February 10, 2022 at 10:07 a.m.
Brown's career high leads Lady Hodags past Medford
Brown's career high leads Lady Hodags past Medford
Megan Brown scored a career-high 17 points while Lily Treder added 11 points off the bench as the Hodags got by Medford 52-38 at the Jim Miazga Community Gymnasium.
Brown and Treder combined to hit six 3-pointers in the contest. The Hodags took a nine-point lead to halftime and then thwarted off an early second-half comeback bid from the Raiders.
"Megan Brown scored for us tonight and we needed her to," coach Ryan Clark said. "And then Lily hit 3s, and that's where Lily can be so effective. Against that zone, she is our best 3-point shooter. She can find the open area and hit the shot."
Medford cut Rhinelander's lead down to 34-32 with 13:10 to play and the Hodags were only up four when Brown and Treder sparked a key stretch. Brown hit a 3 and then fed Audrey Schiek for a layup off a steal. Treder followed with a 3 of her own as the Hodags scored eight points in three possessions to push the lead to 12 with 8:15 remaining. Medford never cut the lead to single digits the rest of the way.
Rhinelander's defense did enough to keep Medford at bay in the contest, forcing 32 turnovers while holding the Raiders to 38.5% shooting (15 of 39). Treder sparked the Hodags with a pair of 3s as part of an 8-0 run that broke a 7-all deadlock midway through the first half. Brown added 10 points in the opening half as Rhinelander pushed the lead as high as 12 points before taking a 28-19 lead to the break.
"We hit some shots in the first half," Clark said. "Lily hit a couple of 3s. We had five 3s in the first half, that was probably the difference. We weren't necessarily playing that well, but we did hit five 3s."
Though Rhinelander shot 39.6% (19 of 48) from the field, the team committed 24 turnovers - 17 of which came in the second half. That left Clark concerned following the contest.
"I thought, in that second half, especially, our ball toughness was very weak," he said. "We've worked on that the last two weeks, being physical, being strong, pivoting through contact and pressure and I don't know how many times we had the ball either knocked out of our hands or just got bumped and traveled.
"I think we're a more talented team, but they played closer to their potential than we did tonight. Even though we won on the scoreboard, this is a disappointing win for our team."
Audrey Schiek had eight points for Rhinelander while Ava Lamers chipped in seven points. Lydia Pernsteiner led a balanced Medford attack with nine points. Autumn Krause had eight points while Brooke Rudolph and Rynn Ruesch had seven each.
Rhinelander (14-7, 7-3 Great Northern) faces a tough road contest tonight at Lakeland. The Hodags led 29-24 at halftime in the first meeting against the Thunderbirds last month in Rhinelander but were blown out in the second and fell 66-39.
"We're a little inconsistent right now," Clark said. "I think with this team we need to understand that we're not always a great shooting team. Sometimes we grind and struggle on offense, but we got to always be the tougher team and the more physical team. If we're not that, then we're going to struggle. I think we'll refocus a little bit, get back to our identity and try to go after Lakeland."
Freelancer Bob Mainhardt contributed to this report.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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