December 3, 2018 at 1:24 p.m.
RHS rallies past Mosinee
Lady Hodags overcome slow start to beat Indians 58-47 in GNC opener
RHS rallies past Mosinee
Kenedy Van Zile scored a game-high 28 points and the Hodags used an 18-0 run midway through the second half to seize control as they defeated Mosinee 58-47 Friday night in the Great Northern Conference opener at the Jim Miazga Community Gymnasium.
Mosinee (3-1, 0-1 Great Northern scored the game's first nine points and still led 13-5 with 11:37 to play in the first half, but the Indians went cold from the field while the Hodags (3-2, 1-0 Great Northern) cranked up the pressure and soon were on a spurt that ultimately was the difference in the contest.
"I wasn't going to burn a timeout I thought, geez, that would just give more excitement for Mosinee to call a timeout on our home floor to start the game," Hodag coach Ryan Clark said. "We started getting going a little bit, took the lead and had a little run there where we scored quite a few points."
Van Zile, the Hodags' leading scorer, scored a layup with 10:01 left in the half that started Rhinelander's onslaught. A combination of transition baskets and free throws helped the Hodags take a 26-14 lead before Mosinee finally broke a 7 minute, 22 second field goal drought with a Jayde Sitko bucket.
Van Zile answered with a 3, and a basket in transition off a steal by her older sister, Payton Van Zile, to push Rhinelander's lead to 15. The Hodags led 34-23 at halftime and Mosinee never got any closer than nine points the rest of the way.
"If you press, you're going to have those. If a team struggles they might panic and, eventually, you'll get a little run on them," Clark said. "That happened. That was probably the difference right there because the rest of the game was pretty much even, or they probably outplayed us."
Despite the win, Clark did not feel it was the cleanest game his team has played. The Hodags shot 38 percent from the field (20 of 53), a vast improvement from their 16-percent effort in a 59-30 loss to Eau Claire Regis in their previous contest. However, Rhinelander was only 40 percent (14 of 35) from the foul line and committed 24 turnovers.
"We didn't have depth tonight," Clark said. "We had kids and bodies, but a lot of just shakiness out there on the court, especially when they picked up their pressure. We've got to have more confidence than that. I thought our ball movement was really stale. We didn't see open teammates quick enough and then, defensively, so-so as well. When we turned it over in the press it was fine but, when they played half-court offense, I didn't think we defended necessarily very well. I know they've got the bigs inside who are tough to guard."
One of those bigs, 5-10 senior Megan Priest, led Mosinee with 10 points in the game. Guard Allison Miller matched Priest with 10, Adalyn Lehman had eight and Paige Wicklund added seven points. Wicklund, Mosinee's top scorer from a season ago sat much of the first half, after picking up her second personal foul only 2:42 into the contest.
Marisa Martin added 11 points for Rhinelander, Rebecca Lawrence had nine and Brooke Mork chipped in eight.
Next up, Rhinelander takes on two-time defending GNC champ Lakeland, which will bring a 29-game GNC winning streak into Friday night's matchup. Clark said his team will, "have to play a lot better if we're going to compete with Lakeland."
"That will be a fun one, a fun atmosphere, a doubleheader with a boys' game and girls' game," he said. "That will be an exciting way to end the week on Friday night."
The girls' contest is the first game of Friday night's doubleheader at the LUHS fieldhouse in Minocqua.
Tipoff is slated for 6 p.m.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
Comments:
You must login to comment.