Outside shooting spree ends Rib Lake’s basketball season

D5 REGIONAL: GILMAN 58, RIB LAKE 40

When facing Gilman’s girls basketball team, it makes perfect sense to put the defensive focus on slowing down the Pirates’ 6-1 forward Tatum Weir, a 16-point per game scorer, who can dominate the paint if you let her.

That’s what Rib Lake tried to do in a Feb. 23 WIAA Division 5 regional quarterfi nal with a 2-3 zone look aimed at double- teaming Weir whenever possible. But the Pirates foiled that plan by looking to the 3-point line, where Madisyn James buried seven triples and Emma Grunseth added three as the Pirates rolled to a 58-40 win.

Gilman’s 10 made 3-pointers were easily a season-high and the first six helped give the Pirates a 28-9 in the first 14 minutes. While the game was basically even after that, the damage had been done for the Redmen, who finished the season at 6-18.

“We stopped their inside game, but allowed too many good looks at the 3-point line,” Rib Lake head coach Wayne Mann said.

Weir still wound up with 14 points, eight of which came in the second half. And, after film review, it was discovered she had pulled down 20 rebounds.

But James and Grunseth were the early headliners as Grunseth scored 12 of her 16 points in the opening half, while James hit three triples for nine of her eventual 21 points.

“When one person is not scoring, everyone else picks it up,” James said. “That’s how it seems with our team. If Tatum’s not scoring, me and Emma are scoring. That’s how it was tonight. Then Tatum picked it up, so we all were scoring. It was fun.”

“I think it’s good that we’re a team,” Grunseth said. “We’re not just one player. We’re a whole team and anyone can score.”

“We talk about that a lot,” James said. “Together. That’s our word that we say.”

“They were double teaming Tatum on the inside, but Tatum was still able to have a great game,” Gilman head coach Tammy Weir said. “However, this opened up the outside, which is probably why we shot a lot of 3-pointers –– way more than usual. But they were all pretty good looks, so that was fine too.”

Rib Lake got two quick 3s from Danielle Mann, who hit five of them in the teams’ Jan. 10 meeting and grabbed an early 6-4 lead. That was the only time Rib Lake led as Weir banked in a shot from the high post and Hannah Vick stole the ensuing inbound pass and scored. James and Grunseth followed that up with backto- back 3s and just like that, Gilman was ahead 14-6.

“That’s the second time Hannah has taken an opponent by surprise this year,” Tammy Weir said of Vick’s steal.

Gilman’s run continued with an easy putback for Weir, Grunseth’s rebound and score off an Aubrey Syryczuk miss, a James 3, a Kya Dietzler free throw and Grunseth’s third 3, which made it 25-6 before Rib Lake’s Addison Gumz finally stopped the bleeding with a three-point play off an offensive rebounds with 4:27 left in the half.

James and Rib Lake’s Emily Rodman traded 3s to make it 28-12. Gilman’s halftime lead was 30-16.

“When Emma started making her 3s and then I started making mine, it was just a momentum builder with the whole team,” James said. “It was just awe- some.”

“I was like it’s raining 3s,” Tatum Weir said. “It was like every single one they put up there went in. I didn’t have to rebound.”

Rib Lake didn’t give up and made a run early in the second half. After James sank her fourth 3-ball to make it 34-16, Lauren Pelnis drained one from the right wing and hit another jumper and Josie Scheithauer got a triple to fall from the left wing to make it a 10-point game at 34-24 with plenty of time remaining.

But Weir caught a deflected shot by a teammate and put it in and Grunseth scored off a well-executed pick and roll with James. After a Vick free throw at the 11:05 mark, Gilman got a stop and long 3 from James on the left side to push the lead back to 18 at 42-24. The lead got as high as 25 on two occasions, 52-27 after a James steal and Syryczuk bucket and 56-31 after James’ final trifecta.

Rib Lake ended things with a solid push that included a triple from Gumz and four closing points from senior Molly Heiser.

“I was proud of the girls as they kept fighting to the end,” Wayne Mann said.

Gilman improved to 17-8 and advanced to a Friday regional semifinal against 14th-seeded Thorp, who upset third-seeded Flambeau 49-46 in overtime in its firstround game.

Grunseth had a double-double by adding 10 rebounds to her 16 points and she had four assists. Weir blocked seven shots and had four assists and two steals. Syryczuk had four assists to go with three points. Vick had three points and five rebounds, several of which came early to give Gilman a spark. Dietzler had three rebounds and one point. The Pirates were 10 of 28 on 3-point shots and 10 of 29 inside the arc. They had 46 rebounds.

“It’s a big deal,” Tatum Weir said of the rebounds. “We always try to get the most rebounds.”

“Emma had a strong game,” Tammy Weir said. “Tatum had a very strong game for being double-teamed. She was able to make an impact on both ends of the court. Just the way Aubrey handles herself out on the court and is just a team player and hustles on defense is amazing.”

Gumz, a promising freshman, led Rib Lake with seven points and four rebounds. Rodman had seven points as well and Heiser finished with six to go with four rebounds of Rib Lake’s 43 rebounds. Danielle Mann, a sophomore, had six points, nine boards and four steals.

Pelnis had five points and nine rebounds. Tiara Kestler had four points, two steals and two rebounds. Tia Bube had seven rebounds. Scheithauer had three points, while Rebekah Strobach had a point and four rebounds. Hannah Schuh had two rebounds and a steal.

The loss capped the careers of eight Rib Lake seniors –– Bube, Strobach, Pelnis, Schuh, Heiser, Kestler, Rodman and Reagan Reinhardt, who was lost to a knee injury after just one game.

Addison Gumz

Gilman’s Tatum Weir and Rib Lake’s Tia Bube both get their hands on this potential rebound on Gilman’s offensive end during the first half of the teams’ Feb. 23 WIAA Division 5 regional opener, won by the sixth-seeded Pirates 58-40.MATT FREY/THE STAR NEWS

Rib Lake’s Josie Scheithauer gets between Gilman’s Hannah Vick (l.) and Claire Drier and gets a good look from the baseline late in the team’s 58-40 loss to the Pirates in WIAA Division 5 regional play Feb. 23.MATT FREY/THE STAR NEWS