February 20, 2019 at 1:16 p.m.
Playoff march begins for Lady Hodags
RHS to play Mosinee in regional semis
Playoff march begins for Lady Hodags
Rhinelander opens tournament play tomorrow night against a familiar foe as Mosinee comes to town for a regional semifinal game at the Jim Miazga Community Gymnasium. The sixth-seeded Indians knocked off 11-seeded Wausau East 65-50 Tuesday in a regional quarterfinal game in Mosinee.
Rhinelander ended the regular season on a roll, winning 12 straight games to finish 17-5 overall. The team also won its first ever conference title, going 12-0 in the process and winning all 12 GNC games by double digits. While those are accolades the team can celebrate, that's all history now as the postseason commences.
"The girls know this is a new season. You lose your season's over. There's no second chances," Hodag coach Ryan Clark said.
The advantage of having a first-round bye is that Rhinelander was able to scout its opponent for tomorrow night, though that advance preparation was mitigated by the fact that the Hodags have already seen Mosinee twice this year and have a pretty good idea of what coach Tom McCarty's Indians will do.
"They're a nice little team. He's probably a year away," Clark said. "He's got a lot of freshmen playing a lot of minutes. He plays 10-12 kids. They'll give us trouble in few ways. They've got a couple kids who can shoot it. They've got a big in Megan Priest who finishes well inside. I think by them playing so many different players, it's always a different dynamic on the court."
Clark said Mosinee jumped out to an early 10-to-12-point lead on Wausau East and played with a double-digit lead much of the way Tuesday night.
Offensively, Mosinee brings balance to the table. The 5-10 Priest finished fifth in the GNC averaging 11.4 points per game, but the Indians have four players who averaged six points or more in league play. Senior Allison Miller - who finished second behind Rhinelander's Kenedy Van Zile in made 3-pointers in league play (25) - averaged 9.0 points per game. Paige Wicklund, another outside threat, averaged 7.8 points per game and freshman Alexis Freiboth averaged 6.0 points per game and led the team with 30 steals.
"Defensively, we've got to find their shooters," Clark said. "Allison Miller, their senior guard, was second in the conference in made 3-pointers. We've got to find her. Then they've got a nice freshman, Lexi Freiboth, who created a lot of problems tonight. She's on the top of their 1-3-1, a real good athlete. She also is in the front of their press."
The Hodags swept the regular season series with the Indians, taking the first game 58-47 Nov. 30 in Rhinelander, and the rematch 71-43 Jan. 18 in Mosinee. First-half runs were key in both contests for the Hodags.
After falling behind 9-0 to start the Nov. 30 game the Hodags roared back with a 18-0 run in the first half to take a 34-23 lead at halftime and the lead never dropped below nine points in the second. When the teams met again in Mosinee, Rhinelander raced out to a 26-4 lead and never looked back. Pressure was the key in both instances.
"I think they're prone to mistakes, prone to turnovers, so I think we're going to press," Clark said. "We'll throw a variety of presses at them. We're not going to be able to wear them down because they play multiple players. They'll have fresh legs on the court."
Clark added he expects Mosinee to throw a multitude of defenses at the Hodags in order to slow down the conference's top-ranked offense, which averaged 69.1 points per game in league play. He figures Mosinee will use some press, along with a 1-3-1 half court trap and may even resort at times to a box-and-1 defense to try to contain Kenedy Van Zile, the GNC's scoring champion at 26.4 points per game.
But Rhinelander had three other players -Cynthia Beavers, Brooke Mork and Rebecca Lawrence - who averaged at least eight points per game in league play.
"We have more kids stepping up and scoring," Clark said. "They can't just tee off on Kenedy. We have kids who can knock down shots and make plays for us."
The winner of tomorrow night's game plays right away Saturday night in the regional finals against the winner of tomorrow night's Shawano-New London game. If New London wins, it will host Saturday night's contest. If Shawano wins, the Rhinelander-Mosinee winner will host.
"I have lots of film on New London and a little on Shawano, and I have their stats compiled. We've done a little bit of research, as coaches, on those two teams but I just don't want to look ahead," Clark said. "We've got to play well, get through that one and, as soon as it's over, let that excitement build and then we'll get ready for New London or Shawano."
Regardless of what happens, Clark says whatever team plays Rhinelander in the tournament will be in for a battle.
"We'll be a tough out. Someone's going to have to play well to beat us."
Tipoff for tomorrow's game is set for 7 p.m.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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