February 3, 2017 at 4:04 p.m.
Hodags overwhelmed by T-Bird press in 62-49 loss
Hodags overwhelmed by T-Bird press in 62-49 loss
Turnovers and foul trouble were key as the Hodags were unable to keep up with Lakeland in a 62-49 loss Thursday at the Lakeland Union High School fieldhouse in Minocqua.
Rhinelander (5-9, 3-6 Great Northern) committed 30 turnovers in the loss as Lakeland opened the game on a 10-2 run and never looked back.
"I don't what we had for a final count on turnovers, but it had to be 30 or more," RHS girls' basketball coach Ryan Clark told WHOH-FM after the game. "Right away we went down 10-2, lots of turnovers. We can't simulate their pressure in practice, but we've already played them once this year.
"We just got to find a way. Maybe we can't. Lakeland, they're undefeated in the conference because they prey on all these schools up here. They challenge you with their pressure and basically say, 'If you're going to beat us, you've got to handle our pressure.' And, so far, no one can."
Every time Rhinelander would try to get back into the contest, Lakeland would make another push. Lakeland used an 8-0 spurt to take a 26-12 lead midway through the first. Kaly Kostrova, who led all scorers with 25 points, had a personal 4-0 run to get Rhinelander within 30-21 but Lakeland finished on a 7-2 spurt to take a 37-23 lead at the break.
Rhinelander scored the first six points of the second, and got to within 39-33 at one point, but Lakeland answered with a 10-0 run to put the game out of reach.
Lakeland's constant back court pressure and aggressive defense was simply too much for the Hodags to handle.
"It's frustrating because it's a little different mindset," Clark said. "Lakeland's going for a lot of steals and anticipates really well. They got quick hands but we've got to look up the floor. Look up the floor and be confident and then attack the 3-on-1s, 3-on-2s and 2-on-1s.
"What happens when you start turning over so much is that you are mentally fried and then all these other things start to slip, like our half-court defense. We were giving up slip and flash cuts constantly and then they just killed us on the boards. They had a lot of offensive rebounds."
Kostrova had more than half of Rhinelander's scoring output on Thursday night. Seefeldt was next on the team with nine points, but she played with foul trouble most of the game before eventally fouling out with 3:49 remaining. Brooke Mork added six for the Hodags.
Lakeland (13-2, 8-0 Great Northern) had three players finish in double digits, led by Melissa Bruckner's 18. Sydney Ziebart had 16 and Lilith Schuman chipped in 11.
Thursday's game kicked off a busy stretch for the Hodags, who traveled to Minneapolis North Friday night in a game that concluded after deadline.
The Hodags play back-to-back Monday and Tuesday in a make-up game at Stevens Point before returning home to face Mosinee. They'll go back-to-back again next Thursday and Friday with road games at Wisconsin Rapids and Tomahawk.
WHOH-FM's Ben Meyer contributed to this report from Minocqua. Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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