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By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
MENOMONIE – So much for big-game jitters.
Auburndale scored the first 16 points of the game and Blake Anderson hit five-straight 3-pointers in the opening quarter as the Apaches rolled to a 57-22 win over Unity in a WIAA Division 4 boys basketball sectional final on Saturday afternoon at Johnson Fieldhouse at the University of Wisconsin-Stout.
Auburndale (25-1) qualify for its first state tournament in nine years. The Apaches will take on Amherst (22-3) in a Division 4 state semifinal at the 2013 WIAA State Boys Basketball Tournament on Thursday at 6:35 p.m. at the Kohl Center in Madison. Amherst knocked Auburndale out of the playoffs last year, upsetting the Apaches 43-39 in a regional final at Auburndale.
Cuba City (26-0) will play Whitefish Bay Dominican (22-4) in the other Division 4 state semifinal Thursday at 8:15 p.m. The Division 4 state championship game is Saturday at 12:35 p.m.
Tickets for Thursday’s game will be on sale at Auburndale High School from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. Monday. The game will be broadcast on WDLB-AM 1450 and wdlbwosq.com, and televised on WAOW-TV 9 of Wausau.
Unity proved no match for Auburndale, which came out sizzling.
Anderson swished four straight 3-pointers, and Ben Bolder and Zach Staats added hoops inside as the Apaches made their first seven shots and took a 16-0 lead.
Unity didn’t make its first shot of the game until there was just 1:03 left in the quarter, but it didn’t matter much as Austin Hawkins responded with a basket and Anderson nailed a long 3-pointer at the buzzer to put Auburndale up 21-2.
“I woke up this morning and had a pretty good feeling about today,” Anderson said. “It’s a dream come true…it felt great out there.
“It means so much. I’ve been dreaming about it since I was a kid.”
Auburndale coach Chad Weinfurter couldn’t have asked for more.
“Our kids were focused in the locker room – they weren’t tight, they weren’t too loose,” Weinfurter said. “I had a really good feeling about it, I will tell you that. I wasn’t really surprised that we came out ready to play.”
The game was never in doubt as the Apaches led by at least 17 the rest of the game.
Auburndale closed the second quarter on a 6-0 run to led 29-5 at halftime.
Unity (17-9) got as close as 34-17 with a 12-5 run to start to the third quarter, but Auburndale finished on an 8-0 run – four from Matthew Nikolay – and took a 25-point lead into the fourth.
The Apaches had another 8-0 to end the fourth and post the 35-point beat-down.
Anderson finished with a game-high 20 points and Austin Hawkins added 14 points for Auburndale, which will be seeking its third overall state championship.
“Every year these guys have put more and more work into it,” Weinfurter said. “We have a pretty talented junior class, and Ben (Bolder) and Austin (Hawkins) are senior starters for us on a state tournament team. They have such great chemistry and get along so well with each other.”
Apaches 57, Eagles 22
Auburndale 21 8 13 15 – 57
Unity 2 3 12 5 – 22
AUBURNDALE (57): Jake Lewis 0-0 0-0 0, Tom Sabel 0-0 0-0 0, Matthew Nikolay 1-2 4-4 6, Blake Anderson 7-10 1-1 20, Isaac Castellano 2-2 1-2 5, Zach Staats 1-3 1-2 3, Alex Marth 0-0 0-0 0, Matt Lang 1-1 0-0 2, Austin Hawkins 6-10 2-2 14, Ben Bolder 2-3 1-2 5, Cooper Krings 0-0 0-0 0, Josh VanSchoick 1-2 0-0 2. FG: 21-33. FT: 10-13. 3-pointers: 5-9 (Anderson 5-8, Nikolay 0-1). Rebounds: 20 (Hawkins, Bolder, Anderson, Nikolay all with 3). Turnovers: 9. Fouls: 5. Fouled out: none. Record: 25-1.
UNITY (22): Nolan Merrill 0-0 0-0 0, Jacob Ruck 1-1 0-0 3, Justin Mooney 0-1 0-0 0, Jordan Lowe 0-0 0-0 0, Dylan Ruck 0-1 0-0 0, Zachary Johnson 2-8 0-0 5, Logan Bader 2-5 0-0 4, Brendan Foeller 0-0 0-0 0, Aaron Koshatka 0-4 0-0 0, Dakota Ward 0-1 0-0 0, Oliver Raboin 4-8 2-4 10, Cash Hickethier 0-0 0-0 0. FG: 9-29. FT: 2-4. 3-pointers: 2-11 (Johnson 1-5, J. Ruck 1-1, Mooney 0-1, D. Rick 0-1, Koshatka 0-3). Rebounds: 12 (Raboin 5). Turnovers: 13. Fouls: 14. Fouled out: none. Record: 17-9.