December 28, 2020 at 7:42 a.m.
RHS girls' suffer loss in maiden Hodag Dome game
RHS girls' suffer loss in maiden Hodag Dome game
Rhinelander shot 23% from the field and slowly faded against D.C. Everest, falling to the Evergreens 54-35.
Everest used a 14-0 run in the first half to take a lead it would not relinquish. Rebecca Lawrence matched her season average with 22 points for the Hodags (5-6, 2-2 Great Northern), but once again Rhinelander struggled to get any other significant contributions in the scorebook.
"I give Rebecca credit. She's still finding a way to score. She had 22 again, but we've got to get other kids scoring," RHS girls' basketball coach Ryan Clark said. "Everest guarded us like how I would guard us. They were in a 1-2-2 zone, shadowing Rebecca really strong and daring everyone else to shoot. Other than Rebecca, we don't have any consistent scoring, so they took advantage of that."
The teams traded buckets down the stretch in the first half as Everest took a 23-11 lead at the break. Everest pushed the lead to as many as 16 early in the second half before Rhinelander started to inch back. The Hodags got within 40-30 on a Lawrence basket, but Everest responded with a 9-2 push to put the game out of reach.
Kiara Hammond and Danni Langseth each scored 14 points to lead an Everest team that shot 37% (19 of 52) from the field.
"We turned them over a few times but not too much," Clark said. "They took pretty good care of the ball. They got into their offense and they were able to run their stuff and use their size inside to get some nice baskets. Then they hit a couple timely 3s as well."
Lawrence added a team-high eight rebounds and three assists in the game for the Hodags. Megan Brown was the only other Rhinelander player to make multiple field goals as she finished the night with seven points. Lawrence finished 3 of 5 from 3-point range in the contest. Collectively, the rest of the team was 1 of 25 from beyond the arc.
Portable hoops and a synthetic sport-court surface were used to transform one of the four tennis courts inside the massive 128,000-square foot Hodag Dome into a venue for basketball. Aside from the synthetic surface being slightly more slippery than hardwood, it was a cool experience to be the first basketball team to play inside the dome, Clark said.
"They had the sound system out and everything, which was cool," he said. "Other than not winning, the experience itself was fine. I think a lot of these fans, it was their first time to actually be able to see inside the dome. It was an opportunity to see just how massive it is and how cool it is."
The Lady Hodags will host Wisconsin Rapids Assumption in a non-conference contest tonight. Originally scheduled for the Hodag Dome, the game will now be at 7:15 in the Jim Miazga Community Gymnasium after Lakeland backed out of what was supposed to be a three-team boys' basketball event. Rhinelander will follow that up with a trip to Merrill tomorrow evening.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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