Lady Hodags run out of March magic

ANTIGO — Coach Ryan Clark and the Rhinelander High School girls’ basketball team was hoping for at least one more game in its WIAA tournament run, but their opportunity to play for a trip to the state tournament was denied by one of the state’s best players. 

Leah Nordin scored 26 points, collected 12 rebounds and converted a key three-point play in the final minute as Shawano snuck past Rhinelander 50-47 Thursday, March 5 win a Division 2 sectional semifinal at Sheldon Fieldhouse.

Rhinelander (16-11) nearly pulled off a stunning upset against the top-seeded Hawks, rallying from down seven with 1:10 remaining to make it a one-point game with 22 seconds to go, but Nordin’s basket made it a two-score game again, effectively ending the Hodags tournament run. 

“Disappointed that we lost, because we knew we could beat this team,” coach Clark said afterward. “Good battle by both teams. Shawano played very well. Had a chance to win, so that was disappointing. But I just wanted to remind them that what a great run we’ve had the last week and a half. We leveled up. We were able to get through the regional. We gave a great showing tonight as far as a competitive battle tonight in the sectional.”

The decisive play was not without controversy. Nordin appeared to strike Rhinelander freshman Teagan Clark in the face with a forearm as she worked to get free off a screen. No foul was called and Nordin raced behind the defense and received the inbound pass with a free break to the hoop. Aubryn Clark, Teagan’s older sister, caught up with Nordin as she got to the hoop but was too late, fouling Nordin on the shot. Nordin, who went 5 for 5 from the foul line on the night, made the foul shot to give Shawano (18-9) a 49-45 lead with 19 seconds left.

    Shawano’s Creden Weisnicht inbounds the basketball late in the second half of a WIAA Division 2 sectional semifinal game in Antigo Thursday, March 5. Shawano’s Leah Nordin scored on the play, and converted a free throw, giving Shawano a 49-45 lead, however the photo depicts Weisnicht’s left foot inbounds on the pass, which should have resulted in a Shawano turnover. (Bob Mainhardt for the River News)
  

Teagan Clark had to come to the bench with a bloodied nose. Ryan Clark pleaded with the officiating crew for a foul, to no avail. Further aggravating the situation for the Hodags, photographic evidence shows that inbounder Creden Weisnicht had her left foot in bounds when she threw the pass, which should have been a violation and a turnover on the Hawks. 

“(The officials) let them play all games, so that one is just a tough one because I think they’re trying to create a little too much space and displace us and they just popped her. It was unintentional, but got her up high,” he said. “Then we just got to be smarter, like, let that layup go, and it’s only a three-point game. We put her on the line. She made it to go up four. So, Aubryn, that’s a play she’s got to learn from, just let it go. And we just got to execute better. We talked about, they’re going to try to go deep, make sure we don’t get beat on that. Make sure we switch the screen. Situation that we probably haven’t practiced enough and we just didn’t execute correctly. We’ll learn from it and we’ll move on.”

Ultimately, a few too many mistakes cost the Hodags. They shot just under 39% (19 of 49) from the field, but committed 12 of their 17 turnovers in the second half. Aubryn Clark led the Hodags with 18 points, but finished the night 7 of 29 from the field. 

“Throughout the course of the game, we made too many mistakes,” coach Clark said. “Whether it was shot selection at times, poor defensive execution at times, careless turnovers. Maybe doesn’t seem like so huge early in the game, but all that stuff really came back to bite us.”

Rhinelander led 32-31 off a Lexi Beran make with 10:11 remaining, but Shawano scored 11 straight from there, taking a 42-32 lead on a Anna Dreier layup with 6:59 remaining. 

The Hodags struggled to get good looks most of the night against Shawano’s mix of 1-3-1, 3-2 and 2-3 zones and while Shawano didn’t get out in transition often, they scored at key points, including a breakaway layup by Maci Beyer that made it 46-39 with 2:55 left. 

“Too many live ball turnovers that turned into easy breakaway points for Nordin,” coach Clark said. “A couple careless ones were, you know, Teagan’s not paying attention, or we throw it away. Just forced a couple passes, like 12 turnovers (in the second half) is way too many. You can’t expect to win a game with 12 turnovers.”

