RIB LAKE GIRLS BASKETBALL - Offense peaks for Rib Lake in Athens win, struggles at Auburndale

RIB LAKE GIRLS BASKETBALL

Down to a rotation of six players due to injury, the Rib Lake girls basketball team almost had five of those players hit double digits Monday when they pulled away for a 75-39 Marawood North win at Athens.

In a game pushed back six days due to last week’s extreme cold, the Redmen scored a season-high in points despite a bit of slow start. They didn’t really begin creating some distance between themselves and the Blue Jays until the last five minutes of the first half.

But once they did, the lead got into the 20s and 30s quickly as the Redmen completed the program’s first regularseason sweep of their neighboring rivals since 2017-18 and moved to 6-5 in Marawood play with five conference games left. Rib Lake is 9-7 overall.

Kiana Dallmann led the scoring barrage with 20 points, 14 of which came in the second half. Emma Tlusty and Tahlia Scheithauer each scored 17 points, Tessa Weik had 10 and Addison Gumz chipped in with nine.

Athens scored the game’s first five points and led 11-10 when a Scheithauer 3pointer gave Rib Lake the lead for good. Scheithauer nailed three 3-pointers in, by far, her biggest offensive output of the season as she found her shooting stroke from the outside. Tlusty scored 14 of her points in the first half, leading Rib Lake’s steal and transition game that got the offense going.

Athens (2-9, 2-12) got 3s from Brianna Sheahan and McKenna Lepak to stay close at 27-20. A three-point play inside from Bailey Hanke made it 31-23. An 8-2 spurt to end the first half finally gave Rib Lake some breathing room. Weik and Tlusty scored baskets to get the lead to 12. After a score by Athens’ Itzel Espinoza-Quiroz, Weik sank two free throws and assisted on a score by the cutting Tlusty with five seconds left to give Rib Lake a 39-25 halftime lead.

Rib Lake delivered the knockout punch in the early stages of the second half with a 17-7 run that opened up a 56-32 lead. Gumz had five quick points and had a steal that led to a Tlusty hoop. Weik got a putback in the run and Dallmann scored five points, including the first of three 3pointers that she drilled in the half.

Scheithauer scored seven points in the half and Madelyn Anderson added a free throw jumper as she and Megan Komarek got some quality time off the bench in the half.

Hanke led Athens with 12 points, while Espinoza-Quiroz and Danica Diethelm added six apiece.

Rib Lake, who currently sits 1.5 games behind Marawood North leader Phillips (7-3) hosts North rival Abbotsford tonight, Thursday, at 7:15 p.m. The Redmen host Tomahawk Monday in nonconference play and Newman Catholic on Feb. 6 in a Marawood crossover.

Eagles 62, Redmen 27

In a Marawood crossover Friday, the host Auburndale Eagles pounced quickly, scoring the game’s first nine points, and by the middle of the first half they ran away from the Redmen and cruised to a 62-27 win.

The outcome of this one was never in doubt. The Redmen did have a little bit of an answer to the early 9-0 run, getting a 3-pointer from Gumz, a rebound basket from Weik and a 3-ball from Avery Niemi to get within 15-8.

But Auburndale forward Myah Katzenberger went on a personal ninepoint tear with three inside baskets and a 3-pointer. That was followed by a 3-ball from Rose Hasenohrl and a Lily Bellanti score. Just like that, it was 29-8. Hasenohrl and Kylie Anderson added triples late in the half as the lead got to 4112 before the Eagles settled for a 41-15 halftime lead.

The margin did nothing but grow in the second half as the Eagles improved to 14-2 overall at the time. They are 9-2 in Marawood play.

Gumz went three of seven from long range and had a solid game for Rib Lake with 12 points. She had five rebounds and two steals. Weik added six points, five rebounds and two assists. Tlusty had six points as well.

Niemi finished with three points, three rebounds and two assists. Scheithauer had four rebounds and three assists. Madelyn Anderson had seven rebounds in nine second-half minutes. Dallmann had three steals.

With Madilyn Blomberg and Isabelle Gumz injured and the Redmen trying to make it work with six players, 14 Auburndale players saw playing time as the Eagles often made hockey-like fiveplayer substitutions at times. They were led by Katzenberger’s 13 points and five rebounds. Hasenohrl had 13 points as well and Bellanti added 10.

Auburndale shot 45.6% overall from the field (26 of 57), including seven of 17 from long range and forced 22 Rib Lake turnovers. The Redmen shot just 22% from the field (nine of 41) and were outrebounded 38-28.