Blomberg with 3:27 left. That run opened up a 66-49 lead.
Blomberg scored 10 points for the Redmen. Gebauer had seven points in some good bench minutes for the Redmen. Borchardt and Quednow scored six points each and Vlach finished with five.
After Phillips hit the opening 3-point shot of the game, Rib Lake was sharp on its next several offensive possessions. Borchardt got the team’s first basket of the year, while Wudi snuck a 3-pointer in between Sutherland’s first three baskets in the paint area to make it 11-3. Borchardt’s transition hoop made it 15-5. Phillips chipped away and got within 2118 on a Hauschild 3, but Vlach answered that with a triple of his own.
After Logger Dominick Mabie knocked down a 3, Gebauer’s offensive rebound led to a basket for Blomberg, Quednow hit two free throws and Gebauer banked in a 3 for a 33-23 lead with just under two minutes to go in the half.
Senior Nate Belan led the Loggers with 22 points, 12 of which came in the second half.
Rib Lake will get a couple of good tests this week, hosting Edgar tonight, Thursday, in the home opener and a Marawood Conference crossover, and then traveling to Owen-Withee Monday for a nonconference matchup. Both games tip at 7:15 p.m.
