Lady Hodags fend off Eagles 64-50

The Rhinelander High School girls’ basketball team got a win to keep pace in the Great Northern Conference race on Friday night, but Northland Pines made the Hodags work hard for that win for the second time this season.

Lily Treder scored 23 points and Aubryn Clark had 22 as the Hodags defeated the Eagles 64-50 at the Jim Miazga Community Gymnasium.

An extended 29-11 run that spanned the final 5 1/2 minutes of the first half and the first four minutes of the second proved to be the difference for the Hodags, but the Eagles did enough on both ends of the floor to keep Rhinelander on its toes.

“That’s a game where we won on the scoreboard but we lost the battle,” Hodag coach Ryan Clark said. “Credit to Northland Pines, I thought they outplayed us in every facet. I thought their defense was better. They were communicating. You could see they had a game plan they were executing. 

“We’ll take the win, obviously, but we’ve got a lot to work on. I think the girls know that too. They’re disappointed with their overall performance.”

The Hodags struggled to find consistent success against Northland Pines’ zone in the first half, and trailed 16-14 after a Ryley Darr putback with 6:10 remaining in the half. Rhinelander was able to make eight 3s in the first half, which ultimately created some separation. The Hodags went ahead 19-16 on a Treder 3 with 4:20 left in the half and closed the half on a Leah Jamison triple right before the buzzer to go up 30-21 at the break. 

The Eagles switched to man-to-man in the second half and the Hodags were able to find some success inside. Aubryn Clark had seven straight points to close out a 12-4 run to open the second as the Hodags extended the lead to 43-27.

“They went more to a man-to-man most of the second half and I thought we could beat them off the dribble with Aubryn and Morgan (Van Zile) and Lily,” Clark said. 

    Rhinelander’s Vivian Lamers puts up a contested shot second half of a GNC girls’ basketball game against Northland Pines at the Jim Miazga Community Gymnasium Friday, Jan. 26. (Bob Mainhardt for the River News)
  

Pines trimmed the lead back to 11 on a Mykala Felesena make with 10:14 remaining, but the Hodags answered with a 12-4 run capped by an open 3 by Vivian Lamers that made it 55-36 with 6:25 to go. Pines inched back within 14 late before Lamers put the nail in the coffin with a basket inside with 1:06 to play.

“She’s been getting more confident and I thought she had some really nice cuts off the ball,” coach Clark said of Lamers, who scored all seven of her points in the second half. “We need Vivian to be a scorer, especially for next year, but even this year. I think she’s slowly making progress on the offensive end, which has really helped us out.”

Treder finished the night 9 of 14 from the field overall and 5 of 10 from distance as she scored more than 20 points for a third consecutive game.

“She’s shooting it well, but she’s also attacking the basket more often and she’s playing really confident,” coach Clark said. “She sees herself as a scorer and she was over 20 again tonight. She’s open in the corner a lot. I think teams need to start recognizing she can really light them up. She had a really good first half and really carried us the whole first half. She’s just on a tear. I think she’s playing confident, fearless, at peace and I’m proud of her. She’s always had the ability and you’re kind of seeing the whole thing come together for her.”

The Hodags, as a team, finished the night 22 of 50 from the field.

Emma Weber had 18 points, including three 3-pointers, to pace Northland Pines. Vienna Klemett had nine and Aubrey Beyer chipped in eight as the Eagles shot 40.7% (22 of 54) on the night. Coach Clark said the Hodags’ defense needed to be better against a Pines team that was shooting just 32% from the field in conference play coming into the contest. 

“I don’t discredit their effort. I know they work hard and they’re playing hard and they’re giving effort, but our execution of our defense in the full court and the half court, we’re not really where we’re supposed to be,” he said.

The Hodags (12-5, 7-1 Great Northern) hosted Wausau East last night in a non-conference game the concluded after press time for today’s edition. Rhinelander is back at home tonight to face Three Lakes in the first half of a doubleheader at the Miazga Gym.

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at jeremy@rivernewsonline.com.