This story is sponsored by: The University of Wisconsin-Marshfield/Wood County
By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
MADISON – The big stage of the state tournament had no bearing on Auburndale’s performance – it was just business as usual.
The Apaches set a Division 4 state tournament record shooting 64.3 percent from the field and held Amherst to just 28.6 percent as they rolled to a 49-29 win in a D-4 semifinal Thursday night at the 2013 WIAA State Boys Basketball Tournament at the Kohl Center.
Auburndale (26-1) moves into the Division 4 state championship game at 12:45 p.m. Saturday against defending D-4 state champ Whitefish Bay Dominican (23-4).
Auburndale senior Austin Hawkins scored 14 of his game-high 20 points in the first half as the Apaches took control from the start with a 9-2 run.
Hawkins finished 10 of 11 from the field, setting a new Division 4 state tournament record by making 90.9 percent of his shots.
“We know when one person gets hot we keep going to them, and tonight I was fortunate to be the benefactor,” Hawkins said. “The one good thing about us is we play an unselfish kind of ball.”
Auburndale led 14-4 after the first quarter and Hawkins scored the Apaches’ first eight points of the second as they maintained a good-sized lead at 24-15 at the break.
In the second half, as Amherst collapsed more and more on Hawkins, Auburndale junior guard Blake Anderson took over.
Anderson hit two 3-pointers and scored eight points in the third quarter as the Apaches pushed their advantage to 37-21.
“You’re not going to beat a lot of teams shooting that way, and when you are playing a team that plays team defense like that, it isn’t going to go well,” Amherst coach Gregg Jensen said.
Anderson added another 3-pointer in the fourth and the Apaches made 7 of 11 free throws in the final 4 minutes. To cap things off, the Apaches held Amherst (22-4) without a point over the final 2:36.
“Since Austin had such a good half, we knew that coming up in the second half Amherst would pump up its defense on him and that left it open for me,” Anderson said. “I knew if we were going to pull away I would have to hit some key shots and everyone else would have to hit some key shots. I hit that first one in the second half and they kept finding me.”
Auburndale’s hot shooting not only provided the points needed to win, but also helped out the team’s defensive effort of slowing down the Falcons.
“Austin was hot in the first half,” Weinfurter said. “We had some great passing and in the second half Blake kind of took over with those 3-pointers. One of our goals was to not let them out in transition and when you make shots, that keeps the other team from getting out on the break.”
Apaches 49, Falcons 29
Amherst 4 11 6 8 – 29
Auburndale 14 10 13 12 – 49
AMHERST (29): Joe Biadasz 1-2 2-4 4, Marcus Jensen 1-3 0-0 3, Caleb Glennon 7-17 0-1 14, Jonathan Konkol 1-4 0-0 1, Ryan Markuski 1-4 0-0 2, Hayden Blackford 0-1 0-0 0, Garrett Groshek 0-2 0-0 0, Connor Zblewski 0-3 0-0 0, Hans Waldoch 0-1 0-0 0, Jeremy Oney 0-1 0-0 0, Joe Kottke 0-0 0-0 0, Tyler Biadasz 1-4 2-2 4. FG: 12-42. FT: 4-7. 3-pointers: 1-11 (Jensen 1-3, Zblewski 0-1, Waldoch 0-1, Konkol 0-1, Glennon 0-2, Markuski 0-3). Rebounds: 19 (Glennon 4, Jensen 4). Turnovers: 9. Fouls: 14. Fouled out: none. Record: 22-4.
AUBURNDALE (49): Austin Hawkins 10-11 0-1 20, Ben Bolder 1-1 0-2 2, Tom Sabel 0-1 1-2 1, Blake Anderson 5-11 1-2 15, Isaac Castellano 1-2 3-4 2, Jake Lewis 0-1 0-0 0, Matthew Nikolay 0-0 4-4 4, Zach Staats 1-1 0-0 2, Alex Marth 0-0 0-0 0, Matt Lang 0-0 0-0 0, Cooper Krings 0-0 0-0 0, Josh VanSchoick 0-0 0-0 0. FG: 18-28. FT: 9-15. 3-pointers: 4-10 (Anderson 4-7, Sabel 0-1, Castellano 0-1, Lewis 0-1). Rebounds: 27 (Hawkins 6). Turnovers: 12. Fouls: 10. Fouled out: none. Record: 26-1.