February 15, 2019 at 12:46 p.m.
Lady Hodags beat D.C. Everest, Tomahawk, lock up GNC
Lady Hodags beat D.C. Everest, Tomahawk, lock up GNC
Rhinelander kept winning anyway, defeating D.C. Everest 68-48 in a non-conference game Wednesday night followed by a 75-20 win over Tomahawk Thursday night. Both games were played at the Jim Miazga Community Gymnasium.
After beating Northland Pines Monday night, the Hodags were in position to wrap up sole possession of their first GNC title with a win Thursday over Tomahawk. They were able to celebrate a night early when Medford knocked off Lakeland 69-65 in overtime Wednesday night, officially handing sole possession of the conference title to Rhinelander.
"Great year, great season," RHS girls' basketball coach Ryan Clark said Wednesday night after learning of Lakeland's loss. "If you would have told me we got a 3-seed in our sectional, a possibility to go 12-0 in the conference, beat Marshfield, beat Everest, beat SPASH, it's a pretty exciting year. It's going to come to an end at some point but, for now, stay in the moment and the girls are doing a fantastic job."
The Hodags wasted little time against D.C. Everest Wednesday night, taking 42-19 lead at the break and defeating the Evergreens by 20 in a non-conference contest.
The Evergreens came out with a plan to stop Kenedy Van Zile. They held the Hodags' leading scorer to roughly half of her season average with only 14 points, but Everest learned quickly that Rhinelander is much more than a one-scorer act.
Rebecca Lawrence led all scorers with 22 points Wednesday night. Brooke Mork and Cynthia Beavers each added 10 points as Rhinelander had four players finish in double digits.
"Tonight they tried to face guard Kenedy with a box-and-one. Cynthia and Brooke and Rebecca came out and hit 3s to start the game. Then I think it just kind of snowballed from there," Clark said. "That gives me four girls who, on any night, can score in double figures. I don't think I've ever had that. It's made us a much better team."
The Hodags drained 14 3-pointers on the night - 10 of which came from the Hodags' big four of Van Zile, Mork, Beavers and Lawrence. Rhinelander pushed the lead to 34 points midway through the second half before turning the game over to the bench.
For Rhinelander, the win was another feather in its cap against the Wisconsin Valley Conference. The Hodags are now 4-1 against the Valley this year, with the only loss coming against Merrill in the season opener back in November.
"We beat SPASH, beat East, beat Marshfield. We had another opportunity to beat a Valley school - and they're about a mid-pack team in the Valley," Clark said. "We knew they had an advantage inside with their bigs, but I thought we had an advantage with our guards. I thought we did a pretty good job pressing, caused a lot of turnovers and, I think, the story of this one is we hit a lot of 3s."
Hodags 75, Tomahawk 20
The Lady Hodags needed only one half to take care of Tomahawk Thursday night.
Rhinelander roared out to a 51-8 lead at halftime before handing the game over to reserves in the second half of a 75-20 victory at the Miazga Gym.
In the midst of playing four games in five days, having an opportunity to rest starters in the second half was a much-needed luxury.
"We got 10 kids in in the first half," Clark said. "I wanted the starters to play the first half, have them play well, build up a big lead and sit them the second half. We were able to do that. The five starters didn't play in the second half.
"It was a good game for kids to truly get a lot of minutes without getting subbed out. Ella Schiek had a really nice game defensively and offensively. I think, the last week here, she's kind of taken a little jump for us to be a defender off the bench to spell some minutes for Rebecca and Payton. It was nice to see her pay well."
Kenedy Van Zile had 28 points in only 18 minutes of action, hitting six 3-pointers as the Hodags pulled away. Rhinelander's full court press was simply too much for Tomahawk to handle.
Twelve different players scored for Rhinelander in the contest. Lawrence and freshman Megan Brown each had seven points. Payton Van Zile and Hanna Worachek chipped in six each.
The Hodags looked to close the regular season undefeated in the GNC - and pick up their 12th straight win overall - Friday night in a game against Antigo that concluded after deadline. Rhinelander opens the WIAA tournament this coming Friday against either Mosinee or Wausau East.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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