January 9, 2019 at 1:15 p.m.
Fast start propels Lady Hodag to win over Medford
Fast start propels Lady Hodag to win over Medford
The Hodags raced out to a 36-19 lead at halftime Tuesday and cruised to a 61-46 win over Medford at the Jim Miazga Community Gymnasium.
The win keeps Rhinelander (6-5, 5-0 Great Northern) as the conference's lone unbeaten team nearing the halfway point of the season.
A strong press and easy buckets helped Rhinelander take a 17-point lead on a Medford team that pushed Lakeland to the brink at Raider Hall last Thursday before losing by four points.
"The first half was the difference," Rhinelander coach Ryan Clark said. "The first few minutes it was only 2-0, but I think we had eight or nine shots to their two. We just couldn't convert. We were turning them over, but couldn't score. Then we had a little run and went up double figures pretty quick and stayed that way the whole first half. We caused a lot of turnovers. We did our 2-1-2 press and we caused a lot just going up the sideline, rotating and then they took a lot of quick shots. We did well on the boards and then we just beat them down the court. We had a lot of easy, transition layups the first half."
Medford had better luck breaking Rhinelander's press in the second half and was able to find some success in the half court, but the Hodags seemed to have the answers to keep the Raiders at bay.
"We just kept making runs," Clark said. "We were up 42-21 early in the second half and then they made a 9-0 run to make it 42-30. Then it stayed 10 to 14 points over the next five or six minutes and then we had a little spurt at the end."
Kenedy Van Zile, who entered the game averaging more than 30 points per game, led all scorers with 27 on Tuesday. Junior post Cynthia Beavers added 15 points in the win for Rhinelander.
"I think Cynthia has the ability to be a first-team all-conference player if she keeps playing well. She can score. She gets rebounds for us. She's a post defender for us which we need. She scored 15 with foul trouble," he said. "If we can ever get Brooke (Mork), Kenedy and Cynthia firing at the same time, we'll be tough to beat."
Mork had five points for Rhinelander. Rebecca Lawrence had six points and Hannah Worachek chipped in six off the bench, all in the second half.
"I thought Hannah Worachek had a good game for us off the bench," Clark said. "She had six points, all in the second half, hit a couple of free throws, had a nice dive, a little curl cut for a layup. She played well."
Sierra Hanson and Katie Phillips scored 10 each to lead Medford. Ryan Ruesch added nine points.
The Hodags return to action tomorrow night at Antigo to round out the first half of the conference schedule. Tip-off is slated for 8 p.m., following the conclusion of the Rhinelander-Antigo boys' basketball game.
Freelancer Bob Mainhardt contributed to this report.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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