RIB LAKE GIRLS BASKETBALL - Redmen get revenge in Prentice
RIB LAKE GIRLS BASKETBALL
Disruptive defensively throughout and adding enough offense to stay comfortably ahead, the Rib Lake girls basketball team got a well-earned road win Tuesday, knocking off rival Prentice 55-44.
While avenging a loss Prentice gave them on their home court back on Dec. 20, the Redmen mathematically remained in contention for a share of the Marawood North title while improving to 8-5 in conference play and 11-8 overall.
That dream, however, is a bit of a long shot as the Redmen trail 11-3 Phillips by two and a half games with three to play. Rib Lake would have to win out in league play and Phillips would have to lose to both Marathon Friday and Rib Lake on Feb. 20 for it to happen.
Prentice’s senior standout Kali Heikkinen was tough as always Tuesday, scoring 29 points, but Rib Lake’s defense tried to not to make things easy for her and certainly flustered her teammates in the win. With aggressive ball pressure from the top three in Rib Lake’s 1-2-2 zone, the Buccaneers were unable to get into an offensive flow in the first half.
On the other end of the court, Rib Lake found its offensive groove, going on two key runs that were basically responsible for the team’s margin of victory.
The first was a 12-0 run that wiped out Prentice’s early 5-0 lead. Tessa Weik started and finished the run with inside hoops, Emma Tlusty sank four straight free throws and Addison Gumz added a score off a turnover.
The second run in the latter stages of the half included a run of three 3-pointers that helped Rib Lake stretch an 18-9 lead to 29-13 before Heikkinen hit a late 3. Kiana Dallmann sank the first one, then Tahlia Scheithauer, who scored all eight of her points before halftime knocked down two of them. The first came off a kickout pass from freshman post Madelyn Anderson. Anderson and Megan Komarek both gave Rib Lake some quality minutes inside in the win.
Gumz took the ball to the rim and finished for a 31-18 lead early in the second half. Dallmann drained a pair of 3balls to stop a small push of momentum by Prentice and get the lead to 39-25. Weik’s 15-foot jumper answered two steals and scores by Heikkinen and was followed by a transition score from Gumz, making it 4431. The Buccaneers got the lead down to eight on two more occasions, but Tlusty had the answer both times, first cutting and scoring on a baseline inbound play and then driving the baseline at the end of a press break to make it 51-41 with 2:30 to go.
Tlusty led Rib Lake with 15 points. Dallmann hit three 3s while scoring 13. Weik finished with six and Komarek scored three points.
Before its season-ending matchup at Phillips, Rib Lake has its final Marawood crossover game tonight, Thursday, at Stratford and hosts Abbotsford Friday in the make-up date of a Jan. 30 postponement. The Redmen will get some WIAA tournament preparation when they visit 18-3 Owen-Withee for a nonconference tilt on Monday. All upcoming varsity games tip at 7:15 p.m.
Rib Lake 46, Newman 31
The defense was strong throughout Thursday, but the offense waited until the last 10 minutes to truly do its part and that was enough to carry Rib Lake to a 46-31 home win over Newman Catholic.
The Cardinals didn’t establish much against Rib Lake’s 1-2-2 zone and occasional full-court pressure, save for a couple of middle drives in the first half by Aubrey Puent an occasional 3-point shot. But Rib Lake’s shooting struggles from three nights earlier in a loss to Tomahawk carried over into this one as well, keeping the game close.
Rib Lake led 18-17 at halftime, but trailed 27-23 after two Mallory Rozwadowski free throws with 10:43 left. Tlusty gave the Redmen a bit of an offensive spark, taking a return pass from Weik and scoring on a baseline inbound play, plus she hit a free throw on Rib Lake’s next possession. Off her miss, the Redmen got the rebound and turned that into a Komarek go-ahead basket that made it 28-27 with 9:10 to play.
Tlusty drive through Newman’s defense for another basket, Dallmann hit a baseline floater from the left side and Weik, after grabbing a defensive rebound, hit Gumz with a long outlet pass for a layup. Finally, the Redmen had momentum and breathing room at 34-27.
Newman’s Melayna Severson got a friendly bounce on a mid-range shot to cut the lead to five with 5:38 left. That was the Cardinals’ last field goal of the game. Gumz followed with a crushing 3-pointer that got the lead to eight. A Tlusty free throw and Weik’s left-handed score after a steal made it 40-30 with 3:05 left. Free throws sealed it from there.
Gumz, Dallmann and Scheithauer sank 3s in the first half to give Rib Lake an early 11-7 lead. Newman scored the next five points to take a 12-11 lead. An Anderson free throw jumper and a 3-pointer from Gumz put Rib Lake ahead 18-14 before the Cardinals closed the half with three points from the free throw line.
Gumz led Rib Lake with 15 points. She had four rebounds and three steals. Tlusty scored 13 points and had five steals, four rebounds and two assists. Dallmann added seven points and six boards.
Scheithauer had three points and three assists. Komarek and Anderson had a basket apiece. Komarek grabbed six rebounds in six minutes. Weik scored three points and added six rebounds, three steals and two assists. Avery Niemi had a free throw, six rebounds and three assists.
Puent and Severson scored nine points apiece to lead Newman, who fell to 2-11, 315 at the time.
Medford senior Sam Hierlmeier pulls up and sinks his second 3-pointer of the first half Tuesday, giving the Raiders a 23-13 lead over Antigo. Hierlmeier finished with nine points on three 3s as the Raiders beat Antigo 81-55 to stay in a tie top the GNC. MATT FREY/THE STAR NEWS
