November 30, 2022 at 11:41 a.m.
Lady Hodags eager for break after busy start
RHS splits games in Wausau, routs Tomahawk
Lady Hodags eager for break after busy start
The Hodags opened Great Northern Conference play at home Tuesday night with a convincing 68-41 win over Tomahawk at the Jim Miazga Community Gymnasium.
That win came on the heels of a couple of hard-fought battles in Wausau over the Thanksgiving weekend, where Rhinelander edged D.C. Everest 49-47 and fell to Holmen 51-37 in the Tom Kislow Memorial Tournament.
Tuesday's game ended a stretch of six games in 13 days to start the season for Rhinelander, including four over the week of Thanksgiving. That has not afforded an inexperienced squad much time for practice, something coach Ryan Clark said he's looking forward to ahead of Rhinelander's next game Dec. 9 at home against Northland Pines.
"We finally get to go back and just practice and clean up some things and work on some short-term development things that we've prioritized for the players individually and as a team to clean up," Clark said. "It's great playing a lot of games but, sometimes, you just need to get back to practice and start breaking some things down. That will be a key for our team. We've got to be able to put in some of our offensive system, finish that off, add a little bit of press and get ready for that stretch run for the middle to end of December."
Hodags 49, D.C. Everest 47
The Hodags overcame 28% shooting from the field last Friday and fended off a pesky D.C. Everest squad by two points.
Ava Lamers scored a game-high 24 points, had nine rebounds and hit five of six free throws over the final minute to keep the Evergreens at bay.
"I thought we really had a lot of fight," Clark said. "We played really aggressive defense. We played all man. We communicated really well and we got out on the 3-point shooters."
Everest did not shoot much better, going 27% (16 of 60) from the field and just 3 of 26 from beyond the arc. Rhinelander never led by more than five points in a back-and-forth second half.
Lamers drove to the basket for a layup to break a 39-all tie with 3:40 to play. After a stop, Lily Treder grabbed an offensive rebound and kicked it out to Leah Jamison for an open 3 that made it 44-39 with 2:44 left.
Everest did not go quietly. Braelyn Beiler had 19 points, including a drive with 2:31 left that cut the lead to three and then a pair of free throws that made it 44-43 with 47.1 seconds left. After Lamers and Beiler exchanged pairs of made foul shots, Lamers made one of two from the line to put Rhinelander up 47-45 with 10.7 seconds left. Everest turned it over trying to drive inside for the tying basket with 3.7 seconds left. Lamers was then fouled and made two free throws with 1.4 seconds left to ice it. Kelsey Woolley added an inconsequential layup for the Evergreens as time expired.
Morgan Van Zile had 10 points for Rhinelander while Kelsey Winter chipped in seven points and 11 rebounds.
"It was a back-and-forth game," Clark said. "Offensively, we hit a few shots. Leah and Lily got a few and then Morgan was able to score, got 10 for us. Ava battled and got into the 20s."
Holmen 51, Hodags 37
The Vikings put the clamps on Lamers and prolonged scoring droughts proved to be Rhinelander's undoing in last Saturday's contest.
Rhinelander played the final 5:25 of the first scoreless as they gave up an 8-0 run to fall behind 24-21 at the break. The Hodags got back within one early in the second half, but then went 8:53 without a make from the field. The resulting 16-3 run put Holmen up 44-30 with 5:57 remaining.
Lamers, who had scored at least 23 points in each of the first four games, was held to eight on Saturday on 2 of 15 shooting. Her first make from the field did not come until 2:45 into the second half.
"They guarded her hard and always had a girl or two waiting for her," Clark said. "There's no driving lanes there. She probably forced a little too much, but she's just trying to make plays. Her teammates, we have to realize too our defenders are doubling in on Ava, we have to be available and make ourselves ready to make a score or make a play as well."
Lydia Olson scored the last five points of the first half for the Vikings, including a game-tying basket with 2:50 remaining and go-ahead free throws with 2:11 left. Holmen did not trail the rest of the way.
Sydney Valiska and Danika Rebhahn each had nine points for a balanced Holmen attack. Van Zile and Treder each had 11 as Rhinelander was held under 28% shooting (13 of 47).
"We started struggling offensively, I think that started impacting our execution on the defensive end a little bit," Clark said. "But, I'll give Holmen credit, I thought they defended us really well - probably the best defense, other than Crandon, that we've seen this year."
Hodags 68, Tomahawk 41
Tomahawk had no answer for Rhinelander's 1-3-1 trap Tuesday night. The Hodags forced 32 turnovers and outscored Tomahawk 37-0 in transition as they cruised to victory in the GNC opener.
Rhinelander opened the game on a 19-4 run over the first six-plus minutes of the game and never looked back. The Hodags were up by 27 at one point in the first half before taking a 40-18 lead to the break.
The large lead afforded Rhinelander an opportunity to extend its bench in the second half and give more players some meaningful varsity minutes.
"We were just a much stronger team, so it was a good game to get everybody a lot of playing time and, really, for my reserves to get good playing time, on the court experience," Clark said.
Lamers was back on form with 31 points on 14 of 23 shooting. She had 14 points alone in the opening run, including 10 points in transition as Rhinelander consistently parlayed live-ball turnovers into points.
Van Zile scored 10 points in the contest, marking the fourth straight game she has finished in double digits. Jamison added nine points. None of Rhinelander's starters played more than 26 minutes in the contest and eight of the nine players who saw action on Tuesday got into the book.
"I thought it was more important for our kids to get quality minutes on the court, mix and match," Clark said. "Dawsyn Barkus got her first varsity points today. That was nice for her. Tori Riopel, we got her a lot more minutes to give her some more confidence and experience. For us, that was more important than how many points we could put on the board."
Rhinelander finished the night shooting just under 48% on 31 of 65 shooting. Khianna Vacho scored 17 for the Hatchets as Tomahawk shot 26.5% (13 of 49) from the field.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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