January 31, 2018 at 1:22 p.m.
Girls' hoops: Crandon clobbers lifeless Hodags 52-36
Girls' hoops: Crandon clobbers lifeless Hodags 52-36
The Lady Hodags could not get anything going at home against Northern Lakes Conference-leading Crandon, shooting only 26 percent from the field and appearing sluggish on the court in a 52-36 defeat at the Jim Miazga Community Gymnasium.
"We just were never mentally into it," Rhinelander coach Ryan Clark said. "They made a little battle for a little bit there, but Crandon controlled the game from start to finish."
Clark said Monday's performance wasn't a matter of overlooking a smaller school in Crandon - with an enrollment roughly one-third of Rhinelander's. Instead, he said the poor showing was the residual effect of a disappointing two-point loss three nights earlier in Minocqua that put the Hodags' GNC championship hopes in dire straits.
"They played a good game Thursday against (SPASH). Friday was a battle, the outcome just wasn't to our advantage, but I would just say their response was more pity and feeling sorry for ourselves than just coming out here battling," he said. "We knew Crandon was coming in with a big chip on their shoulder. They get to play us in our place. We're the Division 2 team and their Division 4. They beat Pines by 9 early in the year and they played a good game against Newman. We knew they'd be tough."
A Hodag team that prides itself on pressure and attacking quickly in transition was not effective in either facet of the game Monday. Though Crandon committed 19 turnovers, most of them were of the dead-ball variety, preventing Rhinelander the opportunity to run out in transition.
Forced to grind out offense in the half court, the Hodags struggled with Crandon's height inside as the Cardinals guarded the rim with a 2-3 zone. Rhinelander's top scorers still got their points. Kenedy Van Zile scored 20 and Ally Seefeldt chipped in 12, but the two combined to shoot 10 of 31 from the field. The rest of the team contibuted only four points on 2 of 15 shooting.
"They slowed us down a little bit and then they just sunk in and forced us to shoot," Clark said. "Ally wasn't looking to score at all in the first half. Kenedy was our only scorer in the first half. She scored a bunch, but we just didn't have any movement. We just looked mindless and not there. We had a lot of travels and unforced errors off the bat."
Down 24-20 at the half, Van Zile's shot dried up in the second as Crandon made a 16-6 run to put the game out of reach. A pair of Seefeldt 3-pointers were the Hodags' only baskets in a nearly nine-minute stretch of play from the 15:56 mark to the 6:59 mark.
Sophomore guard Tabitha Renkas had an effective night for Crandon, scoring a game-high 21 points on a 7 of 8 night from the field. Overall, the Cardinals were 45 percent from the floor (18 of 40) with most of their damage coming near the hoop. Crandon also held a 37-27 advantage on the glass.
Mired in their second three-game losing streak of the season, Clark said Monday night he would take drastic measures to get the Hodags ready for a home contest against Northland Pines on Friday.
"We're not going to practice. We're going to take off the week. Maybe then they'll have some urgency," he said. "Those seniors, their career is closing down. You're only going to lace up these shoes - for Ally and Maddie (Meyer) and Molly (Wagler) and Lexie (Rick) and the rest - just a few more times. We only have a handful of practices left, just four more games. I'll see them on Friday night. We play Pines in a doubleheader and we'll see how we come out after four days off. They're a tight-knit group. They'll probably respond. We'll see how it goes from here."
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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