January 26, 2018 at 1:53 p.m.
Lady Hodags fall to No. 9 SPASH 64-58
Lady Hodags fall to No. 9 SPASH 64-58
The Lady Hodags hung with ninth-ranked Stevens Point much of the way, but a late 18-4 run proved to be too much to overcome in a 62-56 loss at the Jim Miazga Community Gymnasium.
The Hodags played without third-leading scorer Brooke Mork, who missed the contest with a sore back, but made a furious rally to cut the lead from 15 to six with less than two minutes to play.
"I'm proud of them for fighting right back," RHS girls' basketball coach Ryan Clark told WHOH-FM following the game. "We've got tough kids and we made it a game right to the end. I gave our kids credit for that. The fight in them was as strong as I've seen all year."
Kenedy Van Zile had 23 points in a loss for Rhinelander. Ally Seefeldt added 19 including a 3 with 1:47 remaining that cut SPASH's lead to 62-56.
The Hodags never led in the contest, but stayed within shouting distance most of the way. Jenna Bohanski banked in a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give SPASH a 31-25 lead at halftime, and played with a single-digit lead early on in the second half.
A three-point play by Van Zile cut SPASH's lead to one, at 43-42, with 11:54 remaining, but SPASH scored the next seven points as they began their decisive run.
"We didn't rebound for a little bit, didn't play good defense," Clark said. "SPASH had that little spurt there to get up by seven or eight points. Then they had that little run there to get up 15 on some dumb turnovers on our part. We're better than that."
Sophomore post player Leah Earnest had a strong night inside against the Hodags, scoring 23 points to lead the Panthers.
"She's a tough sophomore," Clark said of the 5-11 Earnest. "Leah's footwork and body control from 10 feet in is very impressive, probably the best we've seen this year from anybody. She was a tough matchup."
The Hodags held SPASH's leading scorer, and Drake University recruit, Maggie Negaard to 11 points in the contest - more than seven points below her season average. Rhinelander's Alyana Franson drew the matchup on the 5-10 Negaard much of the night.
"I thought Alayna did a heck of job," Clark said. "Maggie's a really nice player. She's very smooth and probably unselfish to a fault ... I thought Alayna did a real nice job on her. Alayna gives up a lot of size and weight, but she just stayed on her and competed with her."
Maddie Meyer scored a season-high 11 points in the loss for Rhinelander, which took on Lakeland in a battle for first place in the GNC Friday night in a game that concluded after deadline. Clark said Thursday night's performance gave his team confidence heading into that game.
"I think we're getting better, but I think teams underestimate our size and a quickness a little bit. We can hold our heads high and have some confidence after tonight," he said.
The Hodags return home Monday to take on Crandon in a non-conference contest. The game was originally scheduled for Feb. 5, but was moved this week to accommodate a makeup game between Crandon and Marshfield Columbus.
Information from WHOH-FM's Ben Meyer was used in this report.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
Comments:
You must login to comment.