Lady Hodags can’t keep up with SPASH

The Rhinelander High School girls’ basketball team hung in for a while against the top team in the Wisconsin Valley Conference on Tuesday night, but Stevens Point’s relentless defense eventually proved to be too much. 

The Panthers pulled away late in the first half and early in the second to defeat the Hodags 54-38 in non-conference play at the Jim Miazga Community Gymnasium.

Standout guard Aubryn Clark (back) missed her sixth straight game for Rhinelander and the Hodag offense continues to be limited without its top scorer and ball-handler. The Hodags have averaged only 42.3 points per game in Clark’s absence and finished Tuesday’s game with 31 turnovers — right on their average over the last six contests. 

“The effort was good. I thought the communication was really good. I thought the kids believed they could compete. So we’re really proud of that,” Hodag coach Ryan Clark said. “I just think SPASH’s defense caused a lot of problems. We had 31 turnovers. We couldn’t quite run anything offensively. They pressured the ball really hard, they denied the passing lanes.”

The Hodags (11-8, 6-3 Great Northern) hung around early in the contest. After falling behind 9-0 at the start, a Dawsyn Barkus 3 pulled the Hodags with in 13-11 with 9:10 left in the half. Leah Awe hit a transition 3 moments later, however, sparking a 17-4 run for the Panthers to close out the first half. 

SPASH (15-4, 8-0 Wis. Valley) scored the first six points of the second half before the Hodags made a mini-run to get back within 12 on a Vivian Lamers 3-point play with 12:15 remaining. The Panthers, coached by alumna and former WNBA No. 1 draft pick Janel McCarville, responded by scoring the next 12 to put the game out of reach. 

The Panthers used an expanded bench throughout the night and had a balanced attack. Leading scorer Jada Seubert, a sophomore, had a game-high 15 points in limited minutes. Lindsey Weiler added 10 and Awe, a 6-2 freshman, had 11 points and seven rebounds. She also had a trio of blocked shots late in the second half against an undersized Hodag squad. 

“She’s a heck of a freshman. She’s going to be a really nice player. Boy, it would be nice to have a swing player like that,” coach Clark said. “I told the girls they’ve probably never seen a kid that can get up and touch the rim and, boy, we just set them up on a platter for her. She was having a heyday blocking shots. But, that’s something we’ve got to learn from.”

The Hodags finished the night 36% (12 of 33) from the field. Lamers was Rhinelander’s only player in double figures, scoring 12 points. Kelsey Winter added seven points despite heading off the bench for a few minutes in the second half for treatment on a left knee she’s been battling all season. She returned a short time later, a sigh of relief for the Hodags, who were already down Aubryn Clark and JaLyn LaChapelle (leg) and have another senior —Barkus — playing through a knee ailment.

“They just want to play so badly and they both have a knee injury,” coach Clark said. “But, to their credit, they keep playing, they just tell me there’s times where it feels like it’s pretty sore. It’s locking up a little bit, they go out, (trainer) Ethan (Willey) just gives me the thumbs up, they can go back in. I really appreciate how much they love to play.”

    Rhinelander’s Ava Kurilla drives in for a layup during the second half of a non-conference girls’ basketball game against Stevens Point at the Jim Miazga Community Gymnasium Tuesday, Feb. 4. (Bob Mainhardt for the River News)
  

Another senior, Ava Kurilla, had a nice spurt for Rhinelander late in the second half. She hit a 3 on an inbound play, her first triple of the season and had a steal and layup in transition as she scored five points. 

“Ava Kurilla, I’m really proud of her. She went back in there and had a 3, nice little steal and got a layup,” coach Clark said. “That’s a senior who’s worked every day in practice, just waiting for opportunity and you know, we’re going need that again Friday night. It’s pretty awesome to see a kid who doesn’t complain, just keeps battling. Then, when her time comes, she’s rewarded for that great attitude and mentality.”

The Hodags are back home tonight to take on Tomahawk, which sits just behind Rhinelander at 4-4 in the GNC. Though Rhinelander defeated the Hatchets 67-31 when the teams met in December in Tomahawk, coach Clark said he expects a much different game tonight. 

“Freya Alberg is a really nice big. She’ll be tough inside for sure, and then, Claire Albert was injured the first time he played them, their shooting guard, so she’ll be back,” he said. “I just told the girls afterwards, like we got to have the effort we had tonight for Friday night playing Tomahawk.” 

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].