Rib Lake outlasts rival Prentice in regional thriller

WIAA DIV. 5 GIRLS BASKETBALL

Thirty-six minutes of ups and downs Friday ended in the season’s biggest high and a thrilling 56-54 WIAA Div. 5 regional semifinal win for the Rib Lake girls basketball team over rival Prentice.

The third-seeded Lady Redmen went into their third meeting of the season with the second-seeded Buccaneers with some confidence coming off their best offensive showing of the season in their 57-35 win over Owen-Withee in the Feb. 9 tournament opener and knowing they had given Prentice two respectable battles in 52-38 and 38-25 losses.

That confidence was evident early when Rib Lake tore out to a 20-8 lead. The lead disappeared when Prentice finished the half on a 23-2 surge to grab a 10-point lead early in the second half. The Redmen clawed their way back and ended a tense final five minutes on the right side of the scoreboard thanks to tie-breaking free throws from freshman Josie Scheithauer with 18.5 seconds left.

Freshman Danielle Mann scored a season-high 15 points and junior Lauren Pelnis added 15 as well. Scheithauer added a season-high nine points and everyone else who saw time contributed to the victory in some way.

Down 32-22 after a Kiandra Hartmann 3-pointer in the opening moments of the second half, Pelnis scored inside to end Rib Lake’s field-goal drought of nine and a half minutes and slowly but surely start the comeback.

The comeback gained some steam around the 10-minute mark when Mann scored off a Kamy Annala assist and Scheithauer assisted on a Tiara Kestler basket to bring Rib Lake within 36-32.

Serena Moore, who played well for Prentice by scoring 16 points, sank a 3-pointer to extend the Bucs’ lead to 42-35 with 7:07 to play, but Rebekah Strobach countered 25 seconds later with a huge 3 of her own from the right side that made it 42-38. Hartmann answered with a 3-ball but Mann hit a long two-point shot that showed Rib Lake wasn’t going to go away. That made it 45-40 with over six minutes to play.

Pelnis and Mann both made one of two free throws, then Strobach scored off a post feed from Scheithauer to close the gap to one with 4:45 left. Pelnis buried a triple from the left side on Rib Lake’s next trip down the floor. Suddenly, the Redmen led 47-45. Molly Heiser added free throws at the 3:51 mark to open up a 49-46 edge.

Hartmann led Prentice back, giving her team a 53-51 lead with two bonus free throws with 2:23 to go. Mann hit one of two with 1:53 left, then Strobach came through with two clutch free throws with 1:39 to go, giving Rib Lake a 54-53 lead.

Carissa Harding got fouled on an offensive rebound and made one of two free throws to tie it with 1:25 left. From there, the Redmen calmly worked the ball from side to side in their half-court offense and burned more than a minute off the clock. A lane finally opened up on the right side of the lane for Scheithauer, who got all the way to the rim before getting fouled.

She made the free throws and Prentice got the ball into their front court before calling timeout with 14.0 seconds left.

SARAH KOMAREK/THE STAR NEWS Semifinal win at Prentice

Hartmann weaved through intense traffi c and got off a short shot from the right side that came up short. Lydia Harding was long on a putback attempt and the rebound on that shot resulted in a held ball with 4.8 seconds left.

The possession arrow favored Prentice who, after one last timeout, got a right wing 3-point try from Hartmann that hit glass and rim but no net at the buzzer, setting off a loud celebration from Rib Lake’s side of the gym.

Mann sparked Rib Lake’s early offense with a game-opening 3-pointer and seven of the team’s first 11 points. Heiser added two scores and Pelnis got a steal that led to her offensive rebound basket and a 15-3 lead at the 12:25 mark. Scheithauer made one of two free throws after a steal, hit a runner after Kestler tracked down an offensive rebound in the corner and then scored off a shot fake and drive to put Rib Lake ahead 20-8 with 7:50 left in the half.

That’s when the Redmen went ice cold and Prentice grabbed temporary control of the game. Hartmann hit a couple of 3s, while Moore got a putback and a three-point play to close the gap to 20-19. The Bucs surged ahead 25-20 before Scheithauer finally hit two free throws with 1:01 left. Carissa Harding free throws made it 27-22 at the half. Leah Thums scored in transition and Hartmann drilled a trey to start the second half and give Prentice (8-10) its largest lead.

Hartmann led all scorers with 18 points.

Heiser scored eight points, Strobach had a season-high seven and Kestler added two for Rib Lake, who finished the year at 5-12 with a regional final loss at Athens Saturday night.

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