Lady Hodags overcome slow start, down Northland Pines

Offensive struggles had the Rhinelander High School girls’ basketball team on its heels for a better part of a half, but the Hodags eventually found enough of a stride to take care of Northland Pines.

Vivian Lamers matched a season-high with 22 points and added nine rebounds, sisters Aubryn and Teagan Clark scored 13 points each and the Hodags defeated the Eagles 58-40 in Eagle River.

Rhinelander (11-9, 7-4 Great Northern) trailed 10-9 midway through the first half before finding a bit of footing. The Hodags ended the half on a 15-4 run to lead 24-14 at the break. The lead extended to as many as 24 points in the second half.

“We didn’t play our best basketball, but I thought, we have some things we can clean up. We did some things pretty well. We did force 32 turnovers, which was positive but, I think we had 13 or 14,” Hodag coach Ryan Clark said. “I thought their body language was pretty good. They were frustrated with their offensive game, but will still take the win.”

    Rhinelander’s Teagan Clark drives on a fast break against Northland Pines’ Ryley Darr during the first half of a GNC girls’ basketball game in Eagle River Friday, Feb. 6. (Bob Mainhardt for the River News)
  

Lamers had another strong night for the Hodags while another team focused its defensive attention on the Clark sisters. The junior scored 16 of her points after halftime, including a four-point play that made it 42-23 with 11:30 to remaining. Pines (7-12, 3-8 Great Northern) inched back to within 14 with 6:10 left before Lamers scored eight points and had an assist during a decisive 10-0 run that made it 57-33 with 3:09 to play.

“Viv had the hot hand again, which is nice to see,” coach Clark said. “For Vivian to be a threat out there and knocking down shots, having a third scorer is just so huge. Eventually, if we keep being a little more consistent having a third scorer like this, I think teams might have to be a little more honest with us defensively.” 

Aubryn Clark struggled from the field going just 4 of 26 on the night, but had a key 6-0 stretch in the final minute of the first half to give Rhinelander some separation. Clark hit both ends of a 1-and-1 with 33.1 seconds left in the half and was fouled again while the second free throw was in the air. That gave her another 1-and-1. She converted both ends again and then followed with a layup in transition off a turnover to push Rhinelander’s lead to 10.

“Just to kind of give us some breathing room. I think when Pines is hanging around, and then we start getting a little bit tight, and it’s just kind of the way basketball goes, that momentum, those swings,” coach Clark said. “Aubryn’s still trying to find her shot consistently, but we’re doing other things well to get the win, and if she starts knocking down shots consistently, I think we’ll take a big jump.”

Rhinelander finished the night 31% from the floor (21 of 68) in an uptempo game. Pines, despite committing 32 turnovers, was 17 of 62 from the field (27%) and gobbled up 22 offensive rebounds.

Ryley Darr paced the Eagles with 17 points while Natalie Kohn added 14 points and nine rebounds. 

“I’ll give a lot of credit to Pines. Especially at their place, they come out and they play really hard,” coach Clark said. “Coach Jaclyn (Halsey) really gets them to compete, all way to the end. I thought today Pines, every loose ball, they’re on the floor. They’re physical, they’re aggressive.”

Rhinelander remains in the GNC this week for back-to-back games against Lincoln County opponents. The Hodags are at Tomahawk tonight and will travel to Merrill on Thursday. 

“Tomahawk will give us a fight just like Pines did. It’s at their place. They didn’t have (point guard) Lizzy Long the first time we played them,” coach Clark said. “They’ll make some adjustments, and then we go right away on Thursday and play Merrill. So we got to get both of those wins and we’ll be 13-9 for the (computer) seeding, and we’ll see where we fall.”

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].