This story is sponsored by: The University of Wisconsin-Marshfield/Wood County
By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
AUBURNDALE – The Auburndale girls basketball team didn’t score for the first four minutes, but after that, Menominee Indian did not stand a chance.
The Apaches scored on their next 11 possessions to open up a double-digit lead and didn’t look back on their way to a 58-37 victory in a WIAA Division 4 regional semifinal Friday night at Auburndale High School.
Auburndale (21-2) will take on Neillsville (19-4) at home in a regional final on Saturday at 7 p.m. The winner heads to sectionals next week.
“We didn’t get the start we wanted,” Auburndale coach Scott Meidl said. “I’m sure they were nervous and not sure what to expect from a team that we hadn’t played before. We didn’t score for the first four minutes and we go into halftime with 36 so obviously we had pretty good production.
“I told the girls, at times, it’s about as good as I’ve seen. When you can make three or four quick passes and can get a girl wide open under the basket, that’s hard for anybody to defend.”
Taylor Gotz scored eight points and Paiton Richardson added six in the 16-2 run that gave the Apaches a 16-4 lead.
After a basket by the Eagles’ Monae Waukau, the Apaches scored six more in a row, all from their talented senior front-court.
Richardson, despite playing with an illness, scored 14 points and had seven rebounds, and Gotz had 13 points in the first half as Auburndale took a 36-16 lead into the break.
“(The Eagles) weren’t tremendously tall, so I thought we could use our height against them,” Meidl said. “We’ve got some length. Their guards were fairly short, so if we got in their face and make them make some mistakes, it resulted in some layups and easy baskets.”
Menominee Indian (18-6) never threated in the second half, missing on 18 of its 23 shot attempts.
Sylviann Momont scored four points early in the second half and Richardson had back-to-back hoops to put the Apaches up 50-23 with 10:30 to go.
Richardson finished with 20 points and 10 rebounds, and Gotz had 19 points.
Auburndale defeated Neillsville 46-40 in a nonconference game back on Dec. 1 behind Richardson’s 17 points and Gotz’s 16 points and 13 rebounds.
“We have to go out with the confidence that we know we have,” Meidl said. “It’s going to be heck of a game. To know that you can do it (against Neillsville) is big mental point on our end. It’s going to be a dogfight.”
Apaches 58, Eagles 37
Menominee Indian 16 21 – 37
Auburndale 36 22 – 58
MENOMINEE INDIAN (37): Tennille Lyons 0-4 0-0 0, Autumn Chevalier 0-3 2-2 2, Kendra Webster 2-4 2-2 7, Shanae Wynos 0-0 0-0 0, Marlee Waupoose 0-0 0-0 0, Sequoia Salgado 0-1 0-0 0, Taylor Mahkimetas 0-7 3-3 3, Faith Munson 0-1 0-0 0, Monae Waukau 3-3 0-0 6, Aalyiah Pecore 0-0 0-0 0, Cierra Maulson 0-0 0-0 0, Kesley Corn 1-4 2-2 4, Celine Martin 0-0 0-0 0, Ania Smith 6-10 3-5 15. FG: 12-38. FT: 12-14. 3-pointers: 1-16 (Webster 1-3, Salgado 0-1, Munson 0-1, Corn 0-1, Smith 0-1, Lyons 0-3, Mahkimetas 0-6). Rebounds: 18 (Smith 9). Turnovers: 19. Fouls: 13. Fouled out: none. Record: 18-6.
AUBURNDALE (58): Mackenzie Raab 0-1 1-2 1, Brooke Anderson 2-3 2-2 6, Rachel Gronemeyer 0-0 0-0, Cassandra Mitchell 0-0 0-0 0, Ashley Peplinski 0-0 0-0 0, Allison Linzmeier 1-7 0-0 2, Rachael Bolder 1-3 0-0 2, Sylviann Momont 3-5 2-2 8, Paiton Richardson 9-12 2-2 20, Taylor Gotz 8-13 3-3 19, Hannah Bolder 0-3 0-0 0. FG: 24-47. FT: 10-11. 3-pointers: 0-2 (Anderson 0-1, R. Bolder 0-1). Rebounds: 27 (Richardson 10). Turnovers: 10. Fouls: 11. Fouled out: none. Record: 21-2.