December 21, 2020 at 8:11 a.m.
Lady Hodags fade late, fall to Rapids
Lady Hodags fade late, fall to Rapids
Wisconsin Rapids went on a 14-0 run down the stretch to defeat the Lady Hodags 66-46 in a non-conference contest at the James Williams Middle School Gymnasium.
Rhinelander (4-5, 1-2 Great Northern) made a 12-3 push to get within 52-46 with 3:31 remaining, but a three-point play by Alli Martin off a missed free throw with 2:38 remaining helped push Rapids' lead back to 10 and the Raiders used a combination of free throws and transition baskets from there to salt the game away.
"Lost by 20, the game was closer than that," Rhinelander coach Ryan Clark said. "We missed a couple of pretty easy finishes, some finishes that we need to hit."
Rebecca Lawrence had a game-high 25 points for the Hodags, but Rhinelander played from behind most of the way.
The Raiders took the lead for good on a Vanessa Vechinski 3 with 7:17 remaining in the first half, and stretched the lead to as many as 10 before Rhinelander made a mini-push to get within 33-25 at halftime.
"We were down eight at half, but we played a good half," Clark said. "Both teams were in the double bonus in the first half. I thought we had some careless fouls, so we gave them some easy free throws."
The Hodags scored the first two baskets of the second half to get within four, but the Raiders responded with a 16-5 run from there. Chelsea King had 11 of her team-high 22 points for Rapids in that stretch as the Raiders pushed the lead to 15.
Megan Brown hit a 3 for Rhinelander with 7:21 remaining to start the Hodags' last push. A pair of free throws by Lawrence followed by an offensive putback by Annika Johnson got Rhinelander back to within single digits, down 52-41 with 4:06 to play. Lawrence then hit a 3 to cut the lead to six.
"We were playing really well. We had the momentum. They were in a 1-3-1 and Rebecca hit a couple 3s. We just had a good flow," Clark said.
Once again Lawrence had the majority of points for Rhinelander as she finished the night 8 of 18 from the floor. Brown chipped in 11 for the Hodags. Rhinelander, as a team, shot 33% from the floor on 15 of 46 shooting.
"I thought who really stepped up for us was Megan Brown, who I've really been needing to step up," Clark noted. "She handled the ball really well. She had 11 points. She was aggressive. She was driving, making the right reads, driving, kicking and got to the rim. I felt that was the first time Megan really established herself as a varsity-confident player as a guard. Really happy with Megan's progress and confidence tonight."
Vechinski added 20 for Rapids while Megan Clary chipped in 13 as the Raiders shot 38% (22 of 58) from the field.
As was the case earlier last week, when Stratford was a last-minute replacement when Medford had to postpone, the Hodags called an audible to get Wisconsin Rapids on Friday night after the team's originally opponent, Crandon, was unable to play due to COVID-19 concerns.
The game was played at James Williams Middle School because a home wrestling dual had already been scheduled for the Jim Miazga Community Gymnasium.
"I'm really thankful for (RHS activities director Brian) Paulson for getting us games and last-minute. We're playing at the middle school, and then all the workers," Clark said. "People all pitched in so we could have this game."
Rhinelander will host D.C. Everest tonight in what will be the first basketball game played inside the new Hodag Dome.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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