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By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
AUBURNDALE – Lindsay Gotz had the game of her life and Liz Breu set a major school record on Friday night as the two seniors led the Auburndale girls basketball team to a dominating 52-32 win over Wild Rose in a WIAA Division 4 regional semifinal at Auburndale High School.
Gotz made 8 of 10 shots from the field and scored a game-high 19 points, and Breu hit on 7 of 8 and finished with 17 points to lead the Apaches (20-3) into a regional final matchup with Amherst (20-3) on Saturday afternoon at Wisconsin Rapids Lincoln High School. Game time is 4 p.m.
In the process, Breu broke the career scoring record at Auburndale. She needed 10 points Friday to break Liz Nagel’s record of 1,175 points set from 1998-2002. Breu scored four points in the first 2:15 of the second half to surpass Nagel, who is an assistant coach for the Apaches.
“It’s great,” Breu said. “My mom’s been keeping track and she told me I had 10 points left. In the beginning of the game I was counting in my head, but as the game went on I totally forgot about it.”
Auburndale cruised out early behind Gotz, who made a pair of jumpers from the same spot on the left baseline to spark a 10-2 run to start the game.
Gotz and Breu scored in the final 36 seconds of the quarter to make it 16-6.
The onslaught continued in the second quarter as Gotz scored 11 points, including the final nine for Auburndale as it built a 31-15 lead at the break.
“I had a good feeling about it all day,” Gotz said. “In the locker room, we were really pumped for this game. We really want to do it for us, but for our boys, who lost to Wild Rose last Friday.
“It was different for me. Everyone was saying to shoot more. It’s nice to be open. I love baseline. It was nice to be open down there, especially against a 1-3-1.”
Wild Rose (18-6) never got closer than 15 in the second half as Auburndale kept up its defensive pressure. Through three quarters, Auburndale had as many shots made as Wild Rose had attempted – 17. The Apaches also forced 16 turnovers through three quarters, and 20 for the game.
“We saw their ball-handling wasn’t as strong as some other teams and we took advantage of it,” Auburndale coach Corey Manlick said. “We didn’t get too many transition points off of it, but we got possession of the ball and they lost one. Good teams are going to do that. This is that playoff-style of basketball. You need to put a little extra pressure on.”
Next up is Amherst, who the Apaches knocked out of the playoffs a year ago on their way to a regional title. Saturday’s winner will play in a sectional semifinal against either Marathon or Edgar next Thursday at Wausau East.
“Amherst, they want to win it because we beat them last year, so they are going to be there to win,” Breu said. “It’s going to be a tough game.”
Apaches 52, Wildcats 32
Wild Rose 6 9 6 11 – 32
Auburndale 16 15 10 11 – 52
WILD ROSE (32): Makenzie Reinke 1-2 4-6 6, Makayla Muntner 0-0 0-0 0, Haley Hazlett 2-3 0-1 5, Karina Marchan 0-0 0-0 0, Molly Abraham 1-1 0-0 2, Cody Mueller 1-3 0-0 2, Amanda Henne 0-2 0-0 0, Hannah Piper 3-5 2-4 8, Erin Jenks 0-1 0-0 0, Alayna Kjentvet 0-0 0-0 0, Morgan Yeska 3-6 3-3 9, Danielle Muntner 0-4 0-0 0, Taneisha Wortham 0-0 0-0 0. FG: 11-27. FT: 9-14. 3-pointers: 1-8 (Hazlett 1-2, D. Muntner 0-3, Hene 0-2, Reinke 0-1). Rebounds: 17 (Reinke 4). Turnovers: 20. Total fouls: 17. Fouled out: Hazlett. Record: 18-6.
AUBURNDALE (52): Mikayla Jankowski 0-1 0-0 0, Emma Steines 0-0 0-0 0, Kayleigh Kundinger 0-0 0-0 0, Kayla Nikolay 1-3 4-4 6, Nicole Nikolay 0-2 0-0 0, Sam Karl 0-0 0-0 0, Katie Willfahrt 0-0 2-2 2, Kelly Tomfohrde 2-9 4-4 8, Lindsay Gotz 8-10 2-2 19, Becky Willfahrt 0-0 0-0 0, Liz Breu 7-8 3-4 17, Melanie Brandl 0-0 0-0 0. FG: 18-33. FT: 15-16. 3-pointers: 1-4 (Gotz 1-2, Tomfohrde 0-1, Jankowski 0-1). Rebounds: 16 (Breu 5). Turnovers: 11. Total fouls: 15. Fouled out: none. Record: 20-3.