February 22, 2017 at 1:16 p.m.
RHS holds off Antigo in first round of playoffs
RHS holds off Antigo in first round of playoffs
The Lady Hodags hosted Antigo in the first round of the WIAA Division 2 playoffs Tuesday night at Jim Miazga Community Gymnasium.
It is hard to beat a team three times in a season, but Rhinelander looked like it was going to cruise to an easy win, as Kaly Kostrova connected on four 3-pointers early in the first half to jump out to a 16-4 lead.
The Red Robins cut into that lead throughout the game, but the Lady Hodags always managed to respond, leading by 13 at one point in the second half.
Antigo used a 10-0 run to tie the game with six minutes to go, but Rhinelander scored the next five and were able to survive and advance, 53-45.
"We won the game because we have a little more talent than they do, but we didn't play better than they did," Rhinelander head coach Ryan Clark said. "The regular season is great and all that stuff, but if you really want to judge a player, did they perform when the stakes were at their greatest and highest? Do they perform when their season or career is over? I would say, as a group, we were not very strong. We didn't embrace that situation. We played like a bunch of scared players out there. Antigo outplayed us, Antigo was tougher than us, but we were a little more talented so we got the win."
Rhinelander played well in spurts, particularly in the second half, but then had stretches of rough patches.
In particular, the 10-0 run that tied the game at 37-37.
The Lady Hodags left Antigo sharpshooter Morgan Hotchkiss open for two 3-pointers during the run and the Red Robins dominated the boards, picking up 23 offensive rebounds for the game.
"We didn't guard their shooter for two possessions and then they just killed us on the glass," Clark said. "I don't care if we don't get every rebound, but we gotta battle on the block-out and we didn't do that. They out-hustled us and out-worked us."
Rhinelander was able to connect on some free throws at the end of the game, as Kenedy Van Zile and Ali Schickert were clutch at the line toward the end of the game.
Kostrova also came up with a big play late, following a missed jump shot and getting her own offensive rebound before getting fouled and going to the free throw line.
"One of my concerns going into the game was the last five games we saw nothing but zone and before that it was nothing but man," Clark said. "My concern was, if Antigo switched to a man, can we respond and play it? And we did. We had a few struggles, but we finally started finally settling down and running some actions. Kaly got open on the wing, missed a 3 but followed her shot. From that point on, we started running better man offense."
Kostrova finished with a game-high 18 points for the Lady Hodags, while Ally Seefeldt added 11.
Schickert had a game inside, scoring 12 points, while blocking or affecting numerous shots in the paint all night.
Hannah Zenkovich had a team-high 12 points for Antigo, which finishes 7-14.
The win means eighth-seeded Rhinelander advances to play the top seed in the section, Hortonville, on Thursday night.
Hortonville boasts two Division I commits, in the inside-outside combination of Shay Frederick and Morgan Allen.
Frederick, a 5-foot-6 junior guard committed to Valparaiso, leads the team in scoring with 17.4 points per game and has hit 72 3-pointers this season.
Allen is a 6-foot-3 senior that has committed to IUPUI and is averaging 16.2 points per game on the year, while shooting 56.2 percent from the floor.
The Lady Hodags have a daunting task ahead of them and Clark hopes his team is up for the challenge.
"It'll be a tough atmosphere, a tough road trip, but [if] you lose, you're done," Clark said. "So we'll see what we bring."
Rhinelander (10-13) is scheduled to travel to Hortonville on Thursday night at 7 p.m. The game was originally scheduled for Friday but was moved up a day due to impending snow.
Nick Sabato may be reached at [email protected] or via Twitter@SabatoNick.
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