Still, a Hodag team that rallied from down 11 in the regional finals against Marinette to even make the WIAA’s Sweet 16 had one last fight left in it down the stretch. After Teagan Clark hit a 3 to make it 46-42 with 1:08 left, Nordin committed a turnover on the inbound to give the ball right back to Rhinelander. Aubryn Clark was fouled on a drive to the basket and made one of two free throws to cut the lead to three. After another Shawano turnover on the inbound, the Hodags found Beran underneath to make it 46-45 with 22 seconds remaining. 

“This team can definitely score in bunches and they don’t quit,” coach Clark said. “They have no give up in them. Super competitive group. Sometimes it probably blurs the line of competitiveness and we get a little bit just frustrated. But they’ll keep fighting. If there’s time on the clock, they’re going to fight.”

Nordin was almost a single-person wrecking crew for Shawano in the first half. She scored 17 over the first 18 minutes, including Shawano’s first 13 points, as the Hawks took a 25-24 lead to the break. The Wisconsin recruit had a much stronger game against Rhinelander than the first meeting on Jan. 20, when she was held to 15 points and eight rebounds, but scored two key baskets in the final 90 seconds to help the Hawks prevail, 42-38. 

“I was disappointed how we played. I didn’t think we competed very hard against her,” coach Clark said. “In the first half in general, I didn’t think we executed what we talked about defensively very well. I was pretty upset. But second half, I thought Teagan, for a good part of that second half, really defensively stood up and guarded her well. She’s a tough player. She’s hit a couple really tough shots in the second half on some pull-ups going left. We did the best we could on her. She elevated and scored. You know, she’s had a heck of a career 2,000-point score, one of our best in Wisconsin, and a good kid. So she worked really hard. She had a great game. She’s a tough, tough matchup.”

Aubryn Clark hit a 3 with 15:50 to go that put Rhinelander up 27-25. It was her 78th triple of the season, surpassing Lily Treder’s mark of 77 3s set two seasons ago for Rhinelander’s single-season 3-point record. She added one more and finished the night 3 of 11 from distance. Clark needed a high volume this season to break the mark. She attempted 294 3s on the season and finished the year hitting at just under a 27% clip.

Still it was one more accolade for the Hodag junior who was voted the conference player of the year after missing the final 12 games of the 2024-25 season with a back injury. 

“With Aubryn, I think, for her just to be back and to get the chance to play 27 games, like just to play the entire year, that’s something that she’s just going to remember,” coach Clark said. “But in the offseason, you know, she’ll work hard. I think for her becoming a better shooter. Like she can get her shot off. Now we got to really just get dialed in to make shots.”

Beran finished with 10 points and eight rebounds for Rhinelander, Teagan Clark added nine points and Ellie Cummings scored eight off the bench, all in the first half. 

Dreier scored eight for Shawano as the Hawks shot just under 48% (20 of 42) on the evening. 

While not the outcome the Hodags were hoping for, coach Clark said his team should be proud of the way it finished its season. Sitting at 7-9 following a 53-51 loss at Medford Jan. 22, the Hodags won nine of their last 11 games and advanced to the sectional round of the WIAA tournament for the first time since 2020.

“I hope they take this experience and this competitiveness and this ride into their other sports, because the more all of our sports are successful, the more our school climate is better. We have great community. They came out and supported us,” coach Clark said. “I just want to see more success from Rhinelander.”

There is plenty of optimism going into next season for the Hodags as this year’s squad did not have a single senior on the roster. 

“We’ll get better. That’s why it’s kind of like disappointing, but also, we have a bright future,” coach Clark said. “I think it was so important to get this far because the kids know what it feels like. It burns right now, obviously, because it’s over. We’ve almost gone four months, and a lot of that time is six practices a week. for them to hang in there mentally and be just still dialed in like it’s the first month of practice and still going hard, is just awesome. Super excited for the future. Long offseason, but they can take a lot of positives from this year to move on to next year.” 

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].