February 24, 2022 at 9:59 a.m.
Looking to play two
Lady Hodags open playoffs vs. Ashland, seek potential Lakeland rematch
Looking to play two
The Hodags will face Ashland tonight in a Division 2 regional semifinal at the Jim Miazga Community Gymnasium. A victory tonight could very well mean a regional final rematch at Lakeland. Rhinelander took the T-Birds to overtime earlier this month before losing 50-47. The T-Birds will face Medford tonight in Minocqua in another regional semifinal contest.
Hodag coach Ryan Clark said his team has been preparing for both opponents this week in practice as they hope to play on back-to-back nights.
"Hopefully we get through them and we'll also be prepared for Lakeland. We'll have a two-game approach going into the weekend," he said after last Friday's 68-34 win over Antigo to close out the regular season.
Rhinelander went 15-9 during the regular season, a four-win improvement from last year and the team's fourth winning season in the last five years. A senior class that has taken on a prominent role this year as helped, as has the switch to predominantly a 1-3-1 defense. That has shown in the stats as the Hodags are getting 18.7 steals per game this season and holding teams to 44.7 points per game.
Defense has carried a Rhinelander team that has been a bit Jekyll and Hyde on offense this year. The Hodags have scored 60 points or more in 11 of their 24 games this year, and are 11-0 in doing so, but have had also had six games where they have failed to reach 40 points, going 1-5. Not surprisingly, those numbers correlate to Rhinelander's offensive efficiency. The team has gone 8-1 this season when shooting 40% or better from the field and 7-0 when turning the ball over 15 times or fewer. The team has shot 30% or worse on nine occasions, going 2-7 in those games and is 3-5 in games where it has turned the ball over at least 24 times.
The Hodags combined for 56 turnovers in their final two regular season games - a 57-47 loss at Wisconsin Rapids Feb. 14 and the win last Friday over Antigo - a trend Clark said he wanted to correct this week.
"I feel like our turnover numbers have jumped up a little too much," he said. "A lot of it's just some decision making and poor passing due to some poor footwork. We're going to have to clean that up."
The Hodags face an Oredocker team that went 11-13 in the regular season, including an 8-10 mark in the Heart O' North Conference. There is not much commonality in the schedules. The only like opponent the team share is Northland Pines, which Rhinelander swept in regular season play and the Oredockers defeated in non-conference play 72-11 back in December. Ashland also has a 61-47 loss to Edgar, a team Rhinelander scrimmaged back in November, on its ledger.
Ashland lists only one senior on its roster, and much of the heavy lifting has been done by a trio of juniors - Brynn Erickson, Grace Moravchik and Avery O'Connor. The three come into tonight averaging 13.1, 10.0 and 9.0 points per game, respectively. O'Connor has gobbled up 10.5 rebounds per game inside while Erickson's averaging 7.5 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game. Moravchik leads the team with 3.4 steals per contest.
"They run a 2-3 zone. They're very aggressive and they press a little bit," Clark said after watching a couple of game films on the Oredockers. "I think they'll be a good matchup for us. They're athletic and quick. They're young, so we'll look to probably go to our 1-3-1 and turn them over."
Friday night's game will mark the seventh straight year Rhinelander and Ashland have faced one another. The Hodags have won the previous six meetings by an average 23.8 points per game. Last season's contest was the closest - a 56-43 win over the Oredockers Jan. 23, 2021 at the Miazga Gym.
That game was notable as Rhinelander's Rebecca Lawrence reached the 1,000-point milestone in the contest. Lawrence scored a game-high 20 points in that game. Annika Johnson added nine points and Ava Lamers chipped in seven. Megan Brown did not play in the contest due to a concussion.
Moravchik scored 14 in defeat for the Oredockers in last year's meeting.
The Oredockers' last win over Rhinelander was a 52-38 triumph on Jan. 3, 2012.
"It's a new season and anything can happen, but I think they're confident and they're excited," Clark said looking ahead to tonight's matchup. "I know they don't want it to end, but it's nice that we get a home playoff game and Ashland will be a good battle for us."
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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