March 2, 2020 at 12:46 p.m.
STILL DANCING
Hodags knock off Wausau East, New London to win regional title
STILL DANCING
To be sure, it's a great cardiovascular workout for a team that takes pride in being better conditioned than its opponents. But there's also something to be said about the ability to come back swinging when the chips are down.
Twice over the weekend Rhinelander had its back against the wall in the WIAA playoffs. Twice the Lady Hodags battled back in front of their home fans and now can call themselves regional champions.
Rhinelander fended off a pesky, upset-minded Wausau East team in a 66-55 win on Friday night and then rallied from a 13-point first-half deficit to avenge last year's playoff exit at the hands of New London, fighting back to beat the Bulldogs 60-51 Saturday night at the Jim Miazga Community Gymnasium.
"We just knew that they were going to come out with a punch, but we had an even bigger hit back," senior point guard Kenedy Van Zile said. "They came to our place. We had the crowd and we just had team. We had to play as a team and together."
The result was Rhinelander's first regional championship in more than two decades - WIAA online playoff records for regional and sectional play go back to only 2000. The team is two wins away from its first WIAA state tournament berth since 1979.
"Just to see the tears and the shock on our players faces like, 'We just pulled that off.' Unreal. What a great win for these young ladies," coach Ryan Clark said afterward.
It was easier said than done against a New London team that routed Rhinelander by 31 points in last year's regional final round and appeared to be on its way to a repeat performance in the opening minutes Saturday night as they raced out to an early 12-0 lead.
It could not have been a worse start for the Hodags, who turned the ball over on their first two possessions. Meanwhile, New London converted on its first four trips down the floor and senior swing player Cynthia Beavers had already picked up two fouls for RHS.
Yet this Rhinelander team is used to responding in tough times this season, fending off bids from Lakeland and Mosinee who tried and failed to end the Hodags' undefeated run in the Great Northern Conference, and battling from down 17 at halftime to defeat Crandon in non-conference play.
Beavers, who finished with 22 points and 13 rebounds against the Bulldogs, said the mindset was simple when Rhinelander found itself in trouble again Saturday night.
"We just had to keep our mentality up and had to keep fighting," she said. "We couldn't panic at all. We all had to stay calm as a team and we knew we could do it in the end, but we had to leave everything on the court and fight for that back."
Rhinelander did not score for more than five minutes to start the game. An Ella Schiek hoop in transition finally ripped the lid of the basket. Yet the Hodags found themselves down 23-10 with 8:04 to play in the first half before finally hitting their stride. Beavers and Rebecca Lawrence did all the scoring work as Rhinelander went on a 13-3 run to cut the gap to 26-23 with 1:32 left in the half. Following a Lizzie Steingraber bucket, the Hodags got a basket from Van Zile, a stop and a quick transition basket by Lawrence to go into the halftime locker room down one, 28-27.
"As soon we started getting some stops and rebounds, our kids they're so engrained, they want to get up and down the court. They started getting down the floor a little bit," Clark said. "To come back and be down one at halftime was just a great battle. At halftime, they were just mentally focused. There were 18 more minutes to play. The kids all stepped up. I thought our confidence on the court was absolutely fantastic."
Rhinelander took its first lead of the game on a Van Zile runner just over a minute into the second half. New London responded with a pair of free throws by Mikayla Henderson and a 3 by Paeton Kringel to surge ahead 33-30, but Beavers scored on the Hodags' next trip down the floor and then hit a pair of free throws to give Rhinelander a lead it would not relinquish.
Foul trouble appeared to be ready to bite the Hodags when Beavers picked up her fourth foul battling for a rebound with the Hodags up 43-40 with 10:24 remaining. Meghan Besaw hit a quick basket with Beavers on the bench to cut the lead to one, but the Hodags clamped down defensively from there, holding the Bulldogs without a basket for the next six-plus minutes.
Meanwhile, foul trouble got New London instead. Sam Pfefferle, the Bulldogs' leading scorer, fouled out after picking up her fifth personal with 7:22 remaining. She was limited to four points in the contest after averaging 13.5 points per game during the regular season.
