RIB LAKE GIRLS BASKETBALL - Momentum from big Phillips win carries into D5 opener
RIB LAKE GIRLS BASKETBALL
Knowing they were playing an inferior opponent to start WIAA Division 5 girls basketball tournament play Tuesday, the Rib Lake Redmen delivered the knockout punch quickly in a 74-17 rout of 11thseeded Flambeau in the regional quarterfinal.
Playing fast and aggressive, the sixthseeded Redmen smothered the Falcons defensively, forcing turnover after turnover in the early going and turning most of those mistakes into points. Just over 12 minutes in, Rib Lake led 37-3 and knew it was headed to Friday’s regional semifinal round where it will visit thirdseeded Winter.
Emma Tlusty led four Rib Lake players in double figures with 18 points, 11 of which were scored in the first half. Isabelle Gumz and Madelyn Anderson scored 12 apiece and Avery Niemi added 10. This was the second time in four games where Anderson, a freshman, had a big impact inside. She scored 10 of her points in the first half.
Kiana Dallmann, Megan Komarek and Tessa Weik all scored six points in the win. Addison Gumz chipped in with four and Tahlia Scheithauer added a handful of steals and assists.
The tone was set in the first 71 seconds. Niemi scored the first basket when Rib Lake easily beat Flambeau’s press. A Tlusty steal led to an Addison Gumz hoop and Weik deflected a Flambeau pass to Gumz, who got it to Tlusty for a layout. Just like that, the Falcons were already calling a timeout to try to stem the momentum. It didn’t work.
The Redmen continued to run the floor, cause turnovers and dominate the rebounding and built a 49-11 halftime lead. The lead hit 60 late in the second half as Flambeau made only two shots from the field after halftime.
Flambeau (7-14) got six points apiece from Reese Roehl and Ashley Lawton.
Rib Lake improved to 14-10 and, on Friday at 7 p.m., will face a Winter squad that is 17-8 overall. The Warriors took care of 14th-seeded Mercer 70-51 in their tournament opener Tuesday. Winter went 11-5 and placed third in the East Lakeland this season.
Friday’s winner will advance to Saturday’s regional final against either seventh-seeded Mellen (12-13) or secondseeded South Shore (18-6) with the higher seed hosting. Rib Lake hammered Mellen 65-34 Jan. 9 on the Granite Diggers’ home floor. Those two Northern Lights Conference teams split their regularseason meetings. Mellen won 41-39 early in the year, while South Shore, coached by former South Shore and Wisconsin Badger star Jolene Anderson, won at home 64-35 on Feb. 11.
The regional champion will play in a sectional semifinal at Prentice March 6.
Rib Lake 53, Phillips 41
On Thursday, Rib Lake clinched the program’s first winning season since 201718 and pulled off its biggest win, one could argue, since that year by upsetting Marawood North champion Phillips 53-41 on the Loggers’ home floor.
It was the first time a Rib Lake team had beaten the Loggers since a 70-36 win in Phillips on Feb. 6, 2018, breaking a 13game losing streak. It was the first loss to a Marawood North team for the Loggers since a 69-61 home loss to Abbotsford on Feb. 15, 2019. Their North win streak was snapped at 57 games.
The win followed a 52-22 pounding Rib Lake took three days earlier at Owen-Withee and was accomplished by outscoring the Loggers 34-12 after falling behind 29-19 early in the second half.
“All year, the girls knew that if they wanted to win some hardware they would have to win the big games down the stretch,” Rib Lake head coach Austin Edwards said. “Up until this point, we haven’t really had a signature win. We’ve come close in some games, but haven’t quite been able to get over the hump.
“After taking a beating on Monday to Owen-Withee, I think the girls took pride in the little things,” Edwards added. “They rebounded well, defended well, moved the ball well. They found a sustainable way to play against a good team. Coach Mike Eggebrecht has been coaching (Phillips) for 10 years. They haven't lost a Marawood North conference game since the 2019 season. To be the team to put an end to that legendary run means a lot to the girls.”
