Lady Hodags fend off Medford 57-53

After fighting off a second-half scare on Monday night, the Rhinelander High School girls’ basketball team still controls its own destiny in the Great Northern Conference title race. 

Aubryn Clark scored 25 points, including a pair of free throws with 7 seconds remaining, as the Hodags held off Medford 57-53 at the Jim Miazga Community Gymnasium.

The Raiders, who trailed by 17 with 8:56 to play, trimmed the lead all the way down to two after Kayla Baumgartner scored the final of her game-high 26 points with 9.8 seconds left. Clark answered from the foul line and gave the Hodags a chance to take on Lakeland tonight at home with the conference title in the balance. 

“It was just a good game, just a great battle,” Hodag coach Ryan Clark said. “Some things we can definitely work on and clean up but, most importantly, we’re 16-5, 9-1 in the conference and, going into the season, I thought this was a toss-up game.”

Rhinelander seemed to be in command, up 44-27 after Dawsyn Barkus made a tough reverse layup followed by a right-wing 3 on back-to-back possessions, but Baumgartner — a freshman and younger sister of reigning GNC boys’ basketball player of the year Logan Baumgartner — heated up from there. She scored seven straight by herself to cut the lead to 10 with 7:21 to play and had 19 points in the second half.

“I thought No. 10 (Baumgartner) kind of took over for them in the second half,” coach Clark said.

After Leah Jamison banked in a 3, Medford’s run continued with a post basket for Baumgartner, a 3 by Rylee Hraby and three free throws that made it 47-42 with 4:14 to play.

Baumgartner made it a one-score game with 2:34 remaining, with a 3 that cut the lead to 50-47.

    Rhinelander’s Morgan Van Zile makes a layup through contact against Medford’s Aliyah Pilgrim during the second half of a GNC girls’ basketball game at the Jim Miazga Community Gymnasium Monday, Feb. 5. (Bob Mainhardt for the River News)
  

Aubryn Clark answered with a three-point play for Rhinelander, in what turned into a free throw shooting contest for the Hodags down the stretch. Baumgartner split a one-and-one on the other end before Morgan Van Zile made one of two for Rhinelander with 1:01 to play.

Hraby knocked down a 3 to get the lead back to three with 43.3 seconds left. After another 1-for-2 trip to the line for Van Zile, Baumgartner made a runner in the lane to cut the lead to 55-53 as the Raiders spent their final time out with 9.8 seconds left. 

Aubryn Clark was fouled on the inbound and, despite being 4 of 12 from the foul line up until that point, made the two biggest free throws of the night. 

As a team, Rhinelander finished 9 of 22 from the line.

“Credit to her. She’s a great player, but way to execute at the end and knock down those two free throws to seal the game,” coach Clark said. “We struggled from the free throw line, struggled to initiate our offense a little bit, but I’m proud of the effort, proud of the battle.”

Medford made a concerted effort to guard the 3-point line against the Hodags. Rhinelander finished the night with only 16 3-point attempts, their lowest total in any game this season. 

“I thought Medford came out and defended us how I would defend us,” coach Clark said. “They ran us off the 3-point line. They were very physical with us on the perimeter.”

The Hodags had made only one 3 and trailed much of the first half before making triples on back-to-back possessions — a Jamison 3 in the corner followed by an Aubryn Clark step-back — over the final minute to finish on a 6-0 run and take a 24-19 lead to the break.

First-half runs have been key for the Hodags in the midst of their current five-game winning streak. They went 14-5 to end the first half against Northland Pines, 9-0 on Wausau East and 10-0 on Three Lakes.

“I think our girls just keep battling,” coach Clark said. “They’ve done a nice job this year of, no matter what happens on offense or defense, just kind of dialing in on the next play and just keep battling. They’re getting better.”

The Hodags scored the first five points of the second to get the first double-digit lead for either team in the contest. After Medford got back to within six, the Hodags went on an 11-0 spurt, capped by Barkus’s makes to push the lead to 17.

Jamison added 10 points for the Hodags while Van Zile added eight as the Hodags shot 48.8% from the field. Hraby had nine for the Raiders, who heated up in the second half. Medford shot 44% in the second, including 5 of 12 from deep, after being held to 25% from the floor and 0 for 6 from 3 in the first.

It all sets up a pivotal matchup for the Hodags tonight at home against Lakeland. The T-Birds moved 1 1/2 games up in the GNC, and picked up their 29th straight conference win, on Monday with a 70-47 home victory over Mosinee, followed by a 73-25 win over Tomahawk Tuesday. 

Lakeland would clinch the conference title outright with a victory tonight. Rhinelander would move even with the T-Birds should it pull the upset and would have a chance to secure a share of the conference crown with a home win over Mosinee Feb. 16.

Lakeland dominated the first meeting between the teams, winning 77-34 in Minocqua Jan. 5.

“Ten times, we’re probably not going to beat them eight, but we’ve got to find a way to beat them one time,” coach Clark said. “The No. 1 thing is to believe you can win. Obviously, a really tough challenge, a great basketball team, but we’ll do the best we can. It’s going to be a great atmosphere and we gave ourselves an opportunity to make this game really important. 

“As long as we go in the believing, it’s going to be a tough battle. We’re going to make some adjustments from last game and see what happens.”

Tip off is set for 6 p.m., kicking off a girls-boys doubleheader against the T-Birds at the Miazga Gym.

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].