Lady Hodags pull away from Tomahawk in 69-22 win

The Rhinelander High School girls’ basketball team finished Friday night with a comfortable 47-point victory over the Tomahawk Hatchets. That result seemed hard to fathom for the first third of the game.

The Hodags overcame a sluggish start and rode a game-high 32 points from freshman Aubryn Clark to a 69-22 win at the Jim Miazga Community Gymnasium.

The winless Hatchets (0-6, 0-3 Great Northern) trailed by only five with 6:25 remaining in the first half. Aubryn Clark then hit Rhinelander’s first 3 of the night, which opened the floodgates as the Hodags (6-2, 4-0 Great Northern) finished the half on a 24-2 run.

“We didn’t have great synergy at the start of the game. As we got going there I thought we started playing well,” coach Ryan Clark said. 

Aubryn Clark’s triple sparked a slew of makes from beyond the arc. She and senior Lily Treder traded off making 3s on five straight possessions as the lead quickly ballooned to 30-10. The Hodags eventually took a 39-12 lead to half and kept it going from there, opening the second half on a 26-2 run. 

Coach Clark chalked up the slow start to some struggles cracking Tomahawk’s man-to-man defense in the half court.

“I think we’ve got to run some better actions in the man offense,” he said, noting the Hodags anticipated zone from the Hatchets going into the game. “We can shoot the ball, but we settle for the open 3 maybe a little too much and if it’s not going, I think a few times we gave up a better drive and kick or maybe some back screens to our cutter at the rim. I’d like to see that a little more.”

Ultimately Rhinelander’s defense and transition game proved too much for Tomahawk. The Hodags outscored the Hatchets 29-0 in transition and forced 30 Tomahawk turnovers that translated into 39 Rhinelander points. 

“We did a good job of running the floor and pitching it ahead in transition,” Clark said.

Treder finished with 11 points for Rhinelander and Leah Jamison added eight. The large second half lead allowed the Hodags to extend their bench. Freshmen Ella Miljevich and Lexi Beran scored their first career varsity points in the contest. 

Overall, the Hodags finished the night 48% (28 of 58) from the field and were 11 of 30 from distance. 

Freya Alberg and Lydia Ziert each scored seven to lead Tomahawk, which was held to 26% from the floor (9 of 35). 

    Rhinelander’s Kelsey Winter drives between Tomahawk’s Khianna Vacho (10) and Caylie Swann (13) during the second half a GNC girls’ basketball game at the Jim Miazga Community Gymnasium Friday, Dec. 15. (Bob Mainhardt for the River News)
  

Rhinelander also got a lift in the return of junior Kelsey Winter, who missed six of the last seven games due to an ankle injury. Though she didn’t score, Winter accumulated a team-high seven rebounds in only 11 minutes of action.

“Kelsey’s cleared without any limitations. We’re letting her play and just kind of get the rust out,” coach Clark said. “She really battled hard. I think she so excited to play, it will just take a little time to get the rust out. She did a really nice job and she’ll give us a lift. It’s nice to have her back.”

The Hodags were set to face Wisconsin Rapids Assumption, the top-ranked team in Division 5, at home Monday night in a game that concluded after press time for today’s edition. Rhinelander will be home again Thursday night to face Merrill.

Coach Clark called both strong opponents that will help prepare the Hodags for a tough stretch of games coming up in January.

“Other than Rice Lake, these two teams are the two best teams we’ve faced this year,” he said. “We have a lot of good teams coming up on our schedule. You’ve still got Lakeland twice, Mosinee twice, Stevens Point. It will be much more difficult tests coming forward than it was to start the year.” 

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at jeremy@rivernewsonline.com.