"Sam is just lightning fast. She can go right. She can go left," Clark said. "When she initiates the offense, she's usually going to bring it down, hit to a win and run the offense. They clear out, space the floor and let her attack. Having her in foul trouble definitely helped us."
Rhinelander's last field goal came on a Lawrence bucket with 8:24 remaining. The Hodags, with New London aggressively double-teaming the ball on the perimeter, got to the foul line often. Rhinelander was 20 of 32 from the line, and scored its final 15 points from the charity stripe.
New London had one final push as Henderson hit a 3 to cut the lead to 53-47 with 1:37 remaining, followed by a quick Rhinelander turnover as New London pressed the inbounds pass. But New London missed the ensuing shot, Beavers got the rebound and made both free throws and the Bulldogs never got any closer than six.
The starters got a curtain call in the final seconds, with hugs, excitement and tears as they came back to the bunch in front of a jubilant home crowd.
"It's amazing. This is the best feeling ever right now," Beavers said. "I'm so excited our season gets to continue. I did not want it to come to an end tonight. It's so amazing, I'm speechless about it."
Added Van Zile, "I can't describe the feeling. It just means so much to us to come back from a terrible loss last year, and to keep it going. We're just so excited for our next game."
Van Zile had 16 points and seven rebounds for the Hodags while Lawrence chipped in 15 as Rhinelander shot 55.9% (19 of 34) from the field. Henderson led New London with 15 while Steingraber added nine points as the Bulldogs shot 36.5% (19 of 52).
"The unsung heroes were Ella, Megan (Brown) and Rebecca defensively," Clark said. "(BreAnna Hacker) and (Steingraber) are really good basketball players and we just face guarded them. That's the reason they were able to get some drives on us because we didn't have help defense, but those kids were fantastic and just in their grill the entire game."
Rhinelander 66, Wausau East 55
The Hodags defeated 10th-seeded Wausau East Friday night, but the Lumberjacks made the Hodags uncomfortable pretty much all night.
Rhinelander led by only three with just more than four minutes to play in the first half before going on a 15-7 run to close out the half and take a 40-29 lead at the break. Rhinelander pushed the lead to 16 with 10:11 to play, but East responded with an 8-0 run before both teams cooled down the stretch.
"I thought Wausau East played a very good basketball game. I thought they outplayed us from start to finish," Clark said. "We just survived. We didn't play well. I give a lot of credit to Wausau East. I thought they were tougher than we were. They were aggressive. They really spaced us out on our press, sent girls deep and used the whole court for us to try to guard. They attacked our poor rotations and lack of sprinting out of traps and found the hole. They attacked hard against us and finished."
Rhinelander's three senior starters carried the load Friday night. Van Zile led all scorers with 31 points, 22 of which came in the opening half. Beavers had 20 for Rhinelander and Sophia McGinnis chipped in seven.
"They're the toughest kids on the team and this is the toughest environment they've faced so far this year," Clark said. "They're the ones that come through. Kenedy, I don't have any concern about her. She always plays big in the big moments. Cynthia, for the most part, did a pretty nice job and Sophia, she hit a 3. Seven's probably her season high. She just gives everything she has. She's not afraid to compete on the court."
Abby Thompson had 13 points for Wausau East and Kit Kronberger had 11. Rhinelander was able to force 24 Lumberjack turnovers, but struggled to get the game into an uptempo style.
"I thought we could turn them over better," Clark said. "I thought they out executed us. I thought (Wausau East coach Jeff Waldvogel) outcoached us as far as me trying to press them and them breaking our press."
Up next
The Hodags are on to the sectional semifinal round Thursday night in Antigo, where they will take on Hortonville. The Polar Bears are the No. 1 seed in the regional and are ranked No. 1 in the state in Division 2 by both The Associated Press and WisSports.net.
"It's a little bit intimidating, I will not lie. But, if we play together as a team, play to our strengths, I think we'll be just fine," Van Zile said.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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