Sisters are a Shake & Bake duo

Nickname is from popular racing movie

By Casey Krautkramer

Father Craig Prihoda of Marathon thought of a fitting nickname for his daughters, Jada and Kali Prihoda, who are teammates on the Red Raiders’ varsity girls basketball team.

Jada and Kali Prihoda work so well together in helping each other achieve success on the basketball court that their father nicknamed them “Shake & Bake” based off the 2006 popular stock car racing move, “Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby.” In the move, fictional characters Cal Naughton Jr. is the Shake, while his racing teammate Ricky Bobby is the Bake. Naughton Jr. helps Ricky Bobby win the stock car races. On the basketball court this season, the Marathon girls basketball senior Jada Prihoda is the Shake and her sister, junior Kali Prihoda, is the Bake. They are both starting players on the Red Raiders.

Jada Prihoda said following Marathon’s 38-29 road win against Stratford on Thursday that sometimes their father will even bring a sign that reads, “Shake & Bake” to the games.

“I think it’s great because it’s the nickname that we go by now,” Jada Prihoda said. “It’s fun to have a connection with my sister on the basketball court; I’ve always dreamt of playing with my sister on the same high school basketball team, so this is just great. Our nickname “Shake & Bake” just gives us more motivation to play well together on the basketball court.”

Marathon rebounded to handily defeat Stratford on Thursday, after losing on a last-second shot to Athens in its previous game. Red Raiders head coach Jeff Schneider and his players quickly moved on to their next contest against the Tigers.

“Our coach told us before the game on Thursday to just keep playing hard no matter what happened in our last game,” Jada Prihoda said. “We just needed to forget about our last game because it’s not possible to change the outcome, so we just need to focus on our next game.”

Marathon’s defense helped the squad build a 10-2 lead against Stratford. The Tigers eventually fought back to tied the game at 12 points apiece with two minutes left before halftime, but the Red Raiders’ defense helped the team regain a large second- half advantage. Coach Schneider constantly preaches to his players the importance of playing sound defense against opponents.

“Our defense is definitely something we take pride in,” Schneider said. “Our players did a super job shutting down Stratford’s top player Lauren Kraus.”

Marathon’s defense held Kraus, who is Stratford’s junior center, to only two points which is far shy of her 12 points-per-game average this season. No Tiger player scored in doublefigure points against the Red Raiders. Junior Bailey Linzmaier and freshman Kalyn Schueller paced Stratford with six points each.

Senior Allison Wokatsch led Marathon with 13 points. Senior Laci Hoeksema contributed eight points while Jada Prihoda had seven and Kayla Radtke six. Red Raiders junior Ashley Phakitthong paced her team with eight rebounds, three assists and two steals. Kali Prihoda added six rebounds and Hoeksema had five.

Coach Schneider said the emergence of Phakitthong in the team’s starting lineup since Christmas, upon her recovery from a knee injury, has paid dividends for the Red Raiders in the second half of this season.

“Ashley is doing a better job of keeping her head up while dribbling the basketball so she can find her open teammates,” Schneider said. “Her dribbles are a little bit lower as she’s driving to the basket, which gives her less of a chance of getting the ball poked away. She is really taking the ball strong to the basket.”

He continues to give praise to his senior leader, Wokatsch, who scored 1,000 career points earlier this season.

“I need to give a huge shout to Allison Wokatsch because I think her leadership, unselfishness and work ethic are just unbelievable,” Schneider said. “She comes in to shoot the basketball before school in the mornings. She scored her 1,000th point but it’s never been about her; it’s always been about the team. She could probably take more shots but the shots she is taking are good shots and she is a super coachable player.”

‘Jays win battle of the birds

The Athens varsity girls basketball squad beat Stanley-Boyd, 43-36, in Monday’s home non-conference game.

Bluejays sophomore Sophia Coker scored a team-high 12 points against the Orioles, while senior McKennzie Schug added 10 points.

Sophia Coker also led Athens with 12 rebounds and Schug had eight. Sophia Coker and Schug also paced the Bluejays with two blocks each. Sophomore Addison Lavicka led Athens with four steals and three assists.

Athens remains in second place behind Phillips for the Marawood North Conference championship this season. Phillips has an unbeaten 11-0 Marawood North record, while Athens sits at 9-2. The Bluejays lost to the Loggers on the road earlier this season, but they’ll get another chance against them this Tuesday, Feb. 8, at home.

The Athens Bluejays roughed up the Rib Lake Lady Redmen, 75-43, in Thursday’s road contest.

Sophia Coker led five Athens players in double-digit scoring with 16 points. Lavicka and fellow sophomore Jazelle Hatwig contributed 13 points apiece, while junior Celina Ellenbecker chipped in 12 and Schug added 10.

Lavicka paced the team with seven steals and four assists. Sophia Coker paced the squad with a pair of blocked shots.

‘Cats fall to Royals

Edgar’s varsity girls basketball team lost a close road game to Wisconsin Rapids Assumption, 37-33, on Thursday.

Individual Wildcats player statistics were not available before the newspaper was printed. Edgar now has a 7-5 record in the Marawood South Conference and is 13-6 overall this season.

KALI IS THE BAKE WHILE HER SISTER JADA IS THE SHAKE- Marathon junior guard Kali Prihoda drives past Stratford junior Lexie Christopherson during Thursday’s game in Stratfrord, which Marathon won, 38-29.STAFF PHOTO/CASEY KRAUTKRAMER