Redmen erase early 11-point deficit in win

RIB LAKE GIRLS BASKETBALL

One big run in the first half pulled Rib Lake back to even with Owen-Withee Monday night and another big run in the second half sealed the deal for the Lady Redmen in a 61-46 non-conference win.

It wasn’t the prettiest of games, featuring more than its fair share of turnovers, held balls, fouls, stoppages and free throws. But it all looked good for Rib Lake during a 12-0 second-half run where every shot seemed to fall and the team’s tenuous 40-36 lead ballooned to 52-36, giving the Redmen more than enough cushion to close out the game.

Rib Lake improved to 5-12 with its third straight win over the Blackhawks over the last two seasons, while the young Owen-Withee squad fell to 3-15.

“It was nice to get a win,” Rib Lake head coach Wayne Mann said. “We dug ourselves a hole at the beginning of the game but managed to tie them at the half. Defensively Owen-Withee struggled with our 2-3 zone, which turned the game.”

The shots actually started falling for Rib Lake a few minutes before the clinching 12-0 run. Lauren Pelnis actually put the Red- men up for good by swishing a 3-pointer from the right corner that made it 33-32 with 14:15 to play and she followed that up with a transition score off an outlet pass from Josie Scheithauer. Scheithauer then banked in a 3-pointer to open up a 38-32 lead and force an Owen-Withee timeout with 13:04 to go.

The Blackhawks sandwiched a short jumper by Amelia Petke and a drive to the rim from Reina Arndt around two free throws by Rib Lake’s Molly Heiser to close within four.

But Rib Lake’s Danielle Mann arced a mid-range jumper off the glass to continue the team’s good shooting fortune. Pelnis got a steal and breakaway score, Addison Gumz nailed a 3-pointer and Mann added another from the left corner off a baseline inbound play. Mann’s turnaround jumper in the lane got the lead to 16 with nine minutes left and got as high as 17 on a Tia Bube score that made it 60-43 with under two minutes to play.

A lead that big didn’t look possible in the game’s first seven minutes. The Redmen struggled first with Owen-Withee’s 1-3-1 zone in their halfcourt offense. Then the Blackhawks extended their pressure into the backcourt and caused more problems. Behind six points from freshman Geneva Capitllo, Owen- Withee built a 16-5 lead.

But strong offensive rebounding on one end of the court and a switch to their 2-3 zone on the other seemed to be the sparks that got Rib Lake going. Scheithauer and Mann buried 3-pointers and Scheithauer drove to the rim and scored to close the gap to 18-14. Bube got a shooter’s bounce on an elbow jumper and Emily Rodman’s short jumper capped a successful press break and tied the game at 18-18. Bube’s free throws at the 5:32 mark gave the Red- men their first lead. Gumz’s 3-pointer from the right wing made it 26-23 but Capitllo answered with a triple of her own to force a 26-26 halftime tie.

Mann led all scorers with 20 points and grabbed eight rebounds, while Gumz and Scheithauer both scored eight points for Rib Lake and Bube and Pelnis contributed seven apiece. Heiser had four points but was a big factor on the boards with nine rebounds. Kamy Annala and Rodman finished with three points each and Rebekah Strobach added a late free throw.

Heiser had four steals, while Mann had three. Scheithauer and Gumz had four assists apiece. Gumz had five rebounds and Annala had three.

“Offensively, it was nice to see more girls involved in scoring,” Wayne Mann said.

Rib Lake shot 27 free throws, but made 12. Owen-Withee was five for 11.

Reina Arndt and Capitllo led Owen-Withee with 11 points apiece.

Rib Lake is at Newman Catholic tonight, Thursday, for a game that’s been moved up to 6 p.m. The Redmen will go to Abbotsford Tuesday and hosts Stratford on Feb. 10.

Athens 75, Rib Lake 43

On Thursday, 16-2 Athens put five scorers in double figures and overpowered Rib Lake with defense and rebounding in a 75-43 final.

Addison Lavicka had seven of Athens’ 19 steals and scored 13 points. Sophia Coker had 16 and 14 rebounds for the visiting Blue Jays and Jazelle Hartwig scored 13 points and had four rebounds, three assists and three steals. McKennzie Schug was five for five from the field and scored 10 points.

Athens is 9-2 in league play and still hopes to catch 11-0 Phillips in the Marawood North standings.

“Offensively, we are shooting better but we need to increase our total amount of shots,” Wayne Mann said. “Defensively we didn’t box out and gave Athens just too many second shots. Between turnovers and second shots, that was the difference in the game.”

Lavicka, Hartwig and Coker all scored eight points in the first half, which ended with Athens holding a 37-19 lead. Scheithauer scored six in the half and Pelnis and Mann had five each to try to keep Rib Lake close. But Athens sank five 3s in the second half, including four from Celina Ellenbecker that accounted for all of her 12 points, to pull away.

Pelnis had a solid outing for Rib Lake with nine points, five rebounds, three assists and three steals. Mann had eight points and five rebounds. Gumz had eight points, two steals and two rebounds. Scheithauer finished with six points and four rebounds. Rodman had five points, three steals and two boards.

Strobach chipped in four points, Heiser had three points and four rebounds. Bube had three rebounds and an

assist.