Hopkins gets second-team nod; Pelnis and Heiser mentioned

ALL-MARAWOOD NORTH GIRLS BASKETBALL

Rib Lake senior Nellie Hopkins received a nice send-off award after finishing her time with the school’s girls basketball team by earning second-team honors in the voting for the 2020-21 All-Marawood North squad.

Hopkins is one of three members of the team to be recognized by conference coaches for their play this year. Juniors Lauren Pelnis and Molly Heiser got spots on the 10-player honorable mention list.

It’s the first All-Marawood award in basketball for all three players.

The honors follow a shortened but, at times, improved season for the Lady Redmen, who won just three games last winter. The team went 5-13 this year under head coach Mike Wudi, including 1-11 in Marawood Conference games, and made a late run to the regional final round of the WIAA Division 5 tournament.

Hopkins, listed as a 5-7 forward, averaged 7.9 points per game and was among the Marawood leaders in steals with 3.0 per game. Her 4.2 rebounds per game ranked second on the Rib Lake roster as well.

Hopkins played in 13 of the team’s regular-season games and, unfortunately, was unable to play during the post-season run.

She scored a season- high 15 points and also grabbed five rebounds in a 52-38 loss at Prentice on Jan. 4 and had 14 points, five rebounds and two assists in a 48-35 loss at Abbotsford on Feb. 1. In the team’s Marawood win over visiting Abbotsford on Jan. 5, Hopkins had 11 points, three steals and two rebounds.

Hopkins hit double figures with 12 points and added five steals in a 38-25 loss to Prentice on Jan. 29 and had 10 points, four rebounds and three steals in a season- opening 53-34 loss to Athens.

She had six steals in 32-22 non-conference win at Tomahawk Feb. 2 and six steals in a 46-21 non-conference loss to Gilman on Jan. 26.

This year’s all-conference team consists of six players on each of the first and second teams. North champion Phillips had two repeat first-team selections in senior Rachel Callow and junior Jada Eggebrecht. Jada Eggebrecht and head coach Mike Eggebrecht were named Player and Coach of the Year for the second straight season as the Loggers went 11-0 in league play, 19-2 overall and came up one win short of a state berth in WIAA Division 4 tournament play.

Seniors Kiandra Hartmann of Prentice and Mya Ruesch of Abbotsford and junior McKennzie Schug of Athens are all first-time, first-team selections.

Pelnis and Heiser played key roles in Rib Lake’s late surge and were seasonlong starters for the Lady Redmen.

Pelnis, back after missing most of last season due to a knee injury, was Rib Lake’s leading scorer at 8.9 points per game and its leading rebounder at 5.7 boards per game. She added 1.9 steals and 1.2 assists while playing in all 18 games.

Pelnis also led the team in 3-point makes with nine in 38 attempts and her aggressive style put her at the free throw 75 times, by far a team-high. She made 36 of them.

Heiser’s scoring went up a notch during the tournament run and she finished with a modest 3.4 points per game average. But she was another solid rebounder for the squad at 3.7 per game and defender. She averaged just under a steal and an assist per game.

With Hopkins out, both Heiser and Pelnis helped pick up the slack in the team’s post-season wins over Owen-Withee and Prentice.

In the regional opener against Owen-Withee, Pelnis scored a career-high 23 points and added nine steals, six rebounds and three assists. Heiser scored a career-high 14 points, grabbed seven steals and added five rebounds and two All-Marawood girls hoops

assists.

The 56-54 win at Prentice in the regional semifinals stood as Rib Lake’s biggest win of the season. Pelnis had 15 points, six rebounds and two steals, while Heiser had eight points and seven rebounds in the win. Pelnis also had a 15-point, 12-rebound double-double in the team’s 66-38 regional final loss at Athens. She hit double digits in all three games against the regional champs, scoring 13 points in the season opener and 10 points in a Jan. 11 loss to the Blue Jays.

Pelnis had nine points and 11 rebounds in the Jan. 5 win over Abbotsford and had 10 points, 11 boards and three steals in the team’s win at Tomahawk. Heiser had eight points and five rebounds while making all four of her shots in Rib Lake’s 42-6 win over Chequamegon, who did not play a Marawood schedule this year. She had seven points, four rebounds and two assists while going three of four from the field in the Feb. 1 loss to Abbotsford. She grabbed a season-high 10 rebounds in the Jan. 5 win over Abbotsford.

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Lauren Pelnis Hon. Mention

Molly Heiser Hon. Mention