Lady Hodags drop GNC title fight to Lakeland

The Rhinelander High School girls’ basketball team needed a win Friday night to keep its Great Northern Conference title hopes alive. The defending conference champion Lakeland T-Birds had a different idea.

Kristina Ouimette scored 25 points to lead three T-Birds in double figures, and Lakeland claimed its second straight undefeated conference championship with a 60-34 victory over the Hodags at the Jim Miazga Community Gymnasium.

Lakeland (20-2, 12-0 Great Northern) led wire-to-wire in the contest. Its stifling pressure zone held the Hodags to only nine points in the first half. While Rhinelander (16-6, 9-2 Great Northern) slowed down the T-Birds a bit from their first meeting, a 77-34 win in Minocqua back on Jan. 5, the Hodags did not have enough firepower to keep up with Lakeland.

Regardless, Hodag coach Ryan Clark said he was pleased with his team’s effort as it locked up a second-place finish in the GNC with one conference game remaining.

“We gave ourselves an opportunity to play for a conference championship tonight against a very good basketball team,” he said. “All you can ask for is an opportunity. We’ve had a good season so far. We’re 16-6. It’s been a daily improvement and the girls are working hard. We’ll learn from this one. I think we can be a little more fearless.”

Rhinelander appeared timid at times, especially on offense, in the first half against Lakeland’s extended 2-3 zone. The T-Birds made a concerted effort to run the Hodags off the 3-point line and the Hodags struggled to get looks. 

Rhinelander had only 14 field goal attempts in the first half — nearly half of its season average — and was only 1 of 9 from distance in the half. The Hodags were within 18-9 with 4:34 left in the first, mainly thanks to lengthy offensive possessions, but Lakeland scored the final eight points to take a 26-9 lead to the break.

“I didn’t think our guards were hunting that shot. I thought we had a few opportunities in the first half to let it fly,” coach Clark said.

Rhinelander finally started to attempt and make some shots in the second half. Aubryn Clark hit three straight 3s at one point in the half, but the Hodags never got any closer than 17 points. 

“In the second half everything’s against us, the hands are down and we just had to find ways to score. I thought we were much more aggressive,” coach Clark said. “We slowed it down and then we were down double digits. That doesn’t help us either. Then, when we tried to speed it up, that gives them more opportunities on offense as well.”

Lakeland’s trio of 6-1 starters — Ouimette, Ava Evenhouse and Saylor Timmerman — combined to score 52 points after being held to 31 in the first meeting. Evenhouse added 15 points on perfect 6-for-6 shooting from the field while Timmerman had a double-double with 12 points and 14 rebounds.

Aubryn Clark had 16 for Rhinelander while Leah Jamison had 12. The 34 points matched Rhinelander’s lowest offensive output of the season — set in a Nov. 20 loss to Rice Lake and again in the Jan. 5 loss at Lakeland. Though the Hodags finished the night 35% from the field, their 37 field goal attempts were also a season low.

Despite the loss, Clark said he was optimistic entering the stretch run of the regular season. The Hodags received the No. 3 seed for the WIAA tournament on Sunday morning and will face sixth-seeded Green Bay Southwest Feb. 23 in Rhinelander. With the second-ranked team in Division 2, Green Bay Notre Dame, sitting as the No. 1 seed on th Hodags’ half of the draw, Clark said it was good to play a high-caliber opponent near tournament time.

“Other than Notre Dame in our sectional, Lakeland’s the best team,” he said. “We’ve got a test of what it feels like to play against a team like that. I’m confident. I’m really happy. I’m disappointed that we got beat but I thought the girls believe and fought hard and they executed what we were looking for.”

The Hodags travel to face Shawano tonight in a non-conference contest and will close out the regular season at home against Mosinee on Friday.

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].