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Janke’s big night puts end to Redmen’s four-game winning streak

Janke’s big night puts end to Redmen’s four-game winning streak Janke’s big night puts end to Redmen’s four-game winning streak

RIB LAKE BOYS BASKETBALL

Torrid 3-point shooting in the last 10 minutes put Rib Lake in position to pull off a big Marawood North upset Tuesday, but the Redmen’s luck ran out in the last minute and Athens held on for a 63-56 win that assured the Blue Jays of at least a share of the conference championship.

Rib Lake had no answer for Athens’ 6-5 senior post Aiden Janke, who scored 35 points, including the tiebreaking free throw with 1:09 left. Whether Rib Lake tried to hang in there with a man-to-man in the first half or a 2-3 zone in the second, he cleaned up on the boards and scored his fair share of points by simply posting up as well.

Janke was nearly offset by Rib Lake’s late outside shooting blitz led by Jackson Blomberg and Talon Scheithauer.

Down 49-37 after a Nathan Wolf 3-pointer for Athens with 9:14 left, Rib Lake quickly got itself right back in it with Scheithauer’s first three points of the night, a Blomberg 3 from the right corner and Scheithauer second triple that made it 49-46 with 6:40 to play.

A minute later, Dominic Quednow got an easy bucket off a Tanner Vlach assist to make it a one-point game, but Athens went on a little spurt to go back up by six with 2:52 to go. Rib Lake forced a turnover, leading to Blomberg’s 3 from the left wing with 1:55 to go. After a missed bonus free throw, Rib Lake got the ball back with a chance to tie it at 56-56 and Blomberg, who scored 19 of his 24 points in the second half, did just that by burying a 3-point try from the left wing again with 1:24 to play.

Unfortunately for Rib Lake that would be the team’s last made shot. Janke made one of two free throws to break the tie. Rib Lake called a timeout and planned to play for the last shot, but when Athens started to apply some on-the-ball pressure, Rib Lake committed a costly turnover with 35.1 seconds left. Connor Sheahan made two free throws with 30.6 seconds, then a tough illegal screen call on Rib Lake’s next possession set up Sheahan’s clinching free throws with 21.5 seconds left that made it a five-point game.

Neither team got off to blistering starts from the field, but a 10-0 run over a span of 4:30 gave Athens a 16-7 lead and the Jays wouldn’t trail again. Rib Lake kept it close, getting a 3-pointer for Tanner Vlach’s only points of the night and a Michael Borchardt follow to cut it to 16-12. Blomberg’s 3 and Quednow tip-in made it 19-17 before Athens closed the half with an 8-2 run to lead 27-19.

Athens opened the second half with 3s from Connor Komarek and Wolf for its biggest lead at 33-19. Blomberg’s 3 got Rib Lake going and the Redmen quickly scrambled back within 35-31 following a rebound basket by Quednow and 37-33 when Borchardt flipped a successful shot over Janke’s block attempt.

Borchardt’s baseline jumper cut the lead to 37-35, but Andrew Schaer sank a 3, starting the surge that gave Athens another double-digit lead.

Rib Lake made two more 3-point shots (9-7) and one more shot overall from the field (22-21) than Athens did, but the Blue Jays had a key advantage at the free throw line, getting there 21 times and making 14. Rib Lake was just three of five. Athens also was dominant on the boards as one might expect at 46-32. Janke had 17 of those rebounds.

Andrew Wudi and Quednow scored eight points each for the Redmen. Quednow grabbed 10 rebounds. Wudi had three assists. Borchardt had seven points, five rebounds and two assists. Scheithauer finished with six points and Vlach had three points, six rebounds, four assists and three steals. Dalen Gebauer had three rebounds and two assists.

Athens is 13-4 overall and 10-2 in Marawood play, which gives the Blue Jays a four-game lead in the North Division over 6-6 Prentice with four games to play.

Rib Lake, now 5-7 in Marawood play and 9-8 overall after having its four-game winning streak snapped, has another tough matchup Friday at 7:15 p.m. when it hosts 14-2 Newman Catholic in a Marawood crossover. The Redmen will host Gilman Monday and Crandon on Feb. 9 in non-conference play before going to Stratford on Feb. 10 for their final Marawood crossover game of the season.

Rib Lake 59, Tomahawk 50

Wudi had a fantastic night as Rib Lake’s floor general Monday, coming up one assist shy of a triple-double in the team’s 59-50 nonconference win over pesky Tomahawk.

Wudi scored 16 points, pulled down 13 rebounds, including 11 on the defensive end, and dished out nine assists. His quick first step allowed him to consistently drive into the lane against Tomahawk’s defense and get all the way to the rim or dish to an open teammate if the Hatchets hedged to stop him.

Blomberg also had another strong offensive night with 18 points, seven rebounds and two assists. He knocked down four of eight 3-point tries. Gebauer was pressed into extended duty after Vlach left the game early and responded with 10 points on five-of-seven shooting and two rebounds.

The Redmen led by as many as 10 in the first half at 18-8 following Blomberg’s third 3-pointer. He hit his fourth to make it 21-14, but the Hatchets made a late run, getting a 3 from Jaxson Werner and buzzer- beating shot from Ethan Breitenfeld to tie the game at 25-25.

A Tyler Jablonski 3 put the Hatchets up 33-32 with 15:10 to go and a Werner score gave Tomahawk a 35-34 lead with 11:30 left. But Borchardt put Rib Lake up for good, getting a three-point play off a Scheithauer assist.

Rib Lake steadily extended its lead the rest of the way, putting it away with a Wudi drive and score, a Wudi drive and assist to freshman Jed Henderson and a Wudi assist to Blomberg that make it 5847 with 2:03 left.

Quednow added seven points, 12 rebounds and two assists. Borchardt and Scheithauer finished with three points each. Both had three rebounds.

Gavyn Palmer led Tomahawk with 13 points and seven assists. Breitenfeld and Werner scored nine apiece. Tomahawk fell to 3-12 at the time. Rib Lake held a 45-30 rebounding edge over the Hatchets and shot 44.2% from the field (23 of 52) compared to Tomahawk’s 34.4% (21 of 61).

Rib Lake 71, Spencer 50

Blomberg erupted for 25 points and hit four more 3s in Rib Lake’s 71-50 blowout win at Spencer Friday in non-conference play.

Vlach hit six of 13 shots to finish with 17 points and Quednow added 12 points on six-of-10 shooting.

The Redmen jumped ahead 40-20 by halftime, but Spencer opened the second half with an eight-point run to tighten things a bit. But Spencer never got closer than 11 at 49-38 and dropped to 4-12 at the time.

Rib Lake shot 50% in the first half (16 of 32) and made five of 12 3s in the first 18 minutes. The Redmen cooled off a little in the second half and finished at 42.4% from the field (28 of 66), including eight of 19 from 3-point range, yet the Redmen still scored 36 points in the paint.

They outrebounded the Rockets 44-35 and forced 16 turnovers while losing just 10.

Gebauer had seven points in the win, Wudi had six points and 14 rebounds, 13 of which came on the defensive end. He had four assists. Scheithauer and Borchardt scored two points apiece. Scheithauer had five rebounds, two assists and two steals. Borchardt had three rebounds, three assists and two steals. Blomberg had eight rebounds. Vlach had four assists, three rebounds and two steals. Quednow had four assists.

Connor Bacon, Nathan Rucker and Sam Bezlyk all scored 10 points for Spencer.

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