November 19, 2018 at 11:31 a.m.
Van Zile's 40 points not enough vs. Merrill in girls' hoops opener
Van Zile's 40 points not enough vs. Merrill in girls' hoops opener
Van Zile scored a career-high 40 points, but missed a contested runner as time expired as the Hodags fell to Merrill 57-55 at the Merrill High School Fieldhouse.
Van Zile rallied the Hodags from down five points with two minutes to play to tie the game, but an Allison Tabor bucket with 24 second remaining gave Merrill the lead for good in a tightly contested season opener.
Prior to the season, Clark said he figured he would need Van Zile, a junior point guard and returning unanimous first-team all-Great Northern Conference selection, to average 25 points per game this season. She did much more than that Friday night.
"In the locker room, Kenedy was dejected because, just like a normal teammate, she'd rather get the win," Clark said. "She's a special player. You might coach for 30 years and she might be the best one I have. I'm proud of her."
Elizabeth Iribarren, who hurt Rhinelander with 20 points in last February's playoff contest, played a big role for Merrill again, scoring all 14 of her points in the second half, including a string of 10 straight points that cut Rhinelander's lead to 42-41 with 8:10 remaining.
"(Iribarren) again killed us," Clark said of Merrill's 5-11 post player, who sat most of the first half in foul trouble. "In the second half she got those putbacks, good post-ups, good seals. That hurt us."
Trailing 47-45 with just over four minutes remaining, Merrill made another push. Courtney Krueger made a pair of free throws to tie the game, followed by a Daile Thomas 3 to take the lead with 3:07 renaming. Tabor score her first bucket of the game on a backdoor layup to put Merrill ahead by five with 2 minutes to play.
Van Zile answered with a 3 the next trip down the floor and then made a running layup to tie the game at 52 with 40 seconds remaining.
On its next possession, Merrill found Tabor on the right block and she was fouled as she scored the go-ahead bucket. She missed the free throw, but Hannah Worachek committed a traveling violation as the Hodags tried to push the ball up the floor following a scramble for the rebound. Thomas hit two free throws with 18 seconds remaining to extend Merrill's lead to 56-52.
Van Zile capped off her 40-point night with a 3 from the top of the key with nine seconds remaining. Thomas was fouled on the ensuing inbound and made one of two free throws before the Hodags pushed the ball up the court in a last-ditch effort to tie or win.
Van Zile penetrated down the left side of the lane and attempted a shot through contact that missed the mark as time expired.
"She drew the contact, but the girl stayed vertical. I think that was good no-call," Clark said. "That's one I'm going to show Kenedy on film. That's where she's got to do her little Kiki (VanDeWeghe) move where she attacks right to that contact and then she pops away with just a little fade. She can do that. I also had Brooke Mork in the corner. She might have been open a little bit but, like I told Ken, I'll live and die with her making the decision, whatever she needs to do."
Rhinelander trailed 17-7 midway through the first half but fought back, ending the half on a 15-4 run to take a 22-21 lead at the break. Neither team led by more than five points in the second half. There were seven ties and five lead changes over the final 18 minutes.
Merrill had more balanced scoring than Rhinelander. Thomas had 15 points and Krueger had 11 to go along with Iribarren's 14. Aside from Van Zile, no other Hodag scored more than four points.
"Merrill came out in the zone and that was smart of them because it forced other kids to step up and make shots," Clark said. "We did OK for a while, but we've got to finish. I don't know if we're going to get a double-digit scorer to go with Kenedy, but we need to or we need to have several players kick in at least 6 to 8 points."
Added depth
The Hodags added two more players to their roster this week who weren't with the team at last Saturday's scrimmage and figure to have an impact going forward. Mork, a senior, rejoined the team after missing the first week of practice and junior Cynthia Beavers transferred into the district from Three Lakes.
Mork averaged roughly 10 points per game last year for the Hodags before missing the final nine games with a back injury. Beavers averaged 11.6 points and 6.8 rebounds per game last year at Three Lakes.
"They're two good players," Clark said. "Brooke coming back, she's very experienced. She can shoot the 3, is a big, strong body and knows how to press. She's been in the program all these years. She's a steady player for us. Cynthia, looking at her stats and just watching her practice the last few days, she's a very skilled player, it just comes into fitting into the team, a new school and adjusting a little bit. If she's assertive as the season goes on, she'll be in our top half of players as well."
Neither player started on Friday. Mork finished with three points on 1 of 4 shooting. Beavers didn't attempt a shot and had only one rebound.
Rhinelander (0-1, 0-0 Great Northern) travels to Marshfield Tuesday night.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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