This story is sponsored by: Valley Communities Credit Union
By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
AUBURNDALE – The Auburndale girls basketball program has never won a Marawood Conference championship. Its last conference title was in 1991, as a member of the Cloverbelt Conference.
This year’s Apaches have destiny in their hands. If they win their final four games, starting with a showdown at first-place and undefeated Wausau Newman Catholic on Friday, they will grab their first Marawood title – and first of any kind in two decades.
“Winning a conference title would mean a lot,” Auburndale coach Corey Manlick said. “This group is one that other groups can model themselves after. They have bought into the team concept. If we can beat Newman – the first time for Auburndale in a while that we beat them – it would cap this off. It would keep our momentum rolling and keep them confident.”
Auburndale, ranked 10th in the latest Division 4 Wissports.com State Coaches poll, takes a 15-2 record and a 9-1 mark in the Marawood Conference South Division into the matchup with unbeaten Newman (17-0, 10-0), which is ranked No. 1 in Division 5.
When the two teams met earlier in the season on Dec. 21, the Cardinals jumped out to a 14-point lead by halftime and won 53-32, handing the Apaches their first loss of the season after a 6-0 start.
The Apaches committed 21 turnovers and had three scoreless strings of 4 minutes or more in the loss. Auburndale also gave up 10 second-chance points and another 10 points by virtue of turnovers against Newman’s full-court pressure defense.
“In the first matchup, I think we got caught up in the emotional part of the game,” Manlick said. “We didn’t play our game and the pressure got to us. We made bad decisions with the ball. We’ve worked on that in practice since the last time we played – worked on that small stuff.”
Newman uses a balanced scoring attack, which is led by University of Wisconsin-Green Bay recruit Taylor Thomas. The senior averages 12.8 points and 6.2 rebounds a game. Lauren Tubbs (10.4 points per game), Erica Hartke (9.8 ppg), Megan Connolly (9.4 ppg) and Sarah Connolly (8.1 ppg) all rank in the top 15 in the South Division in scoring.
“They play 32 minutes no matter what,” Manlick said. “They have a well-balanced team and don’t take plays off. They have a well-balanced group of kids that can just play basketball.”
Auburndale is coming off a sluggish 38-28 win over Wisconsin Rapids Assumption on Tuesday. The Apaches trailed 5-3 after the first quarter, but outscored the Royals in each of the next three quarters on their way to their sixth-straight win.
Auburndale senior Liz Breu, who leads the Marawood South in scoring at 14.4 points a game, had 15 in the win on 6-for-9 shooting.
“We came out with that deer-in-the-headlights look,” Manlick said. “Assumption is well-coached and I give them a lot of credit. We were fortunate enough. We had a good halftime pep talk, cleared up some mistakes and got them on the right focus.”
Auburndale will need that same focus to have a chance against Newman.
“If we play our game, and stay with them, execute better than them, who knows, we may pull off upset,” Manlick said.