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Lady Jays can’t solve Hodags in conference crossover battle

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The Three Lakes-Phelps girls basketball team couldn’t take advantage of Rhinelander’s full-court pressure last Tuesday in the Great Northern Conference-Northern Lakes crossover game in Three Lakes, where the Hodags came away with a 64-37 win.
Back on the road, the Lady Jays finished the week with a win/loss at Phillips Friday.
Head coach Rich Javenkoski talked about Rhinelander’s defensive presence and how the dominos didn’t fall the right way with some of the mistakes throughout the game.
“They were relentless on their press. We made one too many mistakes for sure,” said Javenkoski. “Our goal was to be competitive and keep the scoring low. We did that in the first half, but it got away a little bit in the second half.”
The TLP defense started strong, coming away with roughly three steals in the first four minutes of the game. Junior Libby Eppler had two of those, which sparked another decent game for her.
“Libby Eppler had another good game. She stood out; played great defense and scored 10 points,” stated Javenkoski. “Everybody on defense hustled. Our defense held us in the game in the half-court. However, turnovers killed us.”
In a tight game, about halfway through the first half, Rhinelander put on the afterburners and went on a long run, which put the game at 25-9 with less than a minute to go in the half.
TLP junior Kaylee Wilson grabbed some momentum before the buzzer as she jumped a Rhinelander pass and went coast-to-coast to make it a 25-11 game at halftime.
With a low-scoring half, which bled into the second half, missed close shots and free throws were also a factor.
“We probably left 16 points on the table because we didn’t finish at the basket,” explained Javenkoski. “Free throws, 9-of-19, not going to do it.”
TLP shot 33% from the floor, while Rhinelander was 45% from the field. The Lady Jays couldn’t convert on a 3-point shot in the game, but the Hodags hit 45% of theirs.
Outside of Eppler’s 10 points, junior Haylee Barnekow had six points, and freshman Malia Szews finished with five points
The battle on the boards proved to be pretty even, even without the presence of six-foot-two junior Paige Bradford, who is a key piece on the interior for the Jays. She is out with an injury, but the team is hopeful to get her back on the court as soon as possible.
The Jays were back on the road Jan. 10 for a game at Phillips, in which TLP dropped the game 63-46.
Back in NLC play, the lady Jays were on the road at Crandon this past Monday, and they will host Sturgeon Bay this Saturday, Jan. 18, at 1 p.m.

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