This story is sponsored by: The Marshfield Tiger Booster Club
By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
The Auburndale girls basketball team enters the WIAA postseason healthy and leaning strongly on its inside players.
Senior Shannon Yahnke, and juniors Taylor Gotz and Paiton Richardson, give the Apaches an inside presence that won’t be matched by many in the Division 4 playoffs. The trio combined for 37 points, 18 from Richardson, in a win over Athens on Tuesday.
Auburndale (18-4) did enough during the regular season to earn a No. 2 seed and a first-round bye in the upcoming regional. The Apaches will host the winner of Tuesday’s game between Stratford and Stevens Point Pacelli on Feb. 27 in a regional final. With a win, the Apaches would likely face No. 1 seed and Marawood South champion Marathon in a regional final on Feb. 28.
Auburndale, which made it to the sectional finals last season before losing to Algoma, handed Marathon (21-1) its only loss of the season back on Jan. 6, beating the Raiders 45-33.
“The key for us to make another deep run in the playoffs is to attack the game both physically and mentally,” Auburndale coach Scott Meidl said. “If we play with intensity from the opening tip to the final buzzer, we are going to be tough to beat. Our best games this year have been high intensity; getting after the rebounds, getting the loose balls, diving on the floor. Every possession is critical to success.”
Stratford (14-8) is the third seed in the same Division 4 regional as the Apaches, and will host Pacelli (4-18) in a regional quarterfinal on Tuesday at 7 p.m.
Junior guard Macie Frueh has been the leading scorer for most of the season for the Tigers, averaging 13 points per game during the conference season. Center Andie Zuelke, the team’s top rebounder, along with Stratford’s other inside players, will also have to play an important role, especially in a potential matchup with Auburndale. The Apaches swept a pair of games from Stratford this season.
“The key to make a long run in the playoffs is controlling teams that have strong posts in the paint,” Stratford coach Tammie Christopherson said. “We also have to play strong team defense and run an efficient offense. I personally feel that we have one of the toughest regionals in the state. Four out of the six teams currently have 13-plus wins.”
Spencer (6-16) is also in that same Division 4 regional.
The Rockets will play at Edgar (13-9) in a regional quarterfinal on Tuesday. The winner plays at top-seed Marathon in a regional semifinal Feb. 27.
Spencer has been inconsistent offensively this season, but has scored at a better rate recently.
The Rockets have scored 39 points or more nine times since the first of the year after hitting that mark just twice in their first seven games.
Freshman Lexi Baehr and junior Nadia King have been the leaders of the Rockets’ offense as of late, each scoring in double figures four times in the past month.
In Division 1, Marshfield (16-6) is the No. 3 seed in its regional and will host No. 6 Eau Claire North (12-10) on Firday in a regional semifinal.
Marshfield senior guard Caitlin Michaelis is nearing the 1,200-point mark in her career and is the Tigers’ leading scorer at 13.1 points per game.
Senior Ellie Kummer (11.8 ppg), junior McKayla Scheuer (11.7 ppg), and junior post player Ema Fehrenbach (9.9 ppg) provide the Tigers with a balanced offensive attack.
The key for the Tigers, according to coach Heidi Michaelis, is improved play on defense.
“We need to be better on the defensive end and coming up with those 50/50 balls that all year we have struggled to coral for whatever reason,” Michaelis said. “We really need to be more aggressive and in attack mode on offense to get to the rim or create for our teammates to get cleaner looks. And obviously we need to shoot the ball better from the outside.”
Marshfield beat North 48-33 in a nonconference game on the road on Jan. 27, with Fehrenbach led the way with 15 points.
“Eau Claire North plays hard and are aggressive on the defensive end,” Michaelis said. “We need to handle that better than the first time we played them. Alaina Quaranta is a really good player and really is the key to them, so we need to do a very good job on her for the entire game.”
In Division 5, Columbus Catholic (11-11) will face Greenwood (5-17) in a regional quarterfinal at home on Tuesday.
The Dons have relied heavily on juniors Jess Trad and Abby Baierl to carry the scoring load. Coach Bryan DeVries said others need to step up for Columbus Catholic to go far in the playoffs.
“We will have to shoot the ball much better than we have been,” DeVries said. “We have lost Tara Brock for the season due to a knee injury so all of our players have to step up their games and play much more physical basketball. Hannah Stratmann, Alishia Reigel and Meena Thill have got to take some of the scoring burden off of Abby Baierl and Jessica Trad.”
A win on Tuesday would most likely set up a regional semifinal against Cloverbelt Conference East Division champion Loyal, the third-ranked team in the state in Division 5. Loyal (19-2) beat the Dons by 25 and 30 points in its two conference games this season.
“We will have to play extremely well just to be competitive,” DeVries said. “If we are on our game and shoot the ball well for all four quarters, we hope to make a game of it.”
WIAA Girls Basketball Playoffs
Regional quarterfinals, Tuesday, Feb. 24
Division 4: Spencer (6-16) at Edgar (13-9); Stevens Point Pacelli (4-18) at Stratford (14-8).
Division 5: Greenwood (5-17) at Columbus Catholic (11-11).
Regional semifinals, Friday, Feb. 27
Division 1: Eau Claire North (11-11) at Marshfield (16-6).
Division 4: Stratford-Pacelli winner at Auburndale (18-4).
*Regional finals are Saturday, Feb. 28, with sectionals on March 5 and March 7. The 40th annual WIAA State Girls Basketball Tournament will be held at Resch Center in Green Bay on March 12-14.