April 12, 2021 at 8:21 a.m.
Hodags Skeen, Lawrence eager for All-Star experience
Games to be held in July, players raising money for charity
Hodags Skeen, Lawrence eager for All-Star experience
The Rhinelander High School seniors were not part of the initial rosters for the Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association's All-Star Games, which will take place July 14 and 15 in Wisconsin Dells. That changed when a couple of the original invitees were unable to participate.
Two phone calls and two voicemails later, both will be representing Rhinelander basketball one more time alongside some of the state's top senior players.
"I was actually reffing a basketball game in the gym here and I got a voicemail," Skeen said of a phone call from Medford coach Ryan Brown, who will skipper the D2 boys' Red team. "I looked at it, and it said I was added on to the roster. It was pretty cool experience."
Lawrence had her hands full, literally, when D2 North team coach Celeste Ratka of Hortonville called her with the news.
"I was at home with my mom and she was painting our basement. I was holding the paint for her and I got this call from some Appleton number," she said. "I normally don't answer calls I don't know, because it's usually some stupid like a car warranty thing. So I didn't answer it, and I got a voicemail from the Hortonville coach. She was like, 'yeah, you made the all-star team, just give me a call back whenever you get a chance.'
"I was pretty excited and my mom was pretty excited too because, she's like, 'at least I get to see you play one more time.' It was kind of exciting to get the call when she was there."
It's that opportunity to get one more chance to play that both players said excites them the most. Both saw their seasons end with playoff losses at Medford.
"We wanted to beat Medford that playoff game, obviously going down to them twice (earlier in the season)," Skeen said. "But knowing I have one more game left with these great players in Division 2, it's really exciting and I'm looking forward to it."
Added Lawrence, "Even though it's not with the same girls on my team, it's still going to be amazing to play one more time."
There's work to do between then and now for both players, mainly in terms of fundraising. The event is a charitable effort for the WBCA, with proceeds raised going to both the Midwest Athletes Against Childhood Cancer (MACC) Fund and Camp Wawbeek in Wisconsin Dells.
According to the WBCA website, the event has raising more than $2.2 million for the MACC Fund since 1978. Overall, the MACC Fund has contributed nearly $70 million to childhood cancer and blood disorder research since 1976.
According to its website, Camp Wawbeek is the longest continuously-operating Easterseals camp in the nation, providing services to children and adults with physical disabilities since 1938.
Both players have raised the minimum amount required to participate in the game, but have started to reach out to businesses and individuals for more donations. In addition to raising more money for a pair of good causes, there are other incentives the two can reach based on how much money they raise, including scholarships if they among the top donation getters.
"We've just reached out to our families, getting a lot of support from our families and smaller donations like that but we both want to expand more to the smaller business aspect and reach out to those businesses to get more," Skeen said.
Added Lawrence, "I reached out to my family first because they are supportive, not only supporting me but supporting the MACC Fund. I work for Briar House and they were kind enough to give a generous donation, and the same for my brother who works at Rhinelander GM. Getting those connections is really nice, but also knowing that community will kind of back us up on all of this and seeing them all come together will be a nice thing."
Lawrence is the only representative from the Great Northern Conference in the D2 girls' game. She averaged 22.6 points per game this season and became only the fourth player in RHS girls' history to eclipse the 1,000-point mark for her career. She proved to be a consistent threat, as she scored in double figures in all 25 of Rhinelander's contests this year, and was named a unanimous first team All-Great Northern Conference selection.
She's part of a star-studded that includes four players from Division 2 state qualifiers - Georgia Gergorie and Sammy Opichka from Green Bay Notre Dame and Molly Garrity and Olivia Gamoke of Onalaska.
"It's amazing to know you're playing with the best competition from the state," Lawrence said. "Olivia Gamoke from Onalaska, having played against her and knowing just how good of a player she is and now getting to play with her is just kind of amazing."
Skeen's D2 Red roster will have more of a local flare as he's one of three players from the GNC on the roster, alongside Medford's Peyton Kuhn and Mosinee's Cyle Kowalski. All three were unanimous first-team All-GNC picks this year. Skeen averaged 14.3 points and 5.3 rebounds per game for the Hodags this season, while making 45.8% of his 3-points shots.
"It's going to be fun running it up with them on the floor," he said. "It will be fun. We'll probably think of some game plans for the game, go through it, have fun. It will be a great time."
Both players are excited to carry on Rhinelander's recent run of participation in the event. Owen White represented the Hodags in the event in 2018, and Mitch Reinthaler played in the game prior to that in 2014. RHS boys' basketball coach Derek Lemmens served as a head coach in the event in 2016.
Kenedy Van Zile and Cynthia Beavers, along with coaches Ryan Clark and Terry Nordine, were scheduled to participate in last year's event, before it was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
"It was super unfortunate that Kenedy and Cynthia, and then Clark being the coach, didn't get to go through that experience," Lawrence said. "Knowing that Clark nominated me to do it this year, it was nice to know that he thought I could kind of fill those shoes. I hope we can get some of our players down there to watch us and it will be a fun time."
The girls' All-Star Games will take place July 14, with the boys All-Star Games set for July 15. The Division 2 contests are set to tip off at 2:15 p.m., each day, at JustAGame Fieldhouse.
Those wishing to support Skeen and/or Lawrence in the WBCA All-Star Game may do so by contacting them directly. Both also have donation pages set up on the WBCA's website, WisBCA.org.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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