This story is sponsored by: Sternweis & Sons
By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
MARSHFIELD – In what was a well-played defensive battle for most of the first half, one four-minute spurt changed the direction of the game.
Auburndale scored on its final five possessions of the first half, including three 3-pointers, to open up a nine-point halftime lead and went on to finish off a 56-42 win over Marshfield Columbus Catholic in a nonconference boys basketball game Monday night at Columbus Catholic High School.
A basket by Mac Konieczny gave Columbus Catholic a 19-18 lead with 5:13 left in the first half before Auburndale finished the half on a 15-7 run and took a 33-24 lead into intermission.
Payton Weinfurter, Joshua Lundgren and Blake Raab all hit 3-pointers in the run that turned the game in favor of the Eagles.
The Dons did not get closer than six points of the lead the rest of the way as Auburndale owned the boards, outrebounding Columbus Catholic 30-14.
“I thought Peyton did a great job in the first half,” Auburndale coach Chad Weinfurter said. “He struggled with his shot a little bit, struggled around the rim, and I thought he was just great in that first half, hit a 3 there.
“I’m glad we caught them (Columbus Catholic) early because of how young they are. By the end of the season, they are going to be tougher than heck. It was a good test for us. We don’t have a lot of height, other than Thomas (Aue) and I thought we did an excellent job of rebounding against a bigger and athletic team.”
Another 3-pointer from Raab pushed Auburndale’s lead to 37-26 three minutes into the second half.
The Dons countered with a basket by Cole Wallace and a 3-pointer by Ben Weiland to cut their deficit to 37-31 but that was about it for Columbus.
The Dons finished just 3-for-26 from 3-point range, missed five of 10 free throw attempts and shot only 37 percent (17-for-46) overall in the loss.
Auburndale’s defensive play was a big reason for that, contesting everything inside and holding Konieczny, who had 11 points in the first half, to nothing over the first 15½ minutes of the second half until he made a late 3-pointer.
“Peyton and Blake are really good defensively,” Chad Weinfurter said. “I was a little disappointed in Blake in the first half. Mac’s a really good player, but I thought he made it a little to easy for Mac. In the second half, you see what kind of a player Blake is. He led us in scoring and helped shut down Mac.”
Raab finished with 15 points, Lundgren had 12 points, and Thomas Aue had 10 points and nine rebounds for Auburndale (3-0).
Columbus Catholic (3-2) will open its Cloverbelt Conference East Division season at Spencer on Tuesday before hosting Neillsville on Friday.
Auburndale’s next game is Friday at home against Phillips in a Marawood Conference crossover contest.
Eagles 56, Dons 42
Auburndale 33 23 – 56
Columbus Catholic 24 18 – 42
AUBURNDALE (56): Peyton Weinfurter 3-6 0-0 7, Ayden Raab 1-1 4-6 6, Blake Raab 4-6 5-6 15, Keegan Empey 3-6 0-0 6, Joshua Lundgren 3-7 4-5 12, Thomas Aue 4-9 2-4 10, Jaxon Grube 0-0 0-0 0, James Norby 0-0 0-0 0. FG: 18-35. FT: 15-19. 3-pointers: 5-11 (Lundgren 2-3, B. Raab 2-3, Weinfurter 1-4, Empey 0-1). Rebounds: 30 (Aue 9). Turnovers: 13. Fouls: 9. Fouled out: none. Record: 3-0.
COLUMBUS CATHOLIC (42): Mac Konieczny 5-11 2-2 14, Cole Wallace 4-6 0-1 8, Cade Jansen 0-2 0-2 0, Mason Edwards 0-0 0-0 0, Ben Weiland 2-6 2-3 7, Jack Kohlbeck 0-0 0-0 0, Sam Dums 5-14 0-0 10, Carter Sommer 1-7 1-2 3. FG: 17-46. FT: 5-10. 3-pointers: 3-26 (Konieczny 2-8, Weiland 1-5, Jansen 0-2, Sommer 0-5, Dums 0-6). Rebounds: 14 (Wallace 4). Turnovers: 7. Fouls: 18. Fouled out: none. Record: 3-2.