ALL-MARAWOOD NORTH GIRLS BASKETBALL - Little change at the top; Scheithauer holds second-team spot

ALL-MARAWOOD NORTH GIRLS BASKETBALL

Not much changed from a year ago on the top two teams in the voting for the 2023-24 All-Marawood North girls basketball squads, which included Rib Lake senior Josie Scheithauer keeping her spot on the conference’s second team.

All five of this year’s first-team selections were repeat picks from a year ago as were four of the five second-team choices by the league’s coaches. The only exceptions were the addition of Chequamegon freshman Madyson Ernst to the second team and the unfortunate subtraction of Athens’ Addison Lavicka from the first team due to injury.

Phillips senior Kacy Eggebrecht won the Marawood North Player of the Year award for the second straight season after leading the Loggers to their fifth consecutive North championship.

Rib Lake’s Addison Gumz and Tessa Weik earned honorable mention in this year’s vote for their first-ever All-Marawood basketball honors and Tahlia Scheithauer is Rib Lake’s representative on this year’s Marawood North All-Defensive team.

Rib Lake’s honors follow an improved 9-16 season under first-year head coach Austin Edwards where the Redmen tripled their win total from the previous year. The Redmen went 4-12 in Marawood Conference games to tie Prentice for fourth place in the North, ahead of 0-16 Chequamegon.

As Rib Lake’s lone senior, Josie Scheithauer was the team’s leader on the floor. She wound up as the team’s leading scorer, averaging 8.7 points per game and added 3.5 rebounds, 1.5 assists and a team-high 2.5 steals per game while appearing in all 25 games.

She joins Abbotsford senior Sommer Brodhagen, Athens senior Jazelle Hartwig, and Phillips senior Brooke Eckert as the returning members of the All-North second team.

In league play, some of the highlights that assured Scheithauer would be honored again as one of the North’s top players included a 14-point, six-rebound, two-steal outing in a 49-35 loss to a strong Auburndale squad on Jan. 8, a 12-point, five-rebounds, four-steal game in an 8427 win at Chequamegon on Nov. 16 and a 13-point, two-rebound, two-steal effort in a 59-46 loss at Newman Catholic on Feb. 1. She had nine points, four rebounds and two steals in a 42-38 win over Marathon on Dec. 8.

Scheithauer’s biggest night was a 30-point outburst at Northland Pines on Nov. 28, where she was 12 of 19 from the field and added five rebounds and two steals. She had 15 points and five rebounds in a 66-24 non-conference win over Mellen on Feb. 12 and season-highs of five assists and five steals while scoring 10 points in a 68-29 win over Flambeau on Nov. 30.

Gumz, a junior, was one steal behind Scheithauer with 59 and averaged 7.7 points, 3.3 rebounds, 2.5 steals and 1.0 assists per game in her junior season. Gumz led Rib Lake with 24 3-point field goals in 83 attempts (29%) and ranked third on the team in scoring.

Gumz hit double figures in scoring nine times with six of those coming in Marawood games. Her top night was a 22-point outburst that included six-of-11 shooting from 3-point range in a 52-42 win at Prentice on Dec. 15. In the rematch, a 64-57 home loss to the Buccaneers on Feb. 6, Gumz scored 17 points while going three of six from long range.

Gumz led Rib Lake with 12 points in a 58-27 loss to Athens on Jan. 16 and with 10 points in the win over Marathon and in a 47-34 loss at Edgar on Dec. 1. She had six rebounds in a tight 41-33 home loss to Stratford on Feb. 8 and had five boards in the wins over Prentice and Marathon. She had a season-high three assists in the early- season win at Chequamegon and four steals in the loss to Newman. Her seasonhigh of seven steals was recorded in Rib Lake’s 43-35 WIAA Division 5 regional loss at Three Lakes-Phelps and she had six steals in a 56-23 win over Tomahawk on Feb. 13. Gumz sparked Rib Lake’s near miracle comeback from a 34-point deficit in its season opening 54-51 loss at Columbus Catholic with nine points and five steals.

Weik, a sophomore, had a solid first full season after being injured very early last winter. Doing most of her work inside, Weik was right behind Josie Scheithauer in team scoring at 8.5 points per game and she was, by far, the team’s leading rebounder at 8.0 per game. She added 1.8 steals and 1.7 assists while appearing in all 25 games.

Weik had a 12-point, 11-rebound double- double in a 52-39 loss to Abbotsford on Dec. 5, an 11-point, 13-rebound doubledouble in a 75-35 to top-ranked Wisconsin Rapids Assumption on Jan. 5 and just missed with 14 points and nine rebounds in a 67-13 win over Chequamegon on Jan. 29 and did the same in a 75-36 loss to Phillips on Feb. 15.

She had some big games in non-conference play as well, including a career-high 22 points to go with 10 rebounds in the regional loss at Three Lakes-Phelps. She too had a huge second half in the near comeback at Columbus Catholic and finished with 18 points, six rebounds and four assists. She had a 15-point, 10-rebound double- double in the win over Flambeau and had 12 points and nine rebounds in a 60-55 loss at Gilman on Jan. 2.

Tahlia Scheithauer averaged 3.1 rebounds and 1.7 steals per game while earning her spot on the All-Defensive team. A pesky on-ball defender and one of Rib Lake’s primary ball handlers, Scheithauer had season highs of seven points in losses to Phillips and Edgar and nine and eight rebounds in the win at Pines and the loss at Gilman as well as six boards in the Assumption game. She had six steals against Flambeau and four steals in the win at Prentice as well as the lateseason wins over Mellen and Tomahawk. She averaged 1.6 assists per game with a high of five at Chequamegon and four at Newman.

This year’s All-North first team includes unanimous picks Eggebrecht and junior Mataya Eckert of Phillips, junior Kali Heikkinen of Prentice and senior Sophia Coker of Athens. Senior Sydney Falteisek of Abbotsford rounds out the team. Eggebrecht averaged 21 points, six steals, six assists and five rebounds per game for the 24-3 Loggers, who were a WIAA Division 4 regional champion.

AllyMeserolewasnamedtheMarawood North Coach of the Year after leading the Falcons to an 8-8 mark in league play and a 13-12 overall record.

Addison Gumz Hon. Mention

Tessa Weik Hon. Mention

Tahlia Scheithauer All-Defense