December 16, 2020 at 1:21 p.m.
Lady Hodags go cold late, clipped by Stratford 37-36
Lady Hodags go cold late, clipped by Stratford 37-36
The Hodags went cold down the stretch, failing to make a field goal over the final 11 minutes of the contest in a 37-36 loss to Stratford in a non-conference contest at the Jim Miazga Community Gymnasium.
Despite the cold shooting, the Hodags had opportunities over the final minute to tie or take the lead, including a Megan Brown desperation 3 at the buzzer that went wide of the mark.
Rhinelander got 27 points from Rebecca Lawrence, but shot only 20% from the field (9 of 45), and made only two field goals in the second half.
"We've got to find kids that can score other than Rebecca," coach Ryan Clark said afterward. "She gives a valiant effort and she's fighting hard, but we need other kids that can play, that can make plays and score for us. Otherwise, defensively, teams are just going to take away Rebecca."
Lawrence had a chance to tie it at the foul line with 8.2 seconds left after getting fouled on a put back attempt off a missed 3 by Ella Schiek. Lawrence made the first free throw but could not convert the second.
Tanaya Schillinger collected the rebound for Stratford and was fouled immediately. Schillinger missed a free throw on the other end, Lawrence secured the rebound with 6.2 seconds left and pushed the ball up the court. Her pass to the sideline was deflected out of bounds with 1.1 seconds remaining. Following a timeout, Brown caught the ball on the inbound and missed a shot at the horn.
"Rebecca, we had our best player at the free throw line in the last eight seconds, made the first, missed the second, but we'll take that every time, her shooting the free throw," Clark said. "I thought about calling a timeout when they shot that last free throw to set something up. What we wanted was Rebecca to get the ball. Well, she got the rebound and was going coast-to-coast and that's where she's just got to recognize, don't pass it. You can get to the rim or go to a pull up. Unless you have a teammate at the rim, but she threw it to the corner. We'll work on that situation."
Tuesday's game was defined by prolonged offensive droughts by both teams. After taking an early 5-1 lead, the Hodags went 9 minutes, 20 seconds in the first half with only one field goal as Stratford went ahead 16-9.
Rhinelander started the game just 3 of 20 from the floor before Lawrence found a spark near halftime. She scored nine points over the final 1:56 of the half, including a transition layup with five seconds left to give Rhinelander an 18-16 lead at the break.
Meanwhile, Stratford settled into an offensive funk of its own, going 9:05 between baskets between the first and second half as Rhinelander went up by as many as nine at 25-16. Breanna Ackley brought the drought with a hoop with 12:15 left in the half. Lawrence answered with a 3 with 11 minutes remaining to put Rhinelander ahead 28-20, but the Hodags did not make another basket the rest of the way.
Stratford mounted a 17-4 run from there, taking the lead on a Lauren Kraus layup in transition off an Allison Lindner steam with 5 minutes remaining. The Tigers pushed the lead to five, but failed to score over the final 2:30 of regulation.
"I knew we were in a struggle. I didn't realize it was only free throws the last 11 minutes," Clark said. "Credit to Stratford to come here, on the road (and win). I know we had a little run at the end of the first half to take the lead and early momentum in the second half, but it feels a lot like Lakeland in a sense that we controlled the second half and then let them storm right back."
The Hodags lost despite a strong defensive effort, forcing 38 Stratford turnovers. Rhinelander held Stratford's top scorers - Emily Hughes and Ackley - in check. Hughes scored 12 for the Tigers while Ackley had 10. The pair of six-plus-footers came in averaging 17.2 and 15.7 points per game, respectively. Overall, Stratford was 41.2% from the field (14 of 34).
"I thought Ella Schiek did a really nice job on Ackley," Clark said. "She battled her really hard. Ella's been our defensive player for us all year. She takes pride in guarding the other team's best player. She's fulfilling that role very, very well. The big girl inside, Hughes, she hurt us early on with their ball screen actions. She's tough to keep of the glass but, as the game went on, we got a little bit better guarding her."
The Tigers towered over the Hodags and held a 44-20 rebounding edge in the contest.
Hughes pulled down 16 rebounds while Ackley added eight boards.
Through eight games, Rhinelander sits at 4-4 overall.
"We're a .500 basketball team. We play like it. We have some spurts that are pretty good and a lot of spurts that aren't so good," Clark said.
Tuesday's game was a late adjustment to the schedule. The Hodags were originally scheduled to host Medford in a Great Northern Conference contest, but Medford was unable to play due to COVID concerns and the Hodags announced the replacement game with Stratford late Monday morning. Rhinelander will make up the GNC contest with Medford Jan. 12 at the Miazga Gym.
The Lady Hodags hit the road to take on Crandon tonight in a non-conference contest.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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