Both teams struggled offensively in the first half as Rib Lake was just eight of 27 from the field and the Loggers were eight of 29. Rib Lake led 15-10 after a driving score from Niemi, but the Loggers got a couple of baskets from their star Mataya Eckert and one late from Sarah Knaack to take a 20-19 lead into halftime.
When Eckert scored seven quick points as part of Phillips’ 9-0 run to start the second half, it looked like the Loggers were on their way to taking care of business as usual with 13:00 left.
But Rib Lake quickly changed momentum with a crucial 10-0 run over a 90-second span. Weik got a three-point play off an offensive rebound. Tlusty grabbed a defensive rebound and pushed the ball ahead to Isabelle Gumz for an easy score. After a Logger turnover, Weik scored again. Tlusty got an offensive rebound and was fouled. She hit one of two free throws. Weik’s rebound led to a Tlusty 3 that tied it at 29-29 with 11:00 left.
“The 10-point run felt like history repeating itself for a minute,” Edwards said. “When we played at Rib Lake, the game was tied when they went on a 10point run and never looked back. I knew if we wanted to get back into the game we were going to have to throw something new at them to get them out of their rhythm. We put our press on and it got the pace of the game to pick up a little bit. By doing so, we forced a few quick turnovers. Then we really benefited from some timely clutch shooting by our girls.”
Eckert hit a 3 and scored five points in a 7-2 spurt that put Phillips up 36-31, but again, Rib Lake threw a counter punch and this one turned the game around for good.
Dallmann started it by knocking down a 3-ball from the top of the key with 8:32 left. Anderson made one of two free throws 31 seconds later. Then Addison Gumz drilled a go-ahead 3-point shot from the left wing. Weik got an offensive putback and Dallmann raced the other way with a defensive rebound and scored. Dallmann’s two bonus free throws with 4:38 left opened up a 44-36 lead. Weik’s 16-foot jumper made it 46-37 with 3:25 left.
From there, it was about making free throws and taking care of the ball and Rib Lake did that. Defensively, Gumz took two charges 13 seconds apart. The second fouled Eckert out of the game with 1:54 left.
“I wish I could say that’s something that we work on in practice, but I’d be lying if I did,” Edwards said. “That’s just a big-time player making big-time plays. Addy has always been clutch for us when it comes to knocking down shots, but she brought it to the defensive end of the floor as well. Those types of plays are what we need from her moving forward into our playoff push.”
Weik had a big 14-point, 13-rebound double-double to lead the Redmen, who finished 10-6 in Marawood play, one game behind Phillips (17-7 overall) in the North. Dallmann had 12 points and five rebounds. Addison Gumz and Niemi scored seven points apiece. Tlusty scored six, Isabelle Gumz scored five and Scheithauer and Anderson added a point apiece.
Phillips held a slight 46-43 overall rebounding edge, but that was a big improvement for Rib Lake over its effort in Owen-Withee. Eckert scored 22 points and had 18 rebounds. She had to work for her points, making nine of 21 shots from the field. She was limited to five free throws and made three.
“Our defense has been stout all year,” Edwards said. “We take pride in our defense and it has kept us in games many times this year. The ironic part is that for as good as we've played defensively, we have a very tough time rebounding and finishing our defensive possessions, so our hard defensive work hasn't always shown up on the scoreboard. On Monday we learned a hard lesson that we won’t compete with good teams unless we are the more physical team. I think they learned the hard lesson that it’s not fun to lose to a team as physical as Owen-Withee. (Thursday) I was incredibly proud of our rebounding effort. Tessa really led the charge with rebounding and it was incredible to see. I thought Avery (six rebounds) did a fantastic job as well as our unicorns Megan Komarek and Maddy Anderson.
“I can't say enough about the job our guards did to force (Eckert) to pick up her dribble and pass out of a double team,” Edwards added. “Tahlia Scheithauer has been our catalyst on defense all year long and I believe she’s the best on-ball defender in the conference. There were several occasions when Tahlia was responsible for getting Mataya out of rhythm. Phillips has many other capable scorers too, though, and I can’t say enough about the job Belle and Emma did being pests and trapping in the corners in our press. It really was a team effort defensively.”
