RIB LAKE GIRLS BASKETBALL - Hole too deep in O-W loss; Redmen knock off Marathon

RIB LAKE GIRLS BASKETBALL

MATT KRUEGER

REPORTER

The visiting Owen-Withee Blackhawks jumped out to an early lead against the Rib Lake Redmen and never looked back Tuesday night. Despite a couple of runs by the Redmen in the second half, they could not overcome the early hole and fell 46-26.

The first half for the Redmen was one to forget. The Blackhawks jumped out to a quick 17-2 lead to start the game. Addison Gumz got a steal and on her layup attempt would be fouled. She made one of her two free throws to make the score 17-3. The defense for the Redmen did step up in the latter part of the first half, allowing only three Blackhawk points in the final eight minutes. The Blackhawks took a 20-3 lead at the break.

Offensively, the second half started much better for the Redmen. It took only three minutes into the second half for Redmen to score more points than they had in the entire first half. After Owen-Withee converted on a free throw attempt, Avery Niemi got the second-half scoring going for Rib Lake by making a long two-point basket. Emma Tlusty hit a jumper and banked in a 3-pointer. Unfortunately for the Redmen, the Blackhawks were matching each of their scores, extending the lead to 28-10.

But Rib Lake then went on a 10-0 run, led by Gumz. Gumz made a 3-point basket and then, after an Owen-Withee timeout, Gumz stole a would-be pass and took it for a layup cutting the score to 28-20.

After an Owen-Withee basket, Rib Lake’s Kiana Dallmann stole a Blackhawk pass and took it in for a layup to cut the lead to eight once again.

Unfortunately for the Redmen, this would be as close as they would come in their comeback attempt. After a Rib Lake timeout with 7:51 left, Owen-Withee’s Kendall Mueller got an offensive rebound, got fouled and made the putback attempt to extend the lead to 34-22. The Blackhawks remained in control the rest of the game going on a 12-4 run to finish the game and win by 20.

Gumz and Niemi led Rib Lake in scoring with six points apiece, while Tlusty scored five, Josie Scheithauer added four, Tessa Weik had three points and Dallmann scored two.

Kendall Weiler led Owen-Withee with 15 points.

Rib Lake will finish the pre-holiday portion of its schedule with Marawood North matchups at Prentice Friday and at Phillips Tuesday. The conference games tip at 7:15 p.m.

Rib Lake 42, Marathon 38

Tenacity and hustle were a couple of traits Rib Lake knew coming into the season it would need to win games and they served the Redmen well Friday in a 42-38 home win over Marathon.

The win was the first for a Rib Lake team over Marathon since a 49-48 win on Jan. 5, 2018 and Rib Lake’s first Marawood crossover win over a South Division team since that 2017-18 North Division championship team beat Newman Catholic to complete a crossover sweep a month later.

The win also allowed Rib Lake, while improving to 4-4, to surpass its win total for all of last season just eight games in.

The game didn’t feature a lot of pretty offense. It became about getting loose balls and rebounds, making free throws and making your open shots count, which Rib Lake did just enough of to improve to 2-3 in Marawood play.

Dallmann came off the bench and made the most of her offensive opportunities. Down 18-12 in the first half, she came up with a steal and went coast to coast for a lay-in that got Rib Lake within four, which is where the game later stood at the half with Marathon leading 20-16. Dallmann put Rib Lake ahead for good by sinking a 3-pointer from the right corner with 9:30 left, making it 33-30. She also scored off a baseline shot to make it 36-32 with 7:10 left.

From there on out, the rest of Rib Lake’s points came from the free throw line. Tlusty made one of two with 44.6 seconds left, giving Rib Lake a 39-37 lead. Marathon’s Mylee Haehlke was fouled on a offensive putback with 12.1 seconds left but only made one of two free throws. Danica Pazsek got the rebounds on the miss but couldn’t finish. Weik got that rebound for Rib Lake and made one of two free throws with 6.2 seconds left. Josie Scheithauer rebounded the miss for Rib Lake and missed the putback, but Tlusty got one last rebound for Rib Lake with 1.1 seconds left and made both free throws to seal it.

While Rib Lake trailed throughout the first half, other than leading 6-4, the Redmen got some key plays to stay in it. Defensively, Josie Scheithauer drew a fivesecond call on the perimeter and Addison Gumz drew a charge on Haehlke. Gumz also turned an offensive rebound into a three-point play. Dallmann’s steal and score also came at a key time.

Rib Lake built momentum off some pivotal plays early in the second half as well. Niemi’s deflection led to a Tahlia Scheithauer steal and a transition 3 from Josie Scheithauer off a Niemi assist to put the Redmen in front 21-20. Gumz turned an offensive rebound into a baseline jumper, drew another charge call on Haehlke and hit a big 3-pointer with 13:10 left to give Rib Lake a 28-25 lead.

Gumz led Rib Lake with 10 points, Josie Scheithauer scored nine and Dallmann finished with seven. Tlusty added six points, Weik scored five, Tahlia Scheithauer scored three and Niemi chipped in with two. Weik had six rebounds, while Gumz had five and Josie Scheithauer had four.

Tahlia Scheithauer and Gumz had three steals each, while Niemi had five deflections and two steals. Dallmann and Josie Scheithauer also had two steals each.

Emma Love led Marathon (1-4, 1-6) with 14 points.