WIAA DIV. 5 GIRLS BASKETBALL - Blackhawks jump out early, knock out Redmen in sectional

WIAA DIV. 5 GIRLS BASKETBALL

In three wins during regional week of the WIAA Division 5 girls basketball tournament, the Rib Lake Redmen struck quickly, building big early leads while earning lopsided victories.

The role was reversed in Thursday’s sectional semifinal by the top-seeded Owen-Withee Blackhawks, who held Rib Lake to one field goal in the first 12-plus minutes, took a 27-9 halftime lead and was never really threatened despite a lastminute surge by Rib Lake’s bench in a 4939 victory played at Prentice High School.

Sixth-seeded Rib Lake finished its improved season at 16-11 under secondyear head coach Austin Edwards. The Blackhawks (25-4) went on to win the sectional championship Saturday with a 37-29 win over Eau Claire Immanuel Lutheran, the sixth seed on the other side of the sectional bracket and earn the program’s first state tournament berth since 2014.

This was the second time in a little more than two weeks where Owen-Withee bolted out to a big halftime lead. At Owen on Feb. 17, the Redmen trailed 33-2 at one point in a 52-22 loss.

Unlike that one, the Redmen weren’t overwhelmed by the Blackhawks’ halfcourt zone and traps Thursday. They got several good, open shots. They just didn’t make them.

“I think the pace of play was pretty quick and had that game started with us making a few of those shots, I think we’d be having a different conversation right now, or at least it would’ve ended a little bit differently,” Rib Lake head coach Austin Edwards said. “I think the significance of the moment may have been a little too big for our girls at times. It makes you rush a little bit and speeds things up and I think that’s what caused us to miss shots and things like that.”

Tessa Weik got Rib Lake on the board, making it 4-2 at the 12:28 mark of the first half. Geneva Capetillo assisted on a Kendall Weiler score and then got a steal and again got the ball to Weiler to make it 8-2 and force Rib Lake to call its first timeout of the game with 11:38 left in the half.

Addison Gumz made one of two free throws with 7:37 left to end a nearly fiveminute scoring drought and make it 13-3. The Redmen got one stop, but couldn’t get the rebound on their next defensive possession and Owen-Withee’s Ellie Petersen made them pay with a 3-pointer that made it 16-3 with 6:08 left. Weik got her second rebound basket of the game 20 seconds later, but that was answered by scores from Owen-Withee’s Carmen Frese and Madi Mueller and another triple from Petersen that put Rib Lake in deep trouble at 23-5.

“Everyone kind of knew for us to win this game, it was going to take a lot of things to go right,” Edwards said. “It really just starts with Owen-Withee’s size. On paper, you may not notice it, but they’re a big team. They have a lot of big and strong girls. We really just tried to contain them on the inside a little more in terms of how we defended the inside and how, when the shots went up, how we were going to get rebounds and try to shore those things up. For the most part, I thought we did compared to the first time.

“It just came down to making shots and they made a lot more of them than we did.”

Weik scored Rib Lake’s first five points of the second half and Isabelle Gumz got the first basket in her 10-point second half to make it 33-16, but that was as close as the starters would get as the Blackhawks answered every Rib Lake make. Addie Hatlestad’s 3-pointer made it 39-18. Mueller responded after a Madilyn Blomberg basket with a triple that made it 42-20. Kiana Dallmann’s 3-pointer was quickly countered by another Hatlestad bomb that made it 45-23 with 7:15 to go.

“I wasn’t upset with our defense and I haven’t been upset with our defense,” Edwards said. “They made some shots, but they had to work pretty hard for a lot of their baskets. I actually thought we played really, really good defense all night long. They made some shots. It’s easier to make shots and put the ball in the hole when you have a 10-point lead versus when the score is 0-0. I think they got the momentum and that’s when they started putting things together.

“Defensively then you have to start playing a little more desperate to try to get the ball and you maybe forget some assignments and leave people for some wide-open 3-pointers,” he added. “But all in all, I thought our defense was not the problem. I think that was championshiplevel defense.”

Down 49-27 and having removed his seniors, Dallmann and Addison Gumz, with 2:38 left, Edwards saw his reserves make things happen. Megan Komarek was in the right place at the right time to get a rebound bucket. Isabelle Gumz had a chance at a three-point play with 1:19 left. She missed the free throw, but Rib Lake got the rebound and turned that into a Komarek basket. After an inbound violation by Owen-Withee, Rib Lake crashed the offensive boards and eventually got another Isabelle Gumz basket. A second violation turned into a Tahlia Scheithauer made jumper with 38 seconds left. Gumz then stole a backcourt pass and turned that into a free-throw opportunity with 29.5 seconds left.

She made both to make it a 10-point game and force Owen-Withee to bring the starters back in to close it out from there.

Isabelle Gumz led Rib Lake with her 10point second half scoring surge and Weik scored nine points. From there, the points were evenly distributed but limited. Blomberg, Dallmann and Avery Niemi scored three points each. Scheithauer and Madelyn Anderson scored two apiece and Addison Gumz added a first-half free throw. Weik had nine rebounds, Scheithauer had six and Anderson and Tlusty had four each. Scheithauer had three steals.

Rib Lake only turned the ball over 12 times. But, again, the Redmen made just 12 of 40 two-point shots and two of 18 3pointers.

Mueller was the only Blackhawk in double figures with 12 points. Weiler and Petersen scored eight apiece and Hatlestad’s second-half 3s gave her six points.

Gumz and Dallmann will be key losses after the team’s breakthrough. The regional title was the first major trophy this group has won as high school athletes. The Redmen hope that was just the beginning.

“I think it’s one of those things where now we’ve had a taste of what it’s like,” Edwards said. “We lose some people but we fully expect to be back in the same position next year with a goal to get where Owen-Withee is now. Looking at our roster and how it fills out, I think we have a lot of pieces on our team. Even the Owen-Withee coach said, you have a lot of pieces and you’re still young. They’re still going to be a good team and somebody we’re probably going to have to face down the road at some point. “If our freshmen (Anderson and Komarek) have a good off-season and they work hard, there’s no reason why both of them can’t be big keys to our success next year,” he added. “Obviously we get back all of our current starters except for Addy and we get Madi Blomberg back at full strength. She was probably playing at about 50% at the end on a bum ankle. I think now that they’ve gotten a taste of where they were this year and they know what that moment is like, I think everybody is hungry and they want to experience it again.

“The goal for us should be to dominate next year and I think we have the team to do it. I think we have the size to do it and the speed to do it and the strength to do it. There’s no reason why we need to wait until the last week of February.”

Rib Lake’s Tessa Weik goes on the attack, driving past Owen-Withee defender Geneva Capetillo during the second half of Thursday’s WIAA Division 5 sectional semifinal, won by the Blackhawks 49-39. Weik had nine points and nine rebounds. MATT FREY/THE STAR NEWS