RIB LAKE GIRLS BASKETBALL - O-W puts Monday game away quickly; Redmen rout Falcons

RIB LAKE GIRLS BASKETBALL

It’s not out of the question that Rib Lake could earn a post-season rematch with Owen-Withee, and if that happens, the Redmen hope it would go better than Monday’s non-conference matchup did on the Blackhawks’ home floor.

Owen-Withee improved to 20-3 as it jumped ahead 230, led 35-6 at the half and coasted to a 52-22 win. Rib Lake was unable to crack the code in the first half on Owen-Withee’s zone defense and traps, the Blackhawks’ top inside presence Kendall Weiler scored 15 of her 21 points in the first half and the Redmen struggled with rebounding, which head coach Austin Edwards said afterwards was his biggest disappointment in the team’s performance in the loss.

Owen-Withee is the number-one seed in the area’s WIAA Division 5 sectional half-bracket, while Rib Lake (12-10) drew the sixth seed. If they survive the regional rounds next week, the teams would see each other again in the sectional semifinal round.

Owen-Withee’s 23-point run to start the game wasn’t a sudden burst, but with Rib Lake unable to score for nearly 12 minutes, the Blackhawks steadily put the game out of reach by the time Avery Niemi finally swished a midrange jumper for the Redmen. Weiler had 13 of the Blackhawks’ first 23 points, including a 3-pointer. Owen-Withee had at least six points off steals with Geneva Capetillo getting assists off two of those steals. Capetillo’s 3-pointer made it 33-2 before Rib Lake got late baskets from Tessa Weik and Kiana Dallmann.

Rib Lake was three of 15 from the field in the half and turned the ball over 15 times.

Owen-Withee was content with patiently moving the ball and burning time against Rib Lake’s zone defense in the second half. Meanwhile, the Redmen got a little more production on the offensive end with Weik scoring seven more points, including a three-point play while retrieving her own offensive rebound. She led the Redmen with nine points, seven rebounds and two assists. Addison Gumz scored all five of her points in the second half. Dallmann finished with three points, Niemi and Tahlia Scheithauer scored two apiece and Emma Tlusty made a second-half free throw. Scheithauer had six rebounds Ellie Petersen, who along with Weiler, Capetillo and Lydia Lobacz, was honored in Owen-Withee’s Senior Night celebration, scored 13 points and Capetillo finished with nine.

Rib Lake finishes its regular season tonight, Thursday, at Marawood North champion Phillips. Tip time is 7:15 p.m. From there it’s on to regionals starting Tuesday with a home game against 11th-seeded Flambeau (6-12) at 7 p.m. Rib Lake pummeled the Falcons 78-28 way back on Dec. 2. The winner will face either 14th-seeded Mercer (316) or third-seeded Winter (14-8) in the regional semifinal Feb. 28 with the higher seed hosting. The regional final is set for Saturday, March 1.

The first half wasn’t real pretty for either team Friday, but Rib Lake put things together in the second half, outscoring Abbotsford 35-5, to pull away for a 60-18 Marawood North home win.

The Redmen forced 43 Abbotsford turnovers and turned those into 37 points. Abbotsford made just one field goal in the second half, a Campbell Brodhagen 3pointer that made it 50-17 at the time, and only five field goals in the entire game. The turnovers limited the Falcons to just 34 attempts from the field.

Rib Lake shot a modest 31.9% from the field overall but stepped it up after a 10-for-38 first half by making 12 of 31 from the field in the second half, including three of seven from 3-point range.

The Redmen, who only went seven deep and were without senior Addison Gumz, among others, got 15 points and five steals from Emma Tlusty. The real Xfactor for Rib Lake was freshman post Madelyn Anderson, who came in with 12 points for the season. At 6-2, she became a matchup problem inside for the smaller Falcons and poured in 16 points while also grabbing 11 rebounds for her first varsity double-double. Ten of those points came in the second half.

Isabelle Gumz finished with nine points, five steals and two assists for Rib Lake. Niemi had seven points, four rebounds and two assists. Weik had six points, eight rebounds, two assists and two steals.

Dallmann had five points, six steals, five rebounds and three assists. Scheithauer led the Redmen with nine steals, grabbed eight rebounds to tie Weik for the team lead and had four assist. She made two of four free throws.

Neveah Treankler led Abbotsford with eight points. The Falcons fell to 4-11 in Marawood Conference play at 4-17 overall with the loss.

Stratford 45, Rib Lake 28

A 16-0 first-half run propelled the Stratford Tigers to a 45-28 home win over Rib Lake Thursday in the final Marawood Conference crossover contest of the season for both teams.

The big run covered a little more than eight minutes and turned a 6-6 game into a 22-6 bulge for the Tigers, who the Redmen basically played even the rest of the way. Rib Lake was unable to knock down shots consistently enough to make any kind of dent on that lead, the Tigers did some damage on the offensive glass behind its rotation of 5-10 senior Daisy Yoder, 6-0 junior Tria Tubbs and 6-3 junior Emily Zuelke and a handful of turnovers were critical when Stratford made its run.

Stratford had a 41-25 rebounding advantage and shot 39.6% from the field (19 of 48) compared to Rib Lake’s 27.3% (12 of 44).

The Redmen got early baskets from Addison Gumz, Niemi and Weik to forge the early tie. But Carly Pankratz, who led Stratford with 15 points, went on a personal mini-tear scoring nine of the Tigers’ next 11 points. Tubbs got two rebound baskets and added a free throw before Dallmann finally ended the run, getting a hoop and harm for Rib Lake with 5:01 left in the half. She missed the free throw and Stratford got scores from Kayla Casperson and Zuelke. Inside scores by Dallmann and Megan Komarek and another by Weik off an Isabelle Gumz assist gave Rib Lake a glimmer of hope at 26-14, but Pankratz took that away 10 seconds later by sinking a top of the key 3 to give Stratford a 29-14 halftime lead.

The Tigers opened the second half with an 8-2 spurt to go up 37-16. After a Dallmann 3, Pankratz hit a triple and Casperson got an easy rebound basket to make it 42-19. The Tigers were content to be very patient and burn the clock against Rib Lake’s zone in the final 12 minutes.

Dallmann led Rib Lake with nine points, while Weik scored seven and Niemi added four. From there, Tlusty, Komarek, Scheithauer and Addison Gumz each added a basket. The Redmen welcomed Isabelle Gumz back into the lineup after a five-game absence due to injury.

Weik had nine rebounds to lead Rib Lake. Tlusty had four. Addison Gumz and Dallmann had three steals each.

Casperson scored 12 points and Tubbs finished with nine for Stratford, who improved to 13-2 in the Marawood and 18-4 overall at the time.

Rib Lake’s loss allowed Phillips to clinch the North’s outright title, marking the sixth straight championship for the Loggers.

Rib Lake’s Tahlia Scheithauer (l. to r.), Tessa Weik, Madelyn Anderson and Isabelle Gumz collapse on Owen-Withee’s Kendall Weiler, forcing her to kick the basketball back out to the perimeter during the second half of Monday’s 52-22 loss to the Blackhawks. MATT FREY/THE STAR NEWS