Lady Hodags hand out team awards

The Rhinelander High School girls’ basketball team capped off a successful 2023-24 campaign with its season-ending awards banquet Sunday afternoon at the Cedric A. Vig Outdoor Classroom.

A trio of seniors and a freshman were honored Sunday. Senior Lily Treder won the team’s Most Improved Player Award, senior Leah Jamison won the Hodag Award and the team’s Defense Award was split by senior Morgan Van Zile and freshman Vivian Lamers. 

Treder’s numbers certainly took a jump this year. She scored 13.8 points per game this season, up from 12.2 a season ago. Her 77 made 3-pointers on the year were a program record and she finished only four triples away from tying Kenedy Van Zile’s all-time career mark. But coach Clark said Treder showed the most improvement in the intangible aspects of her game.

“This was a hard one, but I want to give this young lady a lot of credit because all of us struggle with this — confidence. Especially for kids, it’s a great game, it’s a fun sport but you’re still on stage and there’s all these expectations and you work really hard for something and all these things,” he said. “I was so focused on stats and it’s like, ‘Gosh, everyone got better and everyone had nice stats.’ That doesn’t really separate anything and then I’m like, ‘How can I miss this?’ This young lady really came a long way with her confidence, her believe in herself and I’m really, really proud of her.”

Coach Clark said he decided on co-winners for the defensive award because of what Lamers and Van Zile did on the court. By the numbers, Lamers led the team with 99 deflections and was second on the team in steals (53) and was also the team’s top rebounder at 5.0 boards per contest. Van Zile was fourth in deflections (59) and third in steals (39).

“Vivian, I love her tenaciousness. She gets after it, takes on the best players, is just feisty and had a great, great defensive season. I think Vivian is going to set a lot of defense records for us,” coach Clark said. “Then Morgan, she was really, really adept at turning and running. She always has a smoothness to her so she’d turn and run and cut people off. When you watch film and break things down, Morgan is textbook on how to close out, how to turn and run … Pound for pound they’re very strong kids, very competitive. I think they just embodied all the qualities you look for in a defender.” 

Jamison, who finished third on the team in scoring (7.9 ppg), was honored for her leadership on and off the court with the Hodag Award.

“Awesome season. Obviously, she can really shoot the basketball. I know Lily had a few to start the game but I lot of times I felt like Leah was the first one to hit the 3-pointer and it just kind of got us all rolling. Fantastic teammate, obviously, but an incredible season,” Clark said. “Her legacy to me is this is how you treat your teammates. If there was anyone who needed anything at all, she would take care of it. Super kind and it didn’t matter what it was, she always saw it as program first.” 

One award the team did not hand out, as has been a long-standing tradition, was most valuable player. 

“I really truly believe that if you’re part of the team, everyone gives so much value,” coach Clark explained. “When you put all those together for one common good, it just makes it so much fun. You can’t devalue any of those kids. What they bring to this team has way more to do with anything — shots, makes, way beyond statistics.”

While she did not earn any of the team awards, freshman Aubryn Clark certainly received plenty of accolades during the season, earning first-team all-conference honors as she led the Hodags averaging 20.1 points per game. 

“You were ready, mentally, to give everything you have and try to help this team win,” coach Clark said during the banquet. “She just knows that winning is important. I’m round of you because you just kept that in the forefront. You wanted to win for your teammates and give them a good experience. Awesome job in your first year and you have a bright future in front of you.”

In addition to team awards, the Hodags also had seven Academic All-State award winners from the Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association. To be eligible, athletes must compete on varsity and maintain a grade point average of 3.5 or better. 

    Rhinelander High School girls’ basketball players, from left to right, Leah Jamison, Lily Treder, Eva Hetland, Dawsyn Barkus, Kelsey Winter, Vivian Lamers and Aubryn Clark pose for a photograph with their Academic All-State certificates from the Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association following the team’s banquet at the Cedric A. Vig Outdoor Classroom Sunday, March 3. (Bob Mainhardt for the River News)
  

Aubryn Clark, Lamers, Treder, Jamison, senior Eva Hetland, junior Kelsey Winter and junior Dawsyn Barkus all met that criteria this season, with Hetland and Jamison coming in with GPAs above 4.0 on Rhinelander High School’s weighted scale. 

“It’s super impressive, when you consider that all of those kids are multiple-sport athletes, in multiple clubs, in charge of clubs and are really leaders of our school,” coach Clark said. “The ones that are the most busy are the ones that get things done. I’m really proud of you guys, academically.”

The Hodags went 16-9 on the year and finished as runners up in the Great Northern Conference with a 9-3 league mark. The Hodags were ousted by Green Bay Southwest in the WIAA playoffs in a run that saw the sixth-seeded Trojans win a regional title.

“I think we exceeded expectations from outsiders for sure,” coach Clark said.

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].