November 15, 2021 at 7:55 a.m.
Team preview: RHS girls' basketball
Hodags need to group effort to succeed
Team preview: RHS girls' basketball
While the Hodags don't have that standout this year, they do have a number of players with returning varsity experience. All of them will need to pitch in this year to make sure the Hodags remain competitive within a tough Great Northern Conference.
"Everything's by committee. It's going to have to be team execution on offense," coach Ryan Clark said. "We'll just make this a team effort to see if we can sneak some wins out against some more superior teams. We have a very high floor, and a lower ceiling, but I think we're going to get close to that ceiling and that will make us tough to beat."
Two years ago, when the Hodags made it to the WIAA Division 2 sectional semifinals, it had a big three of Kenedy Van Zile, Cynthia Beavers and Rebecca Lawrence to handle much of the scoring. Van Zile and Beavers graduated in 2020. Lawrence shouldered the load last year, averaging 22.6 points per game en route to first-team All-GNC honors. She's graduated now too.
What's left is five players who were part of last year's rotation, but none who averaged more than eight points per game. Senior post player Brynn Brzycki leads the list after averaging 7.6 points and 4.7 rebounds per game a year ago. The team also brings back swing players Ava Lamers (6.2 ppg), Annika Johnson (5.2 ppg), and Audrey Schiek (1.4 ppg), along with guard Megan Brown (4.5 ppg). Lamers is the only junior of the group in a starting lineup that includes four seniors.
"I can see Brynn leading us sometimes. I can see Megan, Annika, Audrey, it doesn't matter," Clark said. "If they're all averaging more than 10 points a game, then I think we're doing OK. If we're 7-12 then we're not winning many games.
"All of them are capable of scoring. I think Annika looks good right now. She knocked down shots. She was strong with the ball. She just looks good. I know she wants to have a good year and I think she looks really solid. I think Audrey will play really well. I think she's got to get her confidence. She missed a couple of 3s, but she's looking to attack and she'll be just fine."
Depth is an issue for this year's Hodag team. Behind the five starters, Rhinelander has exactly zero minutes of varsity playing experience. Senior Mabel Spencer and sophomore Lily Treder will spell the starters on occasion, but Clark does not anticipate going more than seven or eight deep in the rotation, at least for the start of the season.
"We don't have much depth," Clark said. "Lily has to be able to hit shots for us. We have to get her open so she can feel confident. She hit a few at the end and she shoots. Mabel gives us effort and can play smart."
Rhinelander had the third-best defense in the conference last year, allowing 44.4 points per game in league play. The Hodags will likely have to rely on getting stops once again this year to be successful.
"Defensively, they'll grind and work hard," Clark said. "They're going to fly around. I think our defense is always going to be a little ahead of our offense. We've got to take care of the transition baskets when we can, knock down some shots when we can too."
Rhinelander will pressure as it has in years past, but may throw in a different wrinkle in the half court. The team debuted a 1-3-1 trap in a scrimmage last Thursday at Edgar after experimenting with the defense during the first week of practice. Expect Brown, who made the all-conference team two years ago for her defensive prowess, to be a major player on that end of the floor.
"The one holdup of going to the 1-3-1 is I love how she play's ball-pressure defense but we can move her all over. Anywhere we can pressure the ball, she's just a tough, tough guard," Clark said.
The Hodags don't ease into their season, which opens Thursday night against Crandon at the Jim Miazga Community Gym. From there, Rhinelander will see Stanley-Boyd and 2021 D1 state-runner up Hudson over the Thanksgiving weekend in a tournament at D.C. Everest before opening GNC play at Tomahawk Nov. 30.
Mosinee won the GNC last year. Clark said the Indians will be strong again but will be pushed by Lakeland, which brings in a pair of talented freshmen - Kristina Ouimette and Saylor Timmerman -who will make an immediate impact for a team that returns the GNC's leading scorer, Juliana Ouimette.
"Mosinee and Lakeland are (the teams to beat), but I think we can win some games," Clark said. "I think we can sneak in there. Obviously when we play Mosinee and Lakeland it's going to be taking care of the basketball and how are we going to guard some of their talented ball players. But this is a resilient group. We've had a lot of success. They've played a lot of basketball. They're going to compete."
The Hodags had their one preseason tune-up last Thursday in a three-team scrimmage at Edgar. Unofficially, Rhinelander outscored both Edgar (19-18) and Marshfield Columbus (45-8) in the event.
Johnson led the Hodags with 20 points between the two sessions, including 18 on 8 of 9 shooting against Marshfield Columbus. Bryzcki finished with 12 points and 13 rebounds while Brown, Schiek and Treder had eight points apiece.
Bryzcki made a basket through contact late in the 40-minute run-time session against Edgar to put the Hodags up by one and then the team forced a turnover in the final seconds on the Wildcats' last possession. Rhinelander held Columbus scoreless until the 6:25 mark of the second half in their session. The Hodags led 17-0 at halftime and were up 32-0 when the Dons made their first shot.
"Edgar kind of gave us a similar version of Mosinee a little bit where they're aggressive and their a little bit fast and have athletes," Clark said. "That was good for us. They exposed us a little bit in the right ways. The second game we built a little more confidence and were just the a stronger team."
The Hodags shot 37.7% as a team, but were only 21% (6 of 21) from 3. Defensively, Rhinelander held Edgar to 33.3% and Columbus to 14.3% from the field.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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