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MERRILL – The Auburndale boys basketball team’s bid for an upset against top seed Marathon for the second year in a row in a WIAA Division 4 sectional semifinal came up just short as the Raiders were able to hold off a last-second 3-point attempt and win 57-54 on Thursday night at Merrill High School.
Marathon (26-1) will take on Bonduel in a battle of No. 1 seeds on Saturday in a Division 4 sectional final at 2 p.m. at D.C. Everest High School with a berth in next week’s state tournament in Madison on the line. Bonduel dispatched of Oconto 76-59 on Thursday.
Marathon is looking for its first state appearance since 2018, while Bonduel has never made it to state.
Auburndale pulled ahead by six late in the first half before Marathon’s True Thurs connected from just beyond half court at the buzzer, cutting the Eagles’ lead to 23-20 at the break.
Marathon went on a 19-7 run over the first eight minutes of the second half to take a nine-point lead.
Every time Auburndale tried to make a run, Marathon answered, and was able to stay in front.
A 3-pointer from Blake Raab, who made six shots from long range for Auburndale, cut Marathon’s advantage to 51-48 with 2:50 to go.
The lead was cut to one on another Raab 3 with 37 seconds left, and after two missed free throws from Marathon, Auburndale had a chance to take the lead by missed on a 3-point attempt.
Tyler Underwood, who finished with a game-high 31 points, made one of two free throws with four seconds left to bump the Raiders’ lead to three, giving Auburndale one last chance to tie it, but a 3-point attempt missed at the buzzer, sending Marathon to the sectional final.
Grant Warren added 10 points and 11 rebounds for Marathon.
Raab finished 6-for-8 from 3-point range and scored a team-high 22 points for Auburndale, which finishes the season with a 22-5 record, three of those losses coming at the hands of Marathon.
Raiders 57, Eagles 54
Auburndale 23 31 – 54
Marathon 20 37 – 57
AUBURNDALE (54): Blake Raab 8-12 0-0 22, Kaden Anderson 4-7 0-0 9, Caden Weinfurter 3-12 0-0 8, Thomas Aue 4-8 0-0 8, Evan Scholl 2-5 0-0 4, Peyton Weinfurter 1-1 0-0 3, Mason Meissner 0-1 0-0 0, Aden Cherney 0-0 0-0 0. FG: 22-46. FT: 0-0. 3-pointers: 10-23 (Raab 6-8, C. Weinfurter 2-10, Anderson 1-1, P. Weinfurter 1-1, Scholl 0-3). Rebounds: 20 (C. Weinfurter 9). Record: 22-5.
MARATHON (57): Cooper Hoeksema 0-7 0-0 0, True Thurs 2-6 0-3 6, Drew Woelfel 4-6 1-3 10, Andrew Glennon 0-1 0-0 0, Tyler Underwood 10-12 8-10 31, Cody Radtke 0-0 0-0 0, Grant Warren 4-9 2-4 10. FG: 20-41. FT: 11-20. 3-pointers: 6-20 (Underwood 3-3, Thurs 2-6, Woelfel 1-3, Glennon 0-1, Warren 0-1, Hoeksema 0-6). Rebounds: 25 (Warren 11). Record: 26-1.