Falcons and Cardinals fly away with Marawood victories

RIB LAKE GIRLS BASKETBALL

There was no repeat Tuesday of the overtime thriller the Rib Lake and Abbotsford girls basketball teams played back in December.

The Falcons’ Sydney Falteisek scored 18 points, nine in each half, as Abbotsford opened up a 22-12 halftime lead and coasted from there to a 48-31 win over their Marawood North rivals.

The Lady Redmen just never really got much going offensively, making just 11 shots from the field and eight of 18 free throws while falling to 3-10 in Marawood play and 5-14 overall.

Abbotsford (6-8, 12-9) who beat the Redmen 47-43 in the overtime game Dec. 17, completed a season sweep and clinched a third-place finish in the North Division.

“Abbotsford’s overall quickness on defense just completely took us out of our offense,” Rib Lake head coach Wayne Mann said.

The Falcons limited Rib Lake’s leading scorer, Danielle Mann, to five points. Freshman guard Addison Gumz led the the team in scoring Tuesday with seven points on four-of-six free throw shooting and a second-half 3-pointer. Molly Heiser added six points and Lauren Pelnis had four, all in the second half.

Kamy Annala scored three secondhalf points, while Tia Bube, Josie Scheithauer and Emily Rodman each added a basket.

Mann did lead the Redmen with nine rebounds, while Heiser had seven, Pelnis had five and Bube and Scheithauer grabbed three apiece. Pelnis had three assists and Annala had two. Annala, Gumz and Heiser had two steals apiece.

The Redmen, though, made just 10 of 28 two-points and one of 12 from behind the arc.

Briseida Escalera helped Abbotsford put the game away in the second half when she scored eight of her 10 points. Sommer Brodhagen scored all eight of hers in the second half. Alea Graff scored six of her eight in the first half.

Rib Lake returns to its home court to face Stratford tonight, Thursday, in a Marawood Conference crossover. After a non-conference home game with Tomahawk Tuesday, the Lady Redmen will host North rival Prentice on Feb. 17 and finish the regular season Feb. 18 with a rescheduled crossover game with visiting Marathon.

All upcoming games tip at 7:15 p.m.

Newman 47, Rib Lake 43

In a game played that saw neither team hold more than a one-possession lead for nearly the entire way Thursday, the host Newman Catholic Cardinals made their last surge from the free throw line to nudge past Rib Lake 47-43 in a Marawood crossover game.

In a second half that featured seven lead changes and six ties, Newman took the lead for good by making six of eight free throws in the last 1:34. Newman’s 5-9 junior Maggie Wulf had a huge night, pouring in 26 points including the team’s last points on free throws.

The Redmen got clutch shots of their own throughout the game, making eight 3-pointers –– two apiece from Mann, Gumz, Pelnis and Annala.

Unfortunately, a tying attempt from the top of the key by Mann with 10 seconds left was just a fraction of an inch too long and bounced off the back iron and was rebounded by Wulf. She sank the clinching free throw with 3.6 seconds left that put it out of reach.

“We played them even up for most of the game,” Wayne Mann said. “The game went back and forth and was close the entire way. We basically had a twominute period where we turned the ball over four times in a row and that was the difference.”

Rib Lake held the game’s largest lead at 17-10 midway through the first half, thanks to an 8-0 run that featured triples by Gumz and Mann and Gumz’s contested layup after she had gotten a steal. Newman, though, got five quick points from Ashley Jankowski and got within 19-18 by halftime.

Annala opened the second half with a 3-pointer, that was answered by free throws from Wulf and a transition basket by Evie Bates. Pelnis responded with a 3-pointer and that’s how the rest of the half went.

After a solid first half of breaking Newman’s pressure, more turnovers crept into Rib Lake’s offensive possessions in the second half, preventing the Redmen from building a lead larger than three. Annala’s second triple put Rib Lake up 33-30 with 11:40 to go. Mann’s second long ball of the night gave the Redmen a 36-34 lead with 7:20 left.

Mann’s jumper tied it at 39-39 after Newman had gone on a little spurt. Josie Scheithauer hit two of four bonus free throws in a 93-second span to tie the game at 41-41 with 2:06 to go.

Newman’s Lily Shields missed a bonus throw with 1:51 left, but Newman got the rebound and eventually turned it into Bates’ tie-breaking free throw with 1:34 to play. A tie-up in the backcourt went to Newman three seconds later and the Cardinals turned that into two free throws from Wulf with 1:15 to go.

Rib Lake got a driving layup from Heiser with 44 seconds left to cut the lead to one, but Newman calmly worked the ball around and forced Rib Lake to foul Wulf with 21.9 seconds left and she swished both throws. Rib Lake got the tying shot it wanted. It just didn’t go in.

Mann led Rib Lake with 12 points and eight rebounds, and Gumz had a nice night with nine points and two steals. Heiser scored eight points and had four rebounds and two assists. Annala and Pelnis scored six each and Scheithauer finished with two. Pelnis had four rebounds and two assists, Annala had two rebounds and two assists and Scheithauer had three rebounds and two assists. Bube had four rebounds and two assists.