This story is sponsored by: WDLB-AM 1450 and WOSQ-FM 92.3 radio
By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
WAUSAU – The Auburndale girls basketball team has taken on the underdog role, much like the volleyball team did during the fall on to the way to the state finals.
The Apaches, the No. 5 seed in its half of the sectional bracket, now stands one win away from a trip to state after a convincing 48-39 win over Bonduel in a WIAA Division 4 sectional semifinal Thursday night at Wausau West High School.
Auburndale (17-9) will play defending D-4 state champion Algoma (23-2) in a sectional final at 7 p.m. Saturday at Waupaca High School. The winner moves on to the 2014 WIAA State Girls Basketball Tournament in Green Bay next week. The sectional final will be broadcast on WDLB-AM 1450 and wdlbwosq.com.
“We know we can win every game, it doesn’t matter how many losses we’ve had this year,” first-year Auburndale coach Scott Meidl said. “I told the girls, ‘Five games is all it takes. Everyone is 0-0 when the playoffs start.’”
Auburndale stood at 6-7 after its second loss to Wausau Newman Catholic on Jan. 31. Since, the Apaches have won 11 of 13 games, grabbed two road playoff wins and find themselves with a chance to make the state tournament for the first time in school history.
“We always know that we can do it and we just keep working hard every day in practice,” senior guard Kendra Kundinger said. “We have confidence in ourselves and each other.”
Auburndale charged out to a 13-3 lead behind six points from Taylor Gotz and a 3-pointer from Kendra Kundinger.
Bonduel (20-5) made a charge, but the Apaches never trailed in the game.
The Bears scored the final eight points of the first quarter to pull to within two.
Neither team scored for the first 5 minutes of the second quarter until Shannon Yahnke scored inside for Auburndale.
Yahnke and Bonduel’s Jen Dowden traded baskets in the final 30 seconds of the half and Auburndale led 18-17 at halftime.
Auburndale quashed Bonduel’s momentum by scoring the first eight points of the third quarter and four different Apaches scored in the run.
The Apaches pushed their lead to 11 on a basket by Paiton Richardson with 5:06 left in the fourth and made 12 of 17 free throws over the final 3 minutes as the Bars got no closer than seven the rest of the way.
“We ran through a stretch there where we didn’t get a whole lot of shots or a whole lot of movement,” Meidl said. “We talked at halftime about getting it inside and in the middle to break apart their zone. At the end, it was free throws. Tonight, we made enough.”
Gotz finished with nine points and 19 rebounds and Yahnke had a team-high 14 points for Auburndale.
Apaches 48, Bears 39
Bonduel 11 6 6 16 – 39
Auburndale 13 5 12 18 – 48
BONDUEL (39): Danee Collier 0-0 0-2 0, Kailee Pedersen 0-0 0-0 0, Kayla Beyersdorf 0-0 0-0 0, Jen Dowden 7-18 2-4 17, Lexi Reinke 5-10 0-1 12, Miranda Schmidt 0-1 0-0 0, Taylor Weier 3-6 1-2 7, Hayley Pues 0-1 0-0 0, Courtney Schmidt 0-0 0-0 0, Whitney Banker 0-0 0-0 0, Dea Zernicke 0-5 0-0 0, Morgan Sorenson 1-2 0-0 3, Kaila Wussow 0-0 0-0 0. FG: 16-43. FT: 3-9. 3-pointers: 4-15 (Reinke 2-4, Dowden 1-6, Sorenson 1-1, Zernicke 0-3, Pues 0-1). Rebounds: 20 (Dowden 7). Turnovers: 10. Fouls: 19. Fouled out: none. Record: 20-5.
AUBURNDALE (48): Kendra Kundinger 2-11 4-4 9, Stafani Karl 0-1 0-0 0, Brianna Meyer 0-0 0-0 0, Allison Linzmeier 3-11 0-0 6, Cheyenne Karl 0-3 2-3 2, Jeanette Peplinski 0-0 0-0 0, Shannon Yahnke 3-6 8-12 14, Taylor Gotz 3-9 3-6 9, Paiton Richardson 4-6 0-0 8. FG: 15-47. FT: 17-25. 3-pointers: 1-11 (Kundinger 1-8, S. Karl 0-1, C. Karl 0-2). Rebounds: 38 (Gotz 19). Turnovers: 10. Fouls: 14. Fouled out: none. Record: 17-9.