Lady Hodags rout Antigo, snap 3-game skid

ANTIGO — The Rhinelander High School girls’ basketball team has gotten better in each game its played without star guard Aubryn Clark. The Lady Hodags finally experienced some much-needed success in her absence on Friday night.

Vivian Lamers scored 22 points and Ella Miljevich added 12 points and 13 rebounds Rhinelander led wire-to-wire in a 67-35 win over Antigo at Sheldon Fieldhouse.

The Hodags (10-6, 5-3 Great Northern) had lost three straight and five of their last six going into the contest — the last two without Aubryn Clark, who does not have a definitive timetable to return from a lower back injury. Even against an Antigo team that had dropped 13 straight games (1-13, 0-8 GNC), and was without its top player in Tristin Arlen, coach Ryan Clark said Friday’s victory was much needed for his team’s psyche. 

“It doesn’t matter who you play, winning always feels good,” he said. “You know, when we kind of come in the season and we have all our plans. That’s been really shaken up, I thought we’ve persevered thought that a little bit.”

Antigo struggled with Rhinelander’s pressure much of the night, committing 37 turnovers. That’s the second-most Rhinelander’s forced this year, surpassed only by the 44 it forced in the first meeting against the Red Robins back on Dec. 3. 

Though Antigo had some success breaking Rhinelander’s press early, the Hodags used an 18-3 run midway through the first half to seize control and took a 38-20 lead to the break. The margin never got closer than 16 points in the second half as the Hodags held the Robins without a 3-pointer and to 24% shooting (12 of 51) overall. 

Rhinelander got plenty of contributions on Friday as it had three players score season highs and two others come within a point of their best performance of the year. 

Miljevich finished the night 6 of 8 from the field as she scored a career-high 12 points. She also had her first double-digit rebounding effort of the season, despite going up against a taller Antigo squad. 

“She’s been rebounding really well. To me, she’s our most improved player from last year,” coach Clark said. “I just think she just does all the little things really well and she’s always making hustle plays. She’s a soccer-first kid, but she’s come a long way in just the last two months. She’s just a team-first kid.”

    Rhinelander’s Lexi Beran goes up for a rebound against Antigo’s Abby Pennington during the first half of a GNC girls’ basketball game at Antigo Friday, Jan. 24. Beran scored a career-high 11 points in the Hodags’ 67-35 win. (Bob Mainhardt for the River News)
  

Sophomore forward Lexi Beran also finished the game with a career-high 11 points while freshman Ellie Cummings, who has seen more varsity minutes during Aubryn Clark’s absence, scored a career-high seven points. 

“Lexi played a couple games recently where she’s swimming a little bit mentally and a little bit in her head. I thought she came in and played very mentally tough,” coach Clark said. “She had a really nice game. And then I thought Ellie, Ellie’s just a freshman, kind of dealing with an ankle a little bit, but she’s filling that spot really well. She’s a true point guard, she’s got nice ball-handling skills. Again, there’s a freshman stepping on the varsity court. Awesome opportunities for her.”

The 22 points for Lamers were one off her career best, set the previous Friday in a loss at Medford. Dawsyn Barkus was also one off her season high with seven points. It was the second straight game in which Rhinelander had at least five players score five or more points. 

“We want to get to a point where we got everyone escapable of putting the ball in the basket, and be a threat offensively,” coach Clark said. “I thought we had some nice footwork plays. We had some step throughs. Even if we didn’t make the shot, I could see stuff we worked on the practice, it’s kind of showing up a little bit. Especially when they get toward the lane area, they’re slowing their minds down a little bit, just making the next read and countering what the defense is doing.” 

Three players did all of the scoring for Antigo. Lauren Lenzner and Baily Heinzen had 12 points each while Ava West chipped in 11. The Robins had four scratches from their varsity lineup on Friday and dressed only seven players for the contest. 

“They’re really limited right now with just seven bodies that are able to play and so eventually, you could just wear them down,” coach Clark said. 

The Hodags will have their hands full tonight on the road at No. 3 (D5) Wisconsin Rapids Assumption. Rhinelander will wrap it its four-game road trip at Northland Pines this coming Friday. 

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].