December 6, 2017 at 1:41 p.m.
Second half shutdown
Lady Hodags hold Ashland to 2 points over final 18 minutes of 59-16 rout
Second half shutdown
The Lady Hodags held Ashland to two points over the final 18 minutes and Ally Seefeldt poured in a game-high 24 points to defeat the Oredockers 59-16 in the second half of a doubleheader at the Sundberg Gymnasium.
It was quite the turnaround for Rhinelander (4-1, 1-0 Great Northern) which labored offensively early on and led by only one point with less than four minutes to play in the opening half.
The one constant was defense as the Hodags forced 38 Ashland turnovers and limited the Oredockers to 7 of 29 shooting.
"They just got into a little groove," Hodag coach Ryan Clark said.
That groove was more like a canyon as the Hodags delivered a 36-2 lambasting in the second half. A Zoe Pearce bucket with 16:19 remaining was Ashland's only score in the second half as it went 1 of 16 from the floor and 0 for 5 at the foul line.
"That's what makes it fun, when you can press, turn teams over and score off the turnovers," Clark said. "You know when the other team is mentally beaten when they're giving up 2-on-0s and making the same mistakes over and over. We executed well and it was a good win."
Seefeldt, a senior guard, finally kicked the Hodags into gear, converting a pair of old-fashioned three-point plays over the final 1:22 of the first half to give Rhinelander a 23-14 lead at the break. She scored twice more, and had an assist off a steal, in the first three minutes of the second half as the Hodags pushed the lead to 13 and never looked back.
After starting 1 for 6 from the floor, Seefeldt made her final eight field goal attempts as the Hodags ran away with the contest.
Kenedy Van Zile had 10 points for the Hodags while Brooke Mork chipped in eight.
"I thought Ally Seefeldt had a very good game," Clark said. "I thought Kenedy battled. She just needs to become more consistent."
While the Hodags were dominant on defense, a combination of turnovers, cold shooting and missed free throws kept the game close in the opening half. Rhinelander was 7 of 24 from the floor and 9 of 19 from the foul line over the first 18 minutes while committing 13 turnovers. The game was stuck at 5-2 for nearly seven minutes early in the half and Ashland had a 6-0 run at one point to tie the game at 10 with 5:30 remaining before halftime.
"During a timeout we talked about not letting this grind game get to us," Clark said. "Just work through it. I thought we finished the first half well, we just didn't make our free throws."
That all changed in the second half for Rhinelander, which was 17 of 26 from the field and committed only four turnovers over the final 18 minutes.
Freshman Marissa Martin added six points while Rebecca Lawrence scored two as the Hodags filtered in some junior varsity players late in the second half with the game well in hand.
The win was Rhinelander's fourth straight following a 61-25 blowout loss to Marshfield to open the season. Up next is perhaps Rhinelander's toughest contest since the opener as it hosts defending GNC champ Lakeland Friday at the Jim Miazga Community Gymnasium.
"Lakeland has controlled the conference, not only as the champions, but mentally as well," Clark said. "They force a lot of turnovers and every team's been a little timid to play them. They've got a lot of swagger. We've got to go in there with no doubt that it's our turn to give it back at them. It's possibly two of the top teams in the conference."
Tipoff is set for 6:15 p.m. and will be the first half of a girls-boys doubleheader at the Miazga Gym.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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