Lady Hodags overcome foul trouble, cruise past Antigo

ANTIGO — The Rhinelander High School girls’ basketball team has proved all season long it can be much more than a one player show, even if only one player tends to get the majority of the defensive attention from opponents. 

The Hodags turned in a well-rounded effort again Friday night. Lily Treder scored a game-high 23 points and Rhinelander overcame some foul trouble for leading scorer Aubryn Clark in a 69-43 victory at Antigo in Great Northern Conference play.

Clark finished with 19 points despite picking up her third foul with 6:20 remaining in the first half and, a fourth on a touchy offensive foul call 2:56 before halftime. 

Rhinelander led 30-16 at that point and not only weathered the storm, but stretched the lead to 49-29 by the time Clark returned midway through the second half.

“Aubryn’s obviously’s had a great season and teams have done a really good job of trying to take her away, but it’s almost forced the other kids to be more of a threat and look to score. I thought they didn’t miss a beat,” Hodag coach Ryan Clark said. “I thought the team played really well together. I’m really proud of them.”

Despite opening the game on a 14-2 run, things had a chance to go sideways for the Hodags late in the first half, with Aubryn Clark on the bench. The Hodags nearly went the final 4 1/2 minutes without a bucket, until Treder hit a 3 just before the buzzer that put the Hodags up 33-19 at the break. 

The Hodags were also assessed a bench technical foul during the stretch after questioning some of the seemingly one-sided officiating up to that point — fouls were 12-4 Rhinelander in the first half — but still managed to get to the break up double digits.

“It was just another test. Late in the first half there, definitely frustration was taking over, by everybody, but at half we regrouped and we came out in the second half and had a really nice spurt playing well together,” coach Clark said. “It was another opportunity to learn. If one kid’s in foul trouble, or a couple of kids are in foul trouble, other kids stepped up.”

Rhinelander methodically stretched the lead while Antigo — which shot 29% on the night (12 of 43) — struggled offensively. Three-pointers by Leah Jamison, Morgan Van Zile and Treder pushed the lead to 42-24 with 11:50 left. Another Treder 3 with 8:16 left put the Hodags up 49-28 and the Robins never got within 20 the rest of the way.

Van Zile and Jamison both chipped in nine points in the win. Coach Clark credited everybody for picking up the slack in Aubryn Clark’s absence. 

“Morgan, she’s playing with one hand (due to a finger injury), but does a great job running our point and has good instincts … I thought Leah and Lily, they were streaky but they had the mentality, ‘if I’m open, I’m going to let it fly,’” coach Clark said.

    Rhinelander’s Vivian Lamers (2) and Kelsey Winter (40) battle Antigo’s Tristin Arlen (3) for a rebound during the second half of a GNC girls’ basketball game at Antigo Friday, Jan. 19. Lamers finished the night with 11 rebounds for the Hodags. (Bob Mainhardt for the River News)
  

Keelyn Zwirschitz had 19 points for Antigo while Tristin Arlen had 16 points and 12 rebounds. Even then, the Hodags fared much better on the glass against the Robins than the teams’ meeting back on Dec. 1 when Antigo owned a 40-29 rebounding edge. Rhinelander was plus-2 (33-31) on the glass Friday night, thanks in large part to an 11-rebound night for Hodag freshman Vivian Lamers.

“She’s a phenomenal rebounder. She gets on the offensive glass. She gets on the defensive glass. She’s our best leaper and she’s just fearless,” coach Clark said. “She might be the best guard I’ve ever had at rebounding. She could very easily average double figures on the boards.”

Rhinelander finished the night just under 44%, going 25 of 57 from the field, and was 12 of 38 from beyond the arc. 

With the victory, the Hodags (11-4, 6-1 Great Northern) matched their win total from last season.

“Everyone buys into their role and it really trying to be a star in their role,” Clark said. “It’s just awesome to coach a group of kids that are team-first mentality and we’re getting a lot of wins. We’ve won 11 games already and that was our season (total) last year. We’ve already matched it and we’re still in January.”

The Hodags will face a tough road test tonight against Stevens Point, which is currently undefeated in Wisconsin Valley Conference play.

“SPASH has one of the top freshman guards in the state,” coach Clark said of the Panthers’ Jada Seubert. “Vivian will have a great opportunity to guard her. SPASH is doing really well this year, just knocked off Appleton East. We’ll be fearless. We’ll go in there and we know it’s going to be a good battle. It’s going to make us better whatever happens with the outcome.”

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].