December 10, 2018 at 1:32 p.m.
Streak busters
Lady Hodags down Lakeland 59-45, end T-Birds' 29-game GNC winning streak
Streak busters
Kenedy Van Zile scored 34 points and the Rhinelander High School girls' basketball team ended Lakeland's two-and-a-half year dominance of the GNC with a 59-45 win over the T-Birds Friday at the Lakeland Union High School fieldhouse.
Rhinelander did it by taking Lakeland out of its fast-paced, frenetic game. The Hodags slowed things down in the half court, limited Lakeland's top scorers Abby Parris and Melissa Bruckner, and controlled the glass as it ended the T-Birds 29-game conference winning streak.
"Lakeland's a very good basketball team, 29 in a row. We knew this would be a tough challenge," coach Ryan Clark said. "I didn't know what to expect. I knew we had struggled handling the basketball under pressure but the one thing I knew was that Marshfield was a tough one and we won there. This team, I think we've got a ways to go yet, but they've got a little grit to them that's really starting to develop and a little toughness I really love to see out of them."
The Hodags had an 11-point lead at halftime, but watched it evaporate down to one with 11:05 remaining. Instead of giving in, the Hodags responded with an 18-4 run of their own to take a 52-37 lead with 5:09 remaining.
Rhinelander spread the wealth during the decisive run. Rebecca Lawrence got it started with a basket in transition followed by a Kenedy Van Zile 3. Cynthia Beavers added a three-point play scoring off an offensive rebound with 8:31 left. Following a turnover, Brooke Mork hit a 3 with 8:03 remaining to put Rhinelander's lead back into double digits at 45-34.
"I thought Cynthia had a big and-1 in there. Brooke hit a huge 3," Clark said. "They just found a way to respond. Credit to them. That wasn't coached. That was just digging down deep and finding a way to stay together and make a play for your team."
With the game in hand down the stretch, the Hodag bench couldn't help be realize what it had accomplished. Clark said the team struggled to contain its excitement on the bench.
"We are really excited, kind of speechless almost," Van Zile said. "It's just so exciting. Every year that I've been playing we've lost and it's just been really hard."
"I think, for our confidence, going into this game we had a lot of mental baggage. Last year, those kids worked really hard and we were so close," Clark said, referencing a two-point loss at Lakeland last season. "But now, I think once you beat them you know you can beat them. Maybe that stigma is out there a little bit."
Lakeland's lone lead of the game came with an early 6-0 spurt that gave the T-Birds an 8-6 advantage with 11:38 remaining in the first. Rhinelander scored the next 13 points, a run sparked by three straight baskets from sophomore Marissa Martin, to take a lead it would never relinquish.
Lakeland's leading scorer, Abby Parris, finished the night with 16 points, below her average of 20.6 heading into the contest. Rhinelander put the clamps on reigning conference player of the year Melissa Bruckner, limiting her to eight in the contest.
Forced to play a half-court game, the run-and-gun T-Birds struggled from the field, shooting only 29 percent (14 of 48) on the night. Rhinelander also controlled the glass, to the tune of 51 rebounds to 23, keeping Lakeland from many second-chance points.
Though Rhinelander typically likes to play a similar style as Lakeland, Clark found that getting the T-Birds out of their comfort zone was the secret to success Friday night.
"I didn't want to be too stubborn. I think (Lakeland coach) Melissa (Ouimette) coaches the press better than I do and they do it better than us, but I thought if we got in the half court, we could really get down on Bruckner and Parris and we don't lose those matchups," he said. "We just worked on switching everything, pinching when Bruckner had it because she's so good at finding those creases and getting to the basket. We wanted to pinch all those gaps and basically just flood it when they had the ball. Also, I thought we did a good job getting on some of their shooters, too. We executed it very, very well. I'm proud of them for that."
When Lakeland made its second-half push, Van Zile said Rhinelander responded by taking a breath and getting back to playing its game.
"I just really tried to tell everyone to slow it down and play our game, and not be too aggressive in a sense," she said. "We didn't want to match what they were playing. We wanted to stick to our style."
Van Zile nearly had a double-double, pulling down nine rebounds. Martin had 10 points and Beavers finished with eight points and 10 rebounds for a Hodag team that was an efficient 46 percent (19 of 41) from the floor.
The win moves the Hodags to 2-0 in the GNC and gives them a leg up on the preseason conference favorite. Rhinelander has never won a conference championship in girls' basketball. While it's still very early in the season, the Hodags have thrust themselves into the title conversation.
"You can't even talk about it until you knock off the champions, but like I told the girls this is a long season. You didn't win the conference tonight and you didn't lose the conference tonight," Clark said. "Medford's a good team. We've got to go to Mosinee. It's a long season but I think we can play with anyone on our schedule. It's going to come down to executing and playing that game."
The Hodags (4-2) return to action Crandon tonight. The Cardinals were a Division 4 state semifinalist last year, and return the majority of players from a team that beat the Hodags 52-36 in Rhinelander last January.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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