Lady Hodags down Wausau East, Three Lakes on consecutive nights

The Rhinelander High School girls’ basketball team picked up back-to-back home wins Monday and Tuesday but is still looking for more consistency as it enters the home stretch of the regular season.

Lily Treder had 20 points, Aubryn Clark had 19 and the Hodags used a late 14-4 run to put away Three Lakes 63-47 Tuesday night at the Jim Miazga Community Gym. That win came on the heels of a comfortable 68-54 win over Wausau East one night earlier.

Though the Hodags have won three straight, and sit at 14-5 overall (7-1 Great Northern), coach Ryan Clark said he knows his team needs to be sharper, especially with some key conference games ahead in the month of February.

“We’ve got to get better. We’ve got to learn that we exerted a lot yesterday against a good team, played well but we just weren’t sharp today,” Clark said following Tuesday’s win. 

Hodags 68, Wausau East 54

    Rhinelander’s Aubryn Clark attempts a 3 during the first half on a non-conference girls’ basketball game against Wausau East at the Jim Miazga Community Gymnasium Monday, Jan. 29. (Bob Mainhardt for the River News)
  

The end result was a 14-point home win, just like it was last Friday night for the Hodags against Northland Pines, but coach Clark said he was much more pleased with his team’s energy and execution on Monday at home against the Lumberjacks. 

“The energy was fantastic. The kids were loose. They were excited to play at home. How we did Friday to tonight, it was like a whole different team,” he said.

The Hodags led virtually wire-to-wire, taking the lead for good on a Leah Jamison 3 less than two minutes into the contest. Wausau East (6-12, 2-6 Wis. Valley) hung around for much of the first half, but Rhinelander used a 9-0 spurt over the final 90 seconds of the half to take a 39-21 lead to the break. The run was highlighted by 3-pointers from Treder and Aubryn Clark, and a finish by Clark in transition off a steal just before the buzzer. 

The lead hovered near 20 points virtually the entire second half, with East making a late push in the final three minutes after the Hodags extended their bench. 

Treder hit five 3-pointers in the contest and scored 16 of her 19 points in the first half. Aubryn Clark led the way with 21 points while Jamison chipped in 14 as the Hodags finished the night 35% from the field on 23 of 65 shooting. 

“Lily’s just on a tear right now. The last four games, she’s been lights out, especially in the first half. In the second half, teams are starting to put a little more pressure on her, but I think she’s attacking the basket more. She countering their pressure and she’s playing fantastic,” coach Clark said. “Leah, she started hitting shots. Aubryn struggled a little bit from the 3-point line, but she’s still getting to the rim.”

The Hodags slowed down Wausau East offensively, limiting the Lumberjack to 36% from the field (18 of 45) while forcing 21 turnovers. Geneva Michlig scored 14 points off the bench to lead Wausau East while Claire Coushman had 12. 

A Rhinelander team that averages getting out rebounded by six boards a contest held a 36-34 edge on the glass Monday and collected a season-high 18 offensive rebounds. 

“I thought our transition offense was good, our transition defense was good, but I thought this was the best rebounding game we’ve had, especially offensive rebounds, but on the glass in general,” coach Clark said. 

Hodags 63, Three Lakes 47

Prior to the closing run to seal it, the Hodags needed another big spurt simply to take the lead over the Bluejays following a sluggish first half. 

Just as it did late in the first half the night before, Rhinelander went on a 10-0 run to end the first half on Tuesday, capped off by a Treder 3 just before the buzzer to take a 29-26 lead at the break. 

It was a positive result to an otherwise frustrating first half that saw the Hodags struggle to hit shots from the outside and saw Three Lakes (7-10, 3-4 Northern Lakes) get through Rhinelander’s pressure on a consistent basis. The Bluejays led 18-10 at one point in the first and were up 26-19 before the Hodags made a late push sparked by an Aubryn Clark 3. From there, Morgan Van Zile made a layup in transition off a steal and Clark tied it on a mid-range jumper with 30 seconds left. After another Three Lakes turnover, Treder buried a 3 on the right wing to put the Hodags ahead.

“That was a good little run. We had a nice run yesterday at the end of the first half. We can get streaky and hit some shots and kind of get going a little bit. That was a nice run to get that lead,” coach Clark said. “They did a nice job in the first half. I thought in our run and jump, our execution of getting to the trap was good, but our backside rotation was just not there and, credit to Three Lakes, they found it pretty easily. We gave up so many layups in the first half, just bad defense.”

Rhinelander led 49-43 with 4:22 to go and Three Lakes had a chance to cut the lead to four with Kailyn Fogerty at the line, but Fogerty missed both free throws and the Hodags answered with a quick corner 3 by Jamison. From there the Hodags forced three straight turnovers that led to transition layups — two by Van Zile and one by Treder — that made it 58-43 with 3:35 to play. 

“We have a tendency to get a lead and then just let a team hang around and get back into it,” coach Clark said. “I think we toy with them a little too much. They had it down to six. It should have never been that close, but I thought we settled in defensively when we needed to and we did a good job running the floor.”

Though the Hodags shot just 35% on the night, and were 12 of 37 from 3, they had four players in double digits. Treder recorded her fifth straight game scoring 19 points or more. Clark nearly finished on her season average, scoring 17 of her 19 points in the first half. Vivian Lamers added a career-high 11 points, Morgan Van Zile chipped in 10 and though Kelsey Winter was held scoreless, she recorded a game-high 11 rebounds. 

“Morgan and Viv did a nice job defensively and were able to get out and run a little bit in transition,” coach Clark said. “I’m proud of them for the second half dialing in defensively. I thought Vivian did well. Kelsey Winter had a great game. She was all over the glass. Every missed shot, Kelsey either got the board or was in there (fighting for it). She was just a warrior on the glass.”

Kylee Wilson hit three early 3s for Three Lakes and led the Bluejays with 18 points. Jenna Erikson chipped in 10 as Three Lakes finished the night 39% (16 of 41) from the field. 

Big games ahead

The Hodags will look to extend their winning streak to four tonight as they travel to last-place Tomahawk. That will be followed by a pair of big home games next week at the Miazga Gym. It starts with a rematch against Medford Monday night in a game that was rescheduled from a Jan. 12 snow-out. After that, the Hodags will welcome GNC-leading Lakeland to town next Friday night. 

“We’ve got to take care of business on Friday and then Medford’s playing very good basketball right now,” coach Clark said. “They will be ready for us. That should be a fun game on Monday night. If we can take care of business it would give ourselves a chance, at least standings-wise, against Lakeland to pull off an upset.” 

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].