Lady Hodags wear down Eagles, win 54-25

Despite another ho-hum night from its offense, defense led the way for the Rhinelander High School girls’ basketball team Friday night against Northland Pines. 

The Hodags forced 36 turnovers, held the Eagles to 22% from the field and eventually pulled away to a 54-25 victory in GNC play at the Jim Miazga Community Gymnasium.

Rhinelander (4-4, 2-2 Great Northern) won despite shooting just 31% from the field. Freshman Teagan Clark scored a game-high 20 points for the Hodags, while her junior sister, Aubryn Clark, chipped in 17. 

Coach Ryan Clark said the shots will eventually start falling for his team — which is currently shooting less than 24% on the season from 3-point range. Until they do, the Hodags are going to have to rely on defense to get past a majority of the teams in the GNC.

“I thought we were, obviously, the stronger team,” he said. “I thought Pines played really hard. We got to work on a lot of different presses. Worked on some offensive execution against their zone, but the main thing is just, you know, when we’re struggling to hit shots, the game is kind of clunky and not much rhythm or flow. I’d like to see a little bit better communication for everybody.”

Shots fell better for the Hodags, comparatively speaking, than they have of late. Rhinelander finished the night 9 of 32 (28%) from deep, its best 3-point percentage in a game since Nov. 29 against Wausau West when they shot 29% in an 81-40 win over the Warriors. That was especially true in a stretch late in the first half when the Clark sisters combined for three triples in an 11-0 run over the final 2:40 that put the Hodags up 28-11 at the break. 

“When we execute what we’re working on, I think we do a pretty good job,” coach Clark said. “I just think when we shoot, I don’t know how many we took today, but we missed a lot of open 3s again. Once we start hitting those, we’ll probably start flowing a little bit better.”

While Rhinelander likes to shoot the 3 to begin with — it’s attempted almost exactly the same number of 3s (244) as 2s (241) on the year — a compressed 2-3 zone from the Eagles (4-5, 1-3 Great Northern) congested the lane and dared the Hodags to shoot from the outside. 

“I thought we did a pretty good job of being patient,” coach Clark said. “We got the ball inside-outside before we shot the 3. We got to dribble one way throw back. We tried to get it inside a little bit against that zone. So I thought our ball movement was good. I thought their shot selection was very good. It just seems like nobody’s on at the same time.”

    Rhinelander’s Ella Miljevich drives past Northland Pines’ Ryyn Darr for a layup during the first half of a GNC girls’ basketball game at the Jim Miazga Community Gymnasium Friday, Dec. 19. (Bob Mainhardt for the River News)
  

Rhinelander continued to pull away in the second half, stretching the lead to 39-13 with 13:13 remaining and 46-15 with 9:23 to play. That’s mainly because a combination for backcourt pressure and half-court man-to-man kept the Eagles’ offense out of sorts all night. The 36 turnovers are the second-most the Hodags have forced this year, two off their season-high of 38 set in a win at Antigo Dec. 12. 

“We tried to mix up a press a little bit, a few more live-ball, turnovers,” coach Clark said. “Pines did a pretty good job of being patient. We forced a lot of turnovers, a lot of them were dead-ball, which, credit to them, because the live-ball, you can usually score off them.” 

Natalie Kohn paced Northland Pines with nine points while Kaydence Brost chipped in seven points and 13 rebounds for the Eagles. 

Pines scored the opening bucket on a Ryyn Darr 3 and went up 7-5 on a Ryley Darr putback with 14:35 left in the first half. Teagan Clark, who was 5 of 8 from deep on the night for Rhinelander, answered with a triple on the Hodags’ next possession, and Rhinelander led the rest of the way. 

Vivian Lamers added seven points for Rhinelander and, though she didn’t score, junior JaLyn LaChapelle saw her first game action of the season. She returned to the lineup after missing several games at the end of last season — and the first seven games of this year — recovering from stress fractures in her shins.

“In August, there was a possibility that she’d be out for the year. But she was very, very diligent on her rehab, did everything she’s supposed to do to get back, and it’s just great to have her back,” coach Clark said. “Like I told her, I know you’re fighting for minutes and all that stuff, but she’s more thankful to be able to play. She’s a great teammate, and as we get going here, I think our team will kind of always be fluid a little bit. We have so many young pieces, young parts kind of working together. And we’re gonna need her as we get going here.”

The Hodags faced No. 2 (D5) Wisconsin Rapids Assumption Monday night in a game that concluded after press time for today’s edition. Visit RiverNewsOnline.com for a recap of that contest and read a full report in Friday’s River News. 

Rhinelander is idle the rest of this week and will return to action Monday, Dec. 29 when it takes on Saint Croix Central as part of the Menomonie Invite. 

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].