January 27, 2020 at 12:33 p.m.
Lady Hodags steamroll Northland Pines 75-39
Lady Hodags steamroll Northland Pines 75-39
Cynthia Beavers led the charge for the RHS girls' basketball team with 23 points, Rebecca Lawrence added 21 and the Hodags blitzed the Eagles 75-39 at the Jim Miazga Community Gymnasium.
Rhinelander (10-4, 7-0 Great Northern) closed the first half on a 27-3 run to balloon a five-point margin to 29. The Hodags never looked back, stretching the lead to as many as 41 points in the second half.
"I think our athleticism, once a team gets turned over and turned over, they get a little bit skittish and they don't want (the ball) and the wheels fall off. We kind of took advantage of that," Rhinelander coach Ryan Clark said.
The Eagles were down 19-14 with nine minutes to go in the first half but the Hodags answered with back-to-back transition baskets by Beavers and Annika Johnson to push the lead to nine. Rhinelander had three more transition baskets to help push the lead to 31-15 with five minutes remaining in the half and the Hodags eventually took a 46-17 lead to the break.
Rhinelander's transition game was on point. The Hodags forced 44 Northland Pines turnovers, which translated into 49 points - including 33 points in transition.
"In the advantage of the 2-on-1s, 3-on-2s I thought we made some really good passes and reads," Clark said.
Lawrence, back in the lineup for the first time since hurting her knee in a Jan. 10 win at Antigo, showed no ill effects of her injury. The only indication was a protective sleeve she wore on her left leg. The junior came out strong for Rhinelander and had 16 points by the break.
That explosiveness, coupled with Beavers and Kenedy Van Zile, who finished with 16 points, was more than enough offense for the Hodags.
"I thought Cynthia had a really nice game. She played so well. She's just had a great season. She's had a phenomenal season," Clark said. "Rebecca, her speed, she's the fastest kid on the court and there's times where she has an extra gear and can get to the rim. Kenedy handled the ball well but she's still struggling with her shot at times. We've got to work on that consistency."
The transition offense helped Rhinelander on a night when shots were not falling. The Hodags shot only 4 of 23 from 3-point range in the contest yet finished the night 47.4% from the floor (27 of 57). That was mainly due to the team's ability to finish from close range. The Hodags shot 86% (21 of 25) in the paint on the evening.
"That's one of our strengths and it's a great strength to have, but as we play better competition, especially toward the playoffs, we've got to execute better in the half court as well," Clark said. "I thought our offensive movement was kind of slow. Obviously, we've got to shoot the 3-point better but, in the half court when we can't turnover teams as well as we want to, we've got to be a little more efficient."
Jacqueline Smith, in her second game back in the Northland Pines lineup, scored 15 points for the Eagles, who finished the night 41.5% (17 of 41) from the field.
Rhinelander has won five straight games as it gets set to enter a tough portion of its schedule, beginning with a long road trip tonight at Ashland. Following that, three of the Hodags' next four games will come against the three teams chasing Rhinelander in the GNC - Mosinee, Medford and Lakeland.
"We're going to find out what we're made of coming up here," Clark said. "At Ashland on Tuesday, it's a long road trip. They're in our playoff bracket so we've got to play well. Then we've got those conference games coming up. We beat Mosinee by one and trailed most of the game. I guarantee they're confident. That will be a hostile environment and challenge for us. Then you've still got Medford and Lakeland. They have to beat us to have a chance for the conference. I'm excited to see where we're at. We've worked all season for this. I'm excited to see if we're ready for this challenge."
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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