The Hatchet boys hung close to D.C. Everest in last Tuesday’s 49-44 road loss, but fell to 2-3 overall with Friday’s home defeat to Rhinelander by a misleading 55-44 tally.
The Hodags turned an 8-8 game into a 13-10 contest by the end of the first quarter, then stepped it all the way up to 25-10 capitalizing on THS turnovers. The Hatchets did cut it to 28-18 by intermission, and 40-34 by the end of the third.
A 6-0 run by Tomahawk to kick off the fourth tied it up 40-40. Rhinelander scored to make it 42-40, then both teams misfired on their next two possessions until the Hodags drained a three with a minute left. The Hatchets were forced to foul and Rhinelander canned numerous free throws to the finish.
“I thought our defensive effort was much improved in the second half,” THS coach Tim Albert said. “We forced them to work harder in the half-court, and didn’t give up any easy baskets. The guys really battled, we were down by 15 points twice during this game, and maintained our composure and battled back. We have to find a way to get stops and scores when teams are making runs on us.”
The Hatchets were paced by: Jared Jarvensivu (15 p, 4 r, 7 a, 4 st); Fletcher Schoone (14 p); Lorne Ahrens (4 p, 8 r); Jordan Roessler (7 p, 4 r); and Chris Schoone (4 p, 3 r).
Trees for tomorrow
Another rough second quarter turned a 10-9 nailbiter into a 26-20 Everest edge. THS got back to 26-25 before a nine-possession drought helped D.C.E. forge a 33-25 lead. The Hatchets rallied again within 34-30, before an 8-1 Evergreen run pushed it back to 42-31. Tomahawk surged back within four but foul shots closed it out.
“We took some quick shots during our scoreless streak and needed to be a little more patient and get something easy,” Albert said. “It’s hard to win games when you have six and nine straight possessions without a basket.”
Offerings came from: Jarvensivu (13 p, 3 r, 3 a); F. Schoone (13 p, 3 r); Ahrens (5 p, 7 r, 4 st); Roessler (9 p); and C. Schoone (4 p, 6 r).