February 23, 2018 at 12:23 p.m.
Lady Hodags handle Waupaca in tournament opener
Lady Hodags handle Waupaca in tournament opener
Though the Lady Hodags closed the regular season with convincing wins over Tomahawk, Medford and Antigo, they did it thanks to strong second-half pushes. Rhinelander entered Wednesday night's contest averaging only 19.7 first-half points in its last three contest. The Hodags scored 20 alone in a 4 1/2-minute stretch midway through the first half that blew the contest wide open.
Instead of settling into a slow half-court game early on, the Hodags were effective in their press from the onset on got the tempo of the game more to their liking.
"We just talked about coming out fast, easier said than done, but we just tried to tell them, 'Let's overwhelm them with our speed right from the get-go' and I thought we did that," Hodag coach Ryan Clark said. "We got them a little bit frazzled. They had to call an early timeout. They looked like they were a little timid. It looked like they didn't know if they wanted to attack the press. I thought we were back-tapping well, trapping well and just controlled the tempo in the early part of the game."
Kenedy Van Zile had a game-high 25 points for Rhinelander, including 11 during a 20-0 run that ballooned Rhinelander's lead to 28-6 with eight minutes remaining in the first half as she mixed in a combination of transition layups with effective jump shots.
"They were really playing off her and I know she wanted to move the ball around and not take a quick shot in the offense but they were really playing off her to take away from the drive," Clark said. "What did she have, 25? She really came alive for us."
Rhinelander led 37-16 at the break and cruised in the second, pushing the lead to as many as 34 points at one juncture.
Rhinelander spread the ball around offensively as nine of the 10 players who saw the court scored. Maddie Meyer had nine points and freshman Rebecca Lawrence chipped in six.
"Maddie, right from the get-go was attacking the basket, hitting her free throws," Clark noted. "She had some really nice drives, dishes and wrap-around passes. She's really practiced well for three, four weeks."
After shooting nearly 50 percent from the field in the first half, the Hodags cooled off in the second and finished the night just under 39 percent (24 of 62).
Sophomore Emma Smidt led Waupaca with nine points, but was only 1 of 7 from the field in the second half. Waupaca finished the game a shade under 30 percent shooting (11 of 37). Savannah Wehmeyer had 14 rebounds for the Comets, who had a significant height advantage on Rhinelander, but the Hodags held their own on the glass, outrebounded 39-29.
Trove of turnovers
Turnover disparity was the key to the contest. Rhinelander held an 18-1 edge in the turnover battle in the first half and a 32-10 edge in the game.
More importantly than creating turnovers, the Hodags generated more steals and live-ball turnovers on Wednesday night, which led to more opportunities to score in transition.
"Live-ball turnovers are the key where, hopefully we can convert off them quickly and get a little run or spurt going," Clark said. "I also thought we did a pretty good job of pitching ahead in transition."
Seefeldt cold
Kenedy' Van Zile's scoring counterpart, Ally Seefeldt, struggled from the field again Wednesday night, finishing with four points on 2 of 12 shooting. That comes off a nine-point performance for Seefeldt last Friday at Antigo when she was 2 of 7 from the field. Her scoring average has dropped a full point from 18.4 points per game to 17.4 over that time.
"She had a couple rim out. She had a couple rim out against Antigo," Clark said. "I think they're playing her a little bit differently. She's been scoring 20 points a game so there's more focus on her. She's a senior, she's tough but she's got to gut out some points for us."
Trainer's room
Rhinelander post player Erika Jorgensen left the game with a right knee injury with 7:37 remaining in the contest as she attempted to intercept a pass in transition. She was unable to leave the court on under her own power. Clark was not immediately certain of her status going forward.
"I'm praying we have her for Friday, but it's probably not looking promising and that's a huge loss," Clark said of the 6-foot junior. "She's kind of our only tall element we have. If she's not (ready to play Friday), I'm real excited for her next year because I think she'll make a big jump next year as a senior for us."
Brooke Mork missed her ninth straight game for Rhinelander as she has yet to be cleared to return to competition from a back injury sustained prior to the Jan. 25 game against Stevens Point.
What's next
The Hodags played Merrill on Friday night in a regional semifinal game that concluded after deadline. It was the second meeting between the teams, with Merrill taking the first game 67-60 in Rhinelander Jan. 16.
The winner of that game advances to tonight's regional final game against the winner of last night's Hortonville-Mosinee contest.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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