Mosinee runs past Lady Hodags in regular season finale

The Rhinelander High School girls’ basketball team was unable to keep up with Mosinee’s pressure Friday night, falling to the Indians 75-32 in the regular season finale in Mosinee.

The Indians (17-6, 10-2 GNC), who earlier in the week, upset No. 7 (D2) Rice Lake, overwhelmed the Hodags, who finished the night with 25 turnovers. 

Even though the final margin was nearly identical, coach Ryan Clark said his team has taken strides since a 65-24 home loss to Mosinee back on Jan. 17. That was the team’s first game without standout guard Aubryn Clark who has battled a back issue that has kept her out of the lineup ever since. 

“Mosinee is firing all cylinders for sure, very dangerous team going into the playoffs,” coach Clark said. “I thought, compared to the first time we played them, we were much more confident. We knew they were going to press hard, press in man-to-man, and be very physical, but I thought we had more success than we had the previous time. We hung around for a little bit, were able to get the ball through the press at times. Did a pretty good job of getting some easy baskets inside.”

Mosinee’s spurts came a little at a time in the first half as it built a 43-14 advantage at halftime. The Indians started the game on a 10-3 run, added a 13-1 run midway through the half and finished on an 18-5 push over the final 4 1/2 minutes. 

The lead ballooned to 38 just more than five minutes into the second half, but the Hodags were able to keep the margin under the running clock threshold of 40 points until the final minute of the game. 

“Mosinee’s just relentless. They just keep coming over and over and attacking. We had 17 turnovers in the first half, which pretty much most of them were turned into runout easy baskets,” coach Clark noted. “We battle hard in the second half. I thought we continued to do some good things.”

Vivian Lamers led all scorers with 16 points and was the only Hodag in double figures. She continues to handle the bulk of the scoring duties in Aubryn Clark’s absence, averaging 12 points per game in the 11 games that Clark’s missed.

“I think Vivian has made a big jump,” coach Clark said. “I think like compared to the first time when she played these guys was very confident with the basketball. She was handling the basketball against Taelyn (Jirschele) pretty well and her decision making was good. I think she made a big jump and just a confidence.”

Kelsey Winter hit a pair of 3-pointers and added nine points for Rhinelander.

Taelyn Jirschele led four Indians in double figures with 15 points. Addy Henrich had 14, Paetyn Jirschele scored 11 and Megan Treu added 10 off the bench.

Rhinelander finishes the regular season 13-11 overall, and finished tied for third with Medford in the GNC with a 7-5 mark. The Hodags are 4-7 since Aubryn Clark’s injury and will open the WIAA tournament at Menomonie on Friday. 

Coach Clark said the Hodags will likely be in for a challenge again Friday night, but the key against the Mustangs will be limiting mistakes. 

“I think if we played team just in a half court I think both seems to be pretty similar, but girls’ basketball a lot of times it comes down to who can take care of the ball against pressure,” he said. “We turn it over too much against pressure. We struggle a little too much. I told them we’re going to probably have 15 turnovers from pressure. We can’t have another 15 unforced careless errors. To give ourselves a fighting chance next week we’re going to have to cut those down.” 

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].