February 10, 2017 at 4:40 p.m.
Inconsistent Hodags fall to Rapids 53-35
Inconsistent Hodags fall to Rapids 53-35
Momentum and consistency is something the Lady Hodags desperately need heading into the waning stages of the season.
After Tuesday's game against Mosinee was canceled due to weather, Rhinelander hoped that momentum would carry over into Thursday's non-conference game against Wisconsin Rapids at Jim Miazga Community Gymnasium.
It did not.
The Lady Hodags started hot and led 13-8 early in the game, but Rapids went on a 22-4 run to end the first half and kept the home team at bay in the second half to win 53-35.
The Lady Raiders packed in its 2-3 zone, sometimes switching to a box-and-one to take away leading scorer Kaly Kostrova, but Rhinelander couldn't seem to solve it.
The Lady Hodags struggled to attack the zone, taking four free throws all night, compared to Rapids' 14.
"That's not one of our strong suits," Rhinelander head coach Ryan Clark said. "If you're going to go against us, I'd pack the lane in and take away Kaly for an outside shot and see if anybody else can attack off the dribble and score. We're not there yet skill-wise so their strategy against us is exactly how I'd defend my own team."
Rhinelander also struggled with turnovers, totalling 22 for the game, without facing a pressure from the defense and no press.
Travels, errant passes and mental mistakes plagued the Lady Hodags all night and they were never able to wake up from the sleepwalk.
"We had 20 turnovers against a team that played a packed in zone defense and no press, so that's unacceptable," Clark said. "We had a lot of unforced errors. Travels, travels in the backcourt, travels 28 feet from hoop. Sloppy. Very sloppy. I told the girls, right now, we're less than two weeks from the playoffs. More than winning, you have to go in playing well and we can't have mistakes that we would have made in December, showing up now."
Rhinelander picked up its play to start the second half, but nearly halfway through, Wisconsin Rapids still led by 13 points.
Coming out of a timeout, the Lady Hodags got baskets from Kostrova and Kennedy Van Zile, then Rapids' leading scorer in the game Maddie Paitel rolled an ankle with 9:03 to play, with a 42-33 lead.
In what appeared to be a potential turning point for Rhinelander, turned into one for the Lady Raiders, who went on an 11-2 run to end the game.
"That was the first time we've gone against a box-and-one," Clark said. "Little Ally [Seefeldt] got a couple shots early, but our inability to get in the heart of the defense and make them pay, was a killer. We just struggled. We didn't play well."
Kostrova finished with a team-high 13 points, five rebounds, two assists and two steals, while Seefeldt added 10 points and three steals in the game.
It was a disappointing outing after playing well in the second half on Monday and nearly coming away with a comeback win in Stevens Point.
Inconsistency reared its head once again and the Lady Hodags must go back to the drawing board.
"We're too inconsistent. Some of it's inexperience and youth, but we're so far into the season so it's no longer an excuse you can really use," Clark said. "We just have to be more consistent in our performance. Today we just had a hard time finding five girls on the court that would defend or take care of the ball. We had a lot of quick hooks just because we didn't appear to be mentally sharp or crisp tonight. Our margin of error is not that big - which is fine - we just have to play within ourselves, but I know the girls are just as disappointed as I am."
Paitel led Wisconsin Rapids (8-10) with 13 points and six rebounds, including going 3 for 5 from beyond the 3-point arc, while Maycie Wiernik added 11 points and four steals.
Rhinelander (5-12) continues its stretch of nine games in 14 days with back-to-back Great Northern Conference games. The Lady Hodags traveled to Tomahawk on Friday in a game that concluded after deadline and are back at home Saturday for the makeup game with Mosinee.
Nick Sabato may be reached at [email protected] or via Twitter @SabatoNick.
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