Offense goes cold in second half for Lady Hodags at Menomonie

Rhinelander’s offense ran out of gas in the second half Tuesday, Dec. 30 in a playoff rematch against Menomonie. The Hodags were held scoreless over the final 7 minutes, 27 seconds of the contest and the Mustangs inched away to a 54-44 win in the final day of the Menomonie Holiday tournament.

The Hodags (5-6, 2-2 Great Northern) hung with Menomonie most of the way, but Jordan Ohman scored the final four of her game-high 27 points down the stretch as the Mustangs (4-4, 0-3 Big Rivers) protected the ball and the lead. 

“We just missed a few shots. We had a breakaway, kind of broke the press. We missed a layup. Then a couple of just empty trips there and then, the 5-minute mark, when we’re down six, they just pulled it out and played keep away, which is frustrating,” Hodag coach Ryan Clark said. “Menomonie’s a solid program. I thought we played pretty well. I’m disappointed that we didn’t get the win, but, a good game to play. Kids are pretty confident afterwards, pretty happy with the performance, just wish we would have got the W.”

Aubryn Clark led the Hodags with 16 points and now sits 15 shy of 1,000 for her career going into a home contest tonight against Tomahawk. She didn’t play in last year’s playoff contest at Menomonie, which the Mustangs won 57-42, due to a back injury.

Rhinelander had one of its more efficient offensive first halves of the season, going 13 of 27 from the field and trailed Menomonie 34-32 at the break. The Hodags went cold from there, however, going just 5 of 24 the rest of the way — including 2 of 12 from beyond the arc. 

The Mustangs played from the lead the entire second half. Teagan Clark hit a 3 with 7:54 to go to cut the advantage to 46-42. After Gracie Miller finished in the post for Menomonie, Lexi Beran scored off a press break for Rhinelander to make it 48-44 with 7:28 remaining. Ohman scored on Menomonie’s next possession and Rhinelander never got any closer.

“Offensively, we still just got to do a better job. Aubryn and Teagan are both sick, so that didn’t help, but I feel like we still got to do a better job, everyone off the ball,” coach Clark said. “I thought Vivian (Lamers) was more aggressive looking to score early. I thought Maddie Paulson was looking to score a little bit more. Ella (Miljevich) had some nice plays. But, I think the more we can get kids off the ball, just be the threats to score, recognizing when they have a flash or slip open, just that little stuff there, I think, will make a big difference.”

On the other side of the ball, the Hodags had a difficult time slowing down Ohman, who finished 11 of 15 from the field. She had 17 in the first half alone as Menomonie led most of the way.

“We didn’t get the right defensive matchup. We didn’t guard her correctly. We needed to put Teagan on her. We just didn’t get that switch until too late in the game,” coach Clark said. “I thought we matched up correctly against a few kids. We just got to get Teagan on their best player. I think sometimes we just kind of openly freely switched a little bit off ball, which then put us in some disadvantages guarding the ball.”

Rhinelander took its only lead of the game, up 10-9 on a pair of free throws from Lamers with 13:08 left in the first half. Ohman answered, scoring on a drive on Menomonie’s next trip down the floor, sparking a 7-0 run that put the Mustangs up six. 

The Hodags clawed back and tied the game a 32 on an Aubryn Clark 3 — her third of the opening half — with 1:24 left before the break, but Ohman scored in the post with 25 seconds remaining to give Menomonie a two-point lead. 

Beran had eight points and seven rebounds for Rhinelander while Teagan Clark and Lamers finished with 7 points each. The Hodags finished the night 35% (18 of 51) from the field and committed 18 turnovers. 

Emmi Marlett added 14 points for Menomonie, which shot 42% on the night (21 of 49).

Despite two losses at the Menomonie tournament, coach Clark called the games a positive learning experience for his team against two good squads from the western half of the state. 

“Not having a senior, it’s kind of encouraging. You know, everyone here is going to come back, so the more we could just get some good growth opportunities, we’ll be OK,” he said. “We got to get to a point to where this is our floor, and we don’t drop from this. I think we’ve had too many peaks and valleys this year between our performance. Sometimes their offense looks good, sometimes not so good, sometimes the defense is strong. (Against St. Croix Central), the defense is poor. I just want to see a little more consistency. Now we’re in January, so we definitely need to turn the corner.”

That will begin for the Hodags tonight at home against Tomahawk. That’s the first of back-to-back home games against Lincoln County schools this week for Rhinelander, which will host Merrill this coming Friday at the Miazga Gym.

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].