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By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
AUBURNDALE – Auburndale scored the game’s first seven points and never trailed, cruising to a 55-41 win over Prentice in a Marawood Conference boys basketball crossover game Friday night at Auburndale High School.
The Apaches won their eighth game in a row to improve to 16-3 overall and 12-2 in the Marawood Conference South Division. Prentice is now 7-11 and 5-9 in the Marawood North.
Colton Wright, in his second game back following an injury, scored a team-high 13 points for the Apaches in a balanced scoring attack.
Wright hit a 3-pointer in the opening 2 minutes to help Auburndale jump out to a 7-0 lead.
The Apaches built the lead to 13-2 after a basket by Cason Schmutzer and a 3-pointer by Cameron Ertl one minute later put Auburndale on top 16-4 and it led by double digits the rest of the game.
“I thought we executed really well,” Auburndale coach Chad Weinfurter said. “We had a few silly turnovers, but otherwise we were able to get the ball inside. We said they (Prentice) were going to play pressure defense, so we could get the ball in there is they overplayed.”
Auburndale led 30-12 at halftime and while Prentice finally got its offense going four minutes into the second half, scoring on five-straight possessions, the Apaches led by at least 13 the rest of the game.
Ertl made all six of his free throw attempts to finish with 11 points, Cale Jacoby added 11 points and six rebounds and Cooper Weinfurter chipped in 10 points for the Apaches.
“We’ve got three guys averaging double figures,” Chad Weinfurter said. “I really like how our roles are coming together. If you’re main guy has an off night, you’re not as worried because we have three or four other guys that can pick it up.”
Auburndale plays a nonconference game at Nekoosa on Monday before closing out its regular-season and Marawood South schedule with games at home against Edgar on Feb. 16 and at Stratford on Feb. 22.
With the victory Friday, the Apaches maintain a one-game lead over Marathon and Stratford in the Marawood South standings.
“I thought we were balanced again, and Colten Wright in his second game back looked better than he did the first game, so hopefully we’re rounding into form here,” Chad Weinfurter said. “Tonight we looked a lot better with the flow of our offense. Colten coming back makes us a lot better, but the roles shift again, and I thought we did a nice job.”
Apaches 55, Buccaneers 41
Prentice 12 29 – 41
Auburndale 30 25 – 55
PRENTICE (41): Trace Brayton 6-16 2-4 16, Breydon Johnson 0-0 0-0 0, Tristan Johnson 0-0 0-0 0, Josh Jast 0-1 0-0 0, Trent Heikkinen 1-5 0-0 3, Colt Logan 1-3 0-0 2, Garrett Blomberg 1-1 0-1 2, Kai Vedder 0-2 0-0 0, Jarrett Dunbar 4-7 0-2 8, Peyton Enders 5-13 0-1 10. FG: 18-48. FT: 2-8. 3-pointers: 3-11 (Brayton 2-6, Heikkinen 1-4, Jast 0-1). Rebounds: 29 (Dunbar 10). Turnovers: 14. Fouls: 18. Fouled out: Enders. Record: 7-11, 5-9 Marawood Conference North Division.
AUBURNDALE (55): Cooper Weinfurter 3-11 4-7 10, Paul Kollross 0-0 0-0 0, Cale Jacoby 5-10 1-2 11, Cason Schmutzer 2-2 0-2 4, Fletcher Raab 0-0 0-0 0, Carter Wilcott 0-2 0-0 0, Aaron Marth 1-1 0-0 2, Colten Yeske 2-5 0-0 4, Cameron Ertl 2-3 6-6 11, Jason Wilcox 0-0 0-0 0, Colton Wright 5-10 1-2 13. FG: 20-44. FT: 12-17. 3-pointers: 3-16 (Wright 2-7, Ertl 1-2, Wilcott 0-2, Weinfurter 0-5). Rebounds: 26 (Jacoby 6). Turnovers: 9. Fouls: 12. Fouled out: none. Record: 16-3, 12-2 Marawood Conference South Division.