January 13, 2023 at 7:35 a.m.
Lady Hodags' losing streak hits six
Cold shooting, foul trouble plague RHS in losses to Antigo, Assumption
Lady Hodags' losing streak hits six
The Hodags had two starters foul out down the stretch and failed to make a field goal over the final 10 minutes as they fell to Antigo 52-49 at Sheldon Fieldhouse. The loss came on the heels of a 60-33 loss at Wisconsin Rapids Assumption a night earlier.
Rhinelander squandered an 11-point second half lead as it fell to 4-9 on the season.
"We're 4-9, six straight losses, but we've got to keep getting better," Hodag coach Ryan Clark said.
Lily Treder hit a 3 to put Rhinelander up 43-32 with 10 minutes to go. It was the last field goal the Hodags made. Antigo went on a 15-0 run from there, taking the lead on a Jenna Czerneski layup with 2:22 left and then held on down the stretch.
"That one was a tough one, obviously. All losses are tough, but you lose a tight one, especially when you had a lead in the second half," Clark said. "I'm just disappointed for the kids. They fought really hard with what was in their control. I thought they battled."
The Hodags' troubles mounted as leading scorer Ava Lamers picked up her fourth foul and checked out of the game with 10:42 remaining. A Rhinelander team already lacking in size then lost its best rebounder in junior Kelsey Winter as she committed her fourth and fifth fouls in short order and was disqualified with 7:19 to play.
With Winter out, Antigo began pounding the ball inside. Forward Tristin Arlen had 16 points and 14 rebounding, including a pair of putbacks that helped Antigo tie the game with 3:21 to play. Sophie Schlieve collected her own double-double for Antigo with 13 points and 10 rebounds.
The Hodag offense still struggled even when Lamers checked back in with 5:44 to play.
"Losing Ava, you can't afford to lose Ava with almost 11 minutes to go and she's got four fouls. That's putting us a little bit behind the 8-ball," Clark said. "I thought (Winter) played really well and battled. (Fouling out) wasn't from not playing smart. She just got her fifth foul. It's a big loss. She's a physical presence. She's a rebounder. She does a great job for us down there and she was playing very well down there for us tonight."
Rhinelander had a faint pulse after Czerneski made the first of two free throws with 9.6 seconds left, but missed the second. Leah Jamison was fouled going for the rebound and made two free throws on the other end to cut the lead to 51-49. Arlen was fouled on the inbound and made one of two free throws for Antigo. The Hodags had a look to tie, but Treder's 3 from the top of the key bounced off the front of the iron as time expired.
Rhinelander finished the night only 26% from the field on 14 of 53 shooting and was 8 of 31 from beyond the arc.
Antigo started the game on a 11-0 run but the Hodags got back into the contest thanks to 22 Red Robin first-half turnovers. Lamers tied the game at 14 on a pull-up jumper with 9:25 remaining and then gave the Hodags their first lead, up 21-19 on a put back with 3:08 left in the half. It was part of a 10-0 run that saw Rhinelander go up 24-19. Antigo answered with five straight before Lamers made a transition layup to put the Hodags ahead 26-24 at the break.
The Hodags made four 3s early in the second half before the well suddenly ran dry.
Lamers finished with 16 points before fouling out of the game in the final minute. Jamison had 13 and Treder finished with 11 points.
"We've got to keep learning from all of these moments," Clark said. "All of these kids other than pretty much Ava, and a little bit Lily, these are all new experiences. They've got to learn from these. They're learning how to play under pressure. We just keep battling and hopefully we can be a tough team to play when we get to the end of the year."
Assumption 60, Rhinelander 33
The Hodags struggled offensively Monday night as they fell on the road to the Royals, the second-ranked team in Division 5 in the latest WisSports.net girls' coaches poll.
Rhinelander managed to shoot only 27.5% (11 of 40) from the field, went the final 8 minutes, 6 seconds of the contest without a point and turned the ball over 24 times in the contest.
"We just completely unraveled, fell apart and didn't make it very competitive in the second half," Clark said.
Assumption opened the game on a 14-2 run and led most of the way. The Hodags got within five, down 22-17 with 5:54 left in the first half, but the Royals finished the half on a 12-6 run to take at 34-23 lead to halftime.
It didn't get much better from there. A pair of Lamers makes cut the lead to 40-29 with 12:05 remaining, but the Royals finished the contest on a 20-4 run. The Hodags did not make any 3s and were 5 of 23 from the field overall in the second half.
Lamers scored 21 to lead all scorers while Treder had eight points for Rhinelander.
"We got a lot of good looks, especially in that second half," Clark said. "Leah (Jamison) had a lot of nice looks, but none of them fell, Lily as well. Those are good shots. There were a couple of times we made the extra pass for the open shot, but we weren't able to hit any."
Anna Schooley had 16 points off the bench to lead Assumption. Maliea Kolo scored 14 and Cristin Casey had 10 as the Royals finished the night 45% (24 of 53) from the field.
"Tonight, they posted us hard against us, but we were necessarily overmatched in size and athleticism. But I didn't feel we were very physical," Clark said.
Rhinelander returns to action on the road at Tomahawk tonight. The Hodags defeated the Hatchets 68-41 back on Nov. 29.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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