Lady Hodags hit record 15 3s in opening win

The Rhinelander High School girls’ basketball team wanted to make a splash to open the 2023-23 season. The Lady Hodags did just that —15 times over. 

That’s the number of 3-pointers the Hodags drained in an impressive display of shooting Thursday night as they pulled away late in the first half and knocked off Crandon 67-38 at the Jim Miazga Community Gymnasium. 

“I’m really happy with our girls and the crowd that came out tonight to support them,” coach Ryan Clark said. “Like I told them, ‘We’ve got to put on a show and get these kids excited about watching you play.’ I thought they did that.”

The 15 triples set a new single-game program record, coach Clark confirmed. His daughter, Aubryn, hit six of them as part of a dazzling 28-point freshman debut. Leah Jamison had five in a career-high 19-point effort. Lily Treder had the other four as she finished with 14 points. 

“We just have a lot of kids that can shoot the 3 — and they’re confident to shoot the 3. Fifteen 3s is a record since I’ve been here. And it’s not one kid. It’s multiple kids that can really shoot it,” coach Clark said.

Though Rhinelander hit a couple of early 3s, the offense didn’t begin to flow until about 11 minutes remaining in the first. The Hodags closed the half on a 41-10 run as it took a 47-19 lead to the break. 

Rhinelander hit nine 3s in the decisive run, and had 11 overall in the first half. That, coupled with 20 first-half Crandon turnovers and foul trouble for Cardinal junior forward Lily Palubicki, allowed the Hodags to run away.

“When she went out in foul trouble, that’s a big loss for them,” coach Clark said of Palubicki, who was saddled with her third foul with 7:37 remaining in the first half. “Otherwise she was kind of hurting us. She was able to get to the basket. She’s a strong kid inside. I thought we did OK. We’ve got to work on the rotations in our press. We had some turnovers there and had a stretch where we hit like 2 of 3, or maybe more, 3s than that. When you can hit the 3, that lead can balloon pretty quick.”

Aubryn Clark made a pair of free throws to give Rhinelander the lead for good, up 10-9 with 10:33 left in the first. Jamison followed with a personal 8-2 run and the Hodags continued to pull away as they finished the night 49% from the field on 24 of 49 shooting — including 15 of 33 from distance. 

“That’s how we’re going to have to win,” coach Clark said. “We’re not very big. I think if we can get a few more transition baskets, some easier points but, against a zone, packing it in, I thought that’s the best we could do. It makes everything look good when you hit shots.”

    Rhinelander’s Aubryn Clark drives past Crandon’s Samara Kane to the basket during the second half of a non-conference girls’ basketball game at the Jim Miazga Community Gymnasium Thursday, Nov. 16. Clark scored 28 points, collected five rebounds and had nine assists in her varsity debut. (Bob Mainhardt for the River News)
  

Aubryn Clark added five rebounds and nine assists to her stat line in an impressive debut. In addition to going 6 of 11 from deep, Clark got to the rim a number of times and finished 4 for 4 from the foul line.

“I thought she did well. She shot the basketball really well,” coach Clark said. “There’s a lot of stuff we need to clean up. She had way too many turnovers, awareness at times, but she does give us a presence with the basketball. If she can keep being strong with the ball and attack with all these shooters around here (we’ll be OK).”

Palubicki scored 15 of her game-high 20 points for Crandon in the second half and added six rebounds, Lauren Littleton chipped in 11 for a Cardinal team that tied for the Northern Lakes Conference title last year with eventual Division 5 state qualifier Laona/Wabeno. 

While it was a far cry from the 75-35 loss Rhinelander had at Crandon to start last season, coach Clark said there are still some things the team needs to clean up.

“We’ve got to do a better job still of really understanding our roles,” he said. “We’ve got shooters and we’ve got screeners. We’ve got drivers and creators and we’ve got kids that are going the crash the offensive glass.”

Trainer’s room

Junior Kelsey Winter was in the starting lineup for the Hodags, less than 10 months removed from an knee injury that ended her sophomore season. Unfortunately, Winter suffered another injury on Thursday, hurting an ankle while diving after a rebound in the first half. The extent of the injury was not immediately clear. 

“I’m really proud of what she did to get back and worked so hard,” coach Clark said. “We’ll get that taken care of and hopefully get her back Monday. We definitely need her size and we’ll do the best we can to get her back.”

Coming up

Rhinelander (1-0, 0-0 Great Northern) was set to host Rice Lake Monday in a game that concluded after press time for today’s edition. The Hodags will travel to D.C. Everest to take part in the Tom Kislow Memorial Tournament this weekend. Rhinelander will face Athens at 10:45 Friday morning and then will face D.C. Everest at 6 p.m. on Saturday.

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].