November 7, 2018 at 12:42 p.m.
Winter Practice Notebook
Winter Practice Notebook
The Rhinelander High School girls' basketball team put on the flags as part of its first day practice Monday in the Jim Miazga Community Gymnasium.
With his team short on height, sixth-year coach Ryan Clark went to a more aggressive, pressing style last season. It resulted in a 14-10 season and a runner-up finish in the Great Northern Conference. Clark is sticking with that style of play this year. Speed and footwork go hand-and-hand with the philosophy, he said.
That's where flag football comes in.
"I thought what would be a good way to mix things up," he said. "In flag football, you have to juke and fake. The only difference is we're throwing a basketball. I think that will help us a little bit."
As the team has done in the past, it is utilizing two-a-day practices this week. The practice time is especially important this year as the team will open its season next Friday at Merrill, which knocked the Hodags out of the playoffs in the regional semifinals last year.
"We have to move pretty quick here," Clark said, noting the schedule includes five games before the calendar turns to December. "We're still young, but we have a lot of experience with our youth. They should be just fine come the 16th."
Clark said the first few practices have centered around knocking off the rust, with some footwork drills, some passing and some mini-games. The team will also spend some time going over its defense prior to a scrimmage Saturday in Wisconsin Dells.
"That's always a good competition for us," he said. "We'll be a little tired at the end of the week, but we'll have a pretty good idea what our weaknesses are that we have to address by then."
Tough act to follow for Hodag hockey
The Rhinelander High School boys' hockey team set a program record for wins last season with a 16-10-0 campaign that included a dramatic overtime playoff win against Merrill.
Now coach M.J. Laggis wants to see his team take another step.
"We came off a great year and I guess what I worry about is people thinking that just because we had a good year, we'll have another great one," he said Monday during the team's first practice at the Rhinelander Ice Arena. "I think that builds complacency. We've got a lot to prove here. It's not like we set the world on fire. We had a really good season, but there's still a lot of work to do."
That has been the overriding theme at practice this week as Laggis has tried to build as much competition into practice as possible.
"I want to see our guys be hungry. That's going to be our theme this week," he said. "We're just going to try to get it as competitive as possible and get people working for jobs. We have some injuries to start the year and some kids who can't play right away. Right off the get-go we've got some things we have to overcome."
The Hodags do not have much time until they lace up the skates for real. The team scrimmages at Merrill next Thursday, will open the season Tuesday, Nov. 20 at home against Chequamegon/Phillips and then open conference play the following Tuesday at defending conference co-champion Northland Pines.
"We've got to talk about having fun but getting to the rink with a business-like attitude and getting ready for a scrimmage a week from Thursday," Laggis said. "Before you know it, you're on a bus going to Merrill scrimmaging. We've got to work hard on skills and get some systems in."
New coaches settle in for Northern Edge
Following an uncertain offseason, the Rhinelander/Antigo girls' hockey team is happy to be back on the ice.
In the offseason questions swirled regarding who their coach would be and if they would have enough skaters to go it alone or have to co-op.
It took until the final couple of weeks for all the questions to be answered but, ultimately, Tom Roeser and Kelly LeVeque stepped in to replace last year's coaches Kevin Sandstrom and Brian Bunnell, the team found some more skaters in the month leading up to the season and plans to form a last-minute co-op with Northland Pines were scrapped.
"The girls, they really wanted to keep their Edge identity," Roeser said prior to Tuesday's practice at the RIA. "They went to work and recruited. I think Kelly did a lot of recruiting, too. We're thankful that we're able to stay in our own buildings most of the time and keep the Edge together right now. (Pines) was great. They didn't have to come out and offer that up to us, and we're thankful they did. But, just like they want to keep their identity, so do we. The girls show a lot of pride in those jerseys they wear."
The numbers have been better than projected because of late additions to the squad. Roeser said between 13 and 14 skaters attended the team's first two practices. The team practiced Monday in Antigo. A number of those skaters are back from last season. Some are new to hockey, but Roeser said all of the skaters are getting the same level of training on the ice.
"We all work on the same skills. Everyone needs it no matter where they're at right now," he said. "Right now, it's a lot of repetition on strides, skating, stick handling, puck handling."
"Practice (has) actually went pretty well," Roeser addded. "I was pretty surprised. Not at the skill level, because we have a very wide variation, but all the girls worked really hard, listened really well and I was pretty impressed with that."
Roeser added he was pleased LeVeque, the mother of returning sophomore Evie LeVeque, stepped in to help coach the team. "She's great with the girls and she loves all the girls, you can tell," he said.
Skating and skills will be the primary focus in the first weeks of practice. Roeser said the team may not do much work on systems, power play or penalty kill prior to its opener against Medford Nov. 19 in Antigo.
Equipment upgrades for Hodag gymnasts
The Rhinelander High School gymnastics team made improvements in the offseason, according to coach Heather Sturtevant.
The upgrades were not so much in the roster, though the team has many of its starters back from last year. Rather, the team received an equipment makeover during the summer, which has Sturtevant excited.
"I know with the additions to our equipment (and) resurfacing a few things we know that we have better equipment to work on and more (of it)," she said. "We've always had to share a few things and it gets hard to set up drills. Now we have more mats and more equipment that we can better utilize our practice time."
While the team has four full weeks to prepare for its season-opening invite Dec. 1 at Medford, the added equipment will come in handy for the Hodags' roster of 14 girls, which Sturtevant said was "a few more than we expected."
The team is wasting no time as it gets back in the groove.
"The big thing this week is getting girls back to at least where they were toward the end of last year, so we can start with some basic routines," she said. "Floor (exercise) music needs to be in by this weekend. Then, if we're working on new skills, that's fine but we need to be working on those routines."
As far as the routines, especially on balance beam where falls have been a problem in the past, Sturtevant said the team is erring on the side of simplicity early in the season.
"I don't care if we're practicing an easier routine, if it's clean it's going to score higher than one with higher skill and falling off," she said. "We really want to get into that rotation."
The Hodags will host the annual Snowflake Invite Dec. 8, which will be first of five home meets for the team this year. Sturtevant emphasized that point and encouraged fans to come out to watch her team as often as they can.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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