December 22, 2020 at 11:06 a.m.
Lady Hodags pull away from Antigo
Lady Hodags pull away from Antigo
Rebecca Lawrence finished on her season average with 22 points and the Lady Hodags pulled away to a 64-31 victory at Sheldon Fieldhouse.
Against a notoriously slow-paced Antigo team that came in 0-2 despite allowing an average of 42 points in its first two games, the Hodags were finally able to pick up tempo late in each half. The Hodags outscored the Robins 22-10 over the final nine minutes of the first half, to take a 28-18 lead at the break, and held a 24-10 edge over the Robins in the final nine minutes of the second half.
"It's always a battle here, but we found a way to get the game up and down a little bit and found a way to get some points on the board," Rhinelander coach Ryan Clark said.
The Hodags (5-5, 2-2 Great Northern) were very slow out of the gates, with only one field goal and several turnovers, against Antigo's half court zone defense in the first 10 minutes of the game. Ava Lamers hit a 3 to give the Hodags their first lead at 11-10 with 5:57 left in the first and Rhinelander never trailed again.
Lawrence scored 15 in the first half, including a personal 9-0 run that put the Hodags up 25-14 with 2:30 remaining in the half.
"We were very stagnant," Clark said of the Hodags' slow start. "It wasn't pretty. I think we turned it over a couple times and it was a really slow grind. It's like that every single year we're here and just can't get them to get up and down. We had that little spurt toward the end of the first half. We hit a 3, then Rebecca got a steal, a couple of live ball turnovers and we got a couple of baskets off it and just got some breathing room."
Rhinelander came out slow offensively in the second half - with only one field goal over the first eight minutes - but pulled away thanks to some stifling defense. The Hodags moved ahead 40-20 lead with 9:12 remaining off a Lawrence steal and finish. The Hodags forced Antigo into 29 turnovers and held the Robins to 23% (12 of 52) from the floor in the contest. The Robins ended the game at a paltry 0.43 points per possession.
"We kind of got in the groove there. I thought we did a nice job on our press," Clark noted.
Lamers scored 12 in the contest for Rhinelander, which shot 38% from the floor (20 of 53).
Brynn Brzycki added eight points and eight rebounds while junior Audrey Schiek made an impact off the bench with seven points and seven rebounds.
"She definitely came out and competed today," Clark said of Schiek's performance. "I think she was having fun. She had that little look away layup at the end. She's in there rebounding. She made a great bounce pass to Ava for a finish. That's the key."
Greta Parsons had eight points and 10 rebounds to lead Antigo while Alonna Weix chipped in five points and 13 boards.
The Hodags played D.C. Everest Tuesday night at the Hodag Dome in a game that concluded after deadline for our holiday edition. The team will play twice over the holiday break, hosting Wisconsin Rapids Assumption next Tuesday before traveling to Merrill next Wednesday.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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