This story is sponsored by: Valley Communities Credit Union
By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
AUBURNDALE – The Auburndale girls basketball team didn’t make a basket for the final 6:47 but did enough defensively and from the free throw line to extend its win streak to four by beating Edgar 43-40 in overtime Thursday night at Auburndale High School.
Auburndale made all eight of its free throw attempts in overtime, including two each by Sam Karl and Becky Willfahrt in the final 19.5 seconds to erase a one-point deficit and pull out its eighth win in its last nine games and improve to 11-4 overall and 7-2 in the Marawood Conference South Division. Edgar falls to 9-6 and 3-6 in the conference.
“We had two overtime games earlier this year and that helped us out a great deal,” Auburndale coach Liz Nagel said. “We lost both of those but they were both close games and we learned a lot. The girls were able to use what we learned in those games and bring it in here tonight.”
Both teams started slow, with Auburndale leading 13-6 after the first half. Neither team scored in the final 4:17 of the second quarter and each team turned the ball over 12 times in the first half.
Play picked up midway through the third quarter as Auburndale outscored the Wildcats 13-11 over the final 4 minutes and led 26-21 after a 3-pointer by Karl with 3 seconds left.
A basket by Nicole Nikolay and another 3-pointer by Karl in the first 40 seconds of the fourth quarter completed a 10-0 run for the Apaches to put them up 41-31.
Edgar responded with a 6-0 run and eventually pulled even in the closing seconds when Kaiti Lepak drilled a 3-pointer from 3-feet behind the line with 8.5 seconds to go. Auburndale turned the ball over and Kira Dittman’s 3-pointer at the buzzer missed to send the game into overtime.
Edgar took its first lead on a basket by Jena Heidmann with 2:58 to go. The game was tied on two occasions after that before Heidmann’s free throw with 1:17 left put the Wildcats ahead 40-39.
Karl knocked down two free throws after a foul during a loose ball near half court to put Auburndale up 41-40 with 19.5 seconds left. After a missed shot by Edgar, Willfahrt made two more free throws with 8.9 seconds left and Edgar missed another shot on its final trip to secure the win for the Apaches.
Nikolay finished with 11 points and nine rebounds and Karl added 10 points for Auburndale.
“We’ve been learning as we go,” Nagel said. “The girls have learned a lot, I have learned a lot.
“Free throws are something that we harp on a lot. We tell the girls that defense will win you games, but free throws are what pulls you through those big close, tight games.”
The Apaches host Wisconsin Rapids Assumption on Tuesday.
Apaches 43, Wildcats 40
Edgar 2 4 15 14 5 – 40
Auburndale 7 6 13 9 8 – 43
EDGAR (40): Kira Dittman 0-2 2-6 2, Tessa Thurs 1-4 2-9 4, Jena Heidmann 3-12 3-4 10, Kelsey Steinke 0-4 0-0 0, Kyrstn Wanless 2-3 0-0 5, Holly Denfeld 5-14 3-5 13, Kaiti Lepak 2-6 0-0 6, Ashley Schneeberger 0-1 0-0 0. FG: 13-46. FT: 10-24. 3-pointers: 4-13 (Lepak 2-5, Wanless 1-1, Heidmann 1-4, Dittman 0-1, Steinke 0-2). Rebounds: 26 (Dittman 6). Turnovers: 14. Fouls: 13. Fouled out: Denfeld. Record: 9-6, 3-6 Marawood South.
AUBURNDALE (43): Kendra Kundinger 1-3 2-2 4, Brianna Meyer 4-5 0-0 8, Mikayla Jankowski 0-3 2-2 2, Becky Willfahrt 0-2 2-2 2, Nicole Nikolay 3-9 5-7 11, Sam Karl 3-7 2-2 10, Emma Steines 2-7 0-0 6, Melanie Brandl 0-3 0-0 0, Kayla Gotz 0-1 0-0 0. FG: 12-40. FT: 13-15. 3-pointers: 4-14 (Karl 2-4, Steines 2-4, Nikolay 0-3, Willfahrt 0-1, Kundinger 0-1, Gotz 0-1). Rebounds: 28 (Nikolay 9). Turnovers: 18. Fouls: 15. Fouled out: none. Record: 11-4, 7-2 Marawood South.