December 29, 2018 at 3:42 p.m.
Madison LaFollette outmuscles Lady Hodags 72-61
Madison LaFollette outmuscles Lady Hodags 72-61
The Lancers opened a 20-plus point lead in the second half before cruising to a 72-61 win over the Lady Hodags at the Jim Miazga Community Gymnasium in the semifinals of a traveling holiday tournament.
Rhinelander (5-4, 3-0 Great Northern) took on Superior Saturday in the consolation game of the four-team tournament in a game that concluded after deadline.
Rhinelander coach Ryan Clark said LaFollette's speed and athleticism ultimately won the night.
"We struggled to finish and rebound. Their bigs inside are just a little more athletic and bigger. We struggled at the line at times," he said. "Open shots are only open for a brief second. (Against teams) up here, you have a little more time to get your shot off. The space, there's a little more distance. (Against LaFollette), it closes pretty quick. They've got quick hands, they move quick, they rebound. That's just a nice basketball team."
LaFollette took control with a 15-0 run midway through the first half and did not trail the rest of the way. Rhinelander answered by rattling off 10 straight points to cut the lead to 23-20 with 7:03 remaining in the first half, but a quick 8-0 spurt for the Lancers restored the double-digit lead, which they carried to the half at 39-29.
LaFollette's offense beat Rhinelander three ways. Athletic 5-7 freshman guard Demetria Prewitt consistently beat the Hodags off the bounce, attacked the basket and led the Lancers with 20 points, 6-foot junior Nyenhail Riak was strong in the post with 19 points and senior guard Kaytlin Eder was a threat from the outside, hitting three 3s en route to scoring 12 points in the game. All three had nine points in the first half for LaFollette.
"(Prewitt), their freshman guard hurt us in the first half," Clark said. "We just didn't do a very good job. She's a slasher. She attacks hard. She's explosive and quick, by far the best athlete we've faced this year. We didn't pinch the gaps very well and she hurt us in the first half. We gave up a couple of 3s to (Eder)."
The Hodags cut LaFollette's lead to eight at 62-54 with 3 1/2 minutes to play, but were unable to draw any closer.
"I think we made some momentum swings and cut (the lead) down, hit a few 3s," Clark said. "Then they would respond. We were always just a little bit behind. I think that's just a testament to their them. I think they're just a little bit better than we are."
Rhinelander's Kenedy Van Zile led all scorers with 31 points, but was only 10 of 17 from the foul line. Brooke Mork had eight points while Payton Van Zile, Cynthia Beavers and Rebecca Lawrence scored six points each.
"I thought Kenedy did a pretty good job handling their pressure. She was kind of uncharacteristic though, missing a lot of free throws and some open shots," Clark said. "I thought the effort from the girls was good. I thought we did a pretty good job going against a team that's more athletic than we are."
Clark added he likes scheduling difficult teams like LaFollette in the non-conference schedule to test his team and expose some of its weaknesses, which he hoped it would address in Saturday's game against Superior.
"This is all for naught if we don't come back tomorrow and build from this. If we come out tomorrow and lay an egg, lose energy and don't play well, then we just blew an opportunity," he said.
Rhinelander returns to GNC play Thursday at Tomahawk.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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