Pressure presents a challenge, but Rib Lake able to hang with Royals

RIB LAKE GIRLS BASKETBALL

A first-half shooting display from 3-point range wasn’t enough to offset Rib Lake’s struggles in handling Assumption’s defensive tenacity Friday in a 54-42 loss in Wisconsin Rapids.

The Lady Redmen buried five 3-pointers in the half and hung right with the Royals through those first 18 minutes, only trailing by four at the half.

But the offense never got in sync in the second half and the Royals gradually pulled away, outscoring Rib Lake 23-15 in the half to improve to 9-2 at the time.

A 1-3-1 halfcourt trap was the primary culprit in Rib Lake’s turnover troubles.

“By far this was the toughest fullcourt pressure we have faced this year,” Rib Lake head coach Wayne Mann said. “Assumption pressured us from the start to the end of the game. We had one short segment of four minutes where we lost composure and that was the difference in the game.”

When Rib Lake broke through the traps in the first half, the offense clicked. Danielle Mann got free for a long twopoint shot from the left side and then hit two 3s from nearly the exact same spot on the left wing to give Rib Lake a shortlived 10-9 lead.

Josie Scheithauer hit a 3-ball from the other side to tie the game at 13-13 and Tia Bube was in the right place at the right time, putting back a Scheithauer miss to knot things at 15-15.

Turnovers helped Assumption shoot out to a 27-20 lead, but Rib Lake battled back, getting a 3-pointer from Lauren Pelnis and single free throws from Molly Heiser and Pelnis. With seven seconds left, the Redmen broke Assumption’s pressure and from halfcourt, Heiser found Pelnis breaking toward the basket and the senior laid it in as time expired to make it a 31-27 game.

Assumption, a young team in the process of reloading after winning the WIAA Division 5 state title last year, broke the game open by starting the second half on a 17-4 run. Ainara Sainz de Rozas hit a 3-pointer from the left corner and could have turned it into a four-point play but missed the free throw. Kayla Kirkman, Anna Schooley and Sarah Shaw scored in the paint. Shaw got a steal, which led to Maleia Kolo’s putback before Mann finally got Rib Lake on the board in the half with a 3-pointer that made it 42-30. But Shaw, who had eight steals, got one of those thefts and fed Sainz de Rozas for a bucket and she scored off a Cristin Casey assist. Addi Voliert scored to answer an Addison Gumz free throw and give the Royals their largest lead at 48-31 with 10 minutes left.

While Rib Lake held the Royals to just six more points the rest of the way, the Redmen were unable to make much of a dent in that deficit.

Mann and Pelnis both scored 11 points to lead Rib Lake. Heiser scored five firsthalf points. Bube scored four points off the bench, Scheithauer, Gumz and Rebekah Strobach scored three points each and Emily Rodman hit a mid-range shot for the game’s final points.

Mann led Rib Lake with eight rebounds and Pelnis grabbed six. Gumz and Heiser had three apiece. Kamy Annala led Rib Lake with two assists and Mann and Pelnis had three steals each.

Rib Lake made 13 of 45 shots overall from the field (28.9%) and were 10 of 15 from the free throw line (66.7%).

Shaw was a thorn in Rib Lake’s side with her eight steals and game-high 12 points. Kendall Duellman added nine and Kalo had eight.

“Being able to stay with the fourthranked team in the state means we are improving and need to keep improving,” coach Mann said.

After a 63-41 loss at Gilman Monday (see story on page 1), the Redmen are 2-4 in the Marawood and 3-8 overall. They were scheduled to start a tough nine-day stretch tonight, Thursday, by traveling to Marawood North-leading Phillips, but health and safety protocols were hitting Rib Lake hard at mid-week, leaving the upcoming schedule in doubt. Tonight’s game has been postponed to Jan. 24.

Rib Lake’s boys basketball team is also on a hiatus this week and isn’t scheduled to play again until at least Monday at Flambeau. Their Friday game at Phillips has been moved to Tuesday with a 5:30 p.m. tip.