Kelly O’Day
Sports Editor
The Hatchet boys basketball team came up just short of upsetting Rhinelander in a 44-40 contest at home on Friday. The Hodags improved to 7-1 in the GNC and 11-4 overall, while Tomahawk fell to 1-7 and 6-10.
“This is an effort we can build on as we head into the final six games of the year.,” THS coach Tim Albert noted. “We really played well on the defensive end of the floor. We forced them to work every possession. Credit the Hodags for hitting their free throws down the stretch.
“We executed very well on offense against their match-up zone, which really gave us problems in our first meeting. We were patient and got great looks. We have been turning the ball over in recent games, but tonight we did a great job of only committing 14 turnovers.”
Tomahawk trailed 21-20 at halftime and after falling behind by three possessions in the second half, cut it to one point again late in the second. After a missed three-pointer, THS was forced to foul and the Hodags converted.
Tomahawk production came from Justin Jarvensivu (17 p, 9 r), Brandon Vecchio (6 p, 4 r), Easton Phalin (7 p) and Jacob Zietlow (6 p).
Rhi: 21 – 23 – 44.
Toma: 20 – 20 – 40.