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By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
AUBURNDALE – The Auburndale boys basketball team made a torrid comeback in the final 10 minutes but couldn’t get over the hump and fell 58-49 to Loyal in the championship game of the Auburndale Holiday Boys Basketball Tournament on Friday night at Auburndale High School.
The Apaches (4-4) trailed 40-26 after a rare four-point play from Loyal’s Riley Geiger with 13:31 remaining in the game.
Auburndale responded with a 18-6 run sparked by a relentless defensive effort and the play of reserves Cason Schmutzer and Cale Jacoby.
Jacoby scored back-to-back baskets, Caleb Weinfurter converted a three-point play, and Schmutzer scored to cut it to 44-37 with 7 minutes left.
“We talked about being competitive at halftime,” Auburndale coach Chad Weinfurter said. “Some of the loose balls, we weren’t getting them. I thought Cason Schmutzer and Cale Jacoby, who haven’t been getting a lot of minutes, came in and gave us some great minutes in the second half. We tried to put out there our most competitive guys, at least the ones tonight that were showing it, and that got us back in the game.”
A 3-pointer from Caleb Weinfurter and two free throws from Colton Wright narrowed the Apaches’ deficit to 46-44, the closest they had been since the opening 4 minutes.
Cameron Brussow, who scored 14 points on 7 of 10 shooting in the first half, was bottled up by Auburndale’s zone defense in the second half, but with Loyal’s lead on the line, he found a way to get the ball in his hands.
Brussow had a three-point play and a pair of free throws to expand Loyal’s lead back to seven. After baskets by Luke Olsen and Caleb Weinfurter cut it back to three, Brussow made six straight free throws in the final 40 seconds to preserve the win.
Auburndale missed on its final four possessions.
“Part of our problem was we made so many mental mistakes,” Chad Weinfurter said. “Some of the silly turnovers we had – that’s something we need to clean up if we want to win some of these close games.”
Caleb Weinfurter scored a team-high 14 points for the Apaches despite shooting just 5 of 19 from the field and 2 of 14 from 3-point range. Collin Hawkins added 11 points and 14 rebounds.
Brussow finished with a game-high 29 points and added 13 rebounds, and Geiger chipped in 13 points for the Greyhounds (7-1).
Auburndale will turn to Marawood Conference South Division play beginning Tuesday at Pittsville. The Apaches are off to a 2-1 start in conference play, but Chad Weinfurter said they will have to start playing with more consistency to compete for a top spot in the conference.
“Turnovers is No. 1 on our list,” Chad Weinfurter said. “We thought we had it fixed for a couple of games and it reared its ugly head again. Defensively, we’re a lot better now. We weren’t very good on defense early in the year. Defense has to say, and (limiting) the turnovers and finding consistency on the offense is going to be the key for us.”
Brussow, Geiger, Caleb Weinfurter, Hawkins and Jacob Hablewitz of Weyauwega-Fremont were named to the all-tournament team.
Greyhounds 58, Apaches 49
Loyal 31 27 – 58
Auburndale 24 25 – 49
LOYAL (58): Luke Bogdonovich 4-10 0-0 11, Waylon Froeba 0-3 0-0 0, Riley Geiger 5-12 1-1 13, Jordan Radue 1-1 1-4 3, Quinn Brussow 1-1 0-1 2, Elliot Genteman 0-2 0-0 0, Cameron Brussow 9-21 11-11 29. FG: 20-50. FT: 13-17. 3-pointers: 5-21 (Bogdonovich 3-8, Geiger 2-6, Froeba 0-2, Brussow 0-5). Rebounds: 35 (Brussow 13). Turnovers: 12. Fouls: 18. Fouled out: Genteman. Record: 7-1.
AUBURNDALE (49): Cooper Weinfurter 3-8 2-2 10, Luke Olsen 2-10 0-2 4, Logan Willfahrt 0-1 0-0 0, Cason Schmutzer 1-2 0-0 2, Caleb Weinfurter 5-19 2-3 14, Collin Hawkins 4-5 3-5 11, Colten Yeske 0-2 0-0 0, Cameron Ertl 1-1 0-0 2, Cale Jacoby 2-2 0-0 4, Colton Wright 0-4 2-2 2. FG: 18-54. FT: 9-14. 3-pointers: 4-25 (Ca. Weinfurter 2-14, Co. Weinfurter 2-5, Schmutzer 0-1, Olsen 0-2, Wright 0-3). Rebounds: 34 (Hawkins 14). Turnovers: 12. Fouls: 19. Fouled out: Co. Weinfurter, Hawkins. Record: 4-4.