This story is sponsored by: High Street Salon, Spa & Travel
By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
MARSHFIELD – Time and again, Auburndale junior guard Hunter Wright drove to the basket and Marshfield Columbus Catholic couldn’t find a way to stop him.
Wright made all nine of his field goal attempts in the first half and finished with a game-high 32 points to lead the Apaches to a 72-48 nonconference win on Monday night at Columbus Catholic High School.
Wright had 16 points as Auburndale (4-0) jumped out to a 23-11 lead in the first 10 minutes as the Apaches were in control throughout.
“That was Cooper’s (Weinfurter) suggestion to move Hunter to the high post about a week ago,” Auburndale coach Chad Weinfurter said. “He’s just so hard to stop when he catches the ball going to the rim, and he’s an excellent passer. That’s the nice thing about our team, we have so much versatility because he is a solid outside shooter too, but you give that up a little bit.”
Columbus closed to within six at 29-23 on a basket by Tom Nystrom, but Auburndale responded with a 9-0 run, five from Cooper Weinfurter, going on top 38-23 with 1:57 to go in the half.
The Dons (2-3) made only eight baskets the rest of the game, none in the final 7 minutes.
A fastbreak layup by Cody Trowbridge in the final minute put the Apaches up 43-27 at halftime and they led by double digits the rest of the way.
“We didn’t shoot real well from the outside (4-for-22 on 3-point attempts), which was a little disappointing, but other than that I thought we got really good shots,” Chad Weinfurter said. “We knew they were inexperienced coming in, and we’ve been forcing a lot of turnovers (21 on Monday) so far. Our guys have done a really nice job with our little press that we have, and then in the half court too being in the right spot at the right time.”
Nystrom finished with 13 points and Eden Jacobson had seven rebounds for Columbus Catholic.
Auburndale finished with a 32-20 rebounding advantage, earning seven on the offensive glass.
Weinfurter added 18 points and Fletcher Raab had 10 points for Auburndale.
Columbus Catholic hosts Granton in a Cloverbelt Conference East Division matchup Thursday, and Auburndale hosts Marathon in a Marawood Conference South Division contest on Friday.
Apaches 72, Dons 48
Auburndale 43 29 – 72
Columbus Catholic 27 21 – 48
AUBURNDALE (72): Cooper Weinfurter 7-21 3-4 18, Paul Kollross 0-2 0-0 0, Kaden Hoffman 0-1 0-0 0, Carl Lundgren 0-0 0-0 0, Hunter Wright 13-16 5-7 32, Fletcher Raab 4-10 0-0 10, Schuyler Gilhausen 1-2 0-0 2, Jason Wilcox 0-1 1-2 1, Cody Trowbridge 4-5 1-3 9, Terrance Cottrell-Roberson 0-0 0-0 0. FG: 29-58. FT: 10-16. 3-pointers: 4-22 (Raab 2-7, Wright 1-1, Weinfurter 1-12, Kollross 0-1, Hoffman 0-1). Rebounds: 32 (Wright 6). Turnovers: 10. Fouls: 11. Fouled out: none. Record: 4-0.
COLUMBUS CATHOLIC (48): Gage Stratman 0-1 2-2 2, Cole Noreen 3-7 0-0 8, Zach Olson 0-1 0-0 0, Will Schlafke 1-3 0-0 3, Tom Nystrom 5-12 2-3 13, Jadon Nienast 2-4 0-0 4, Sam Wilczek 2-2 3-3 7, Eden Jacobson 2-2 0-0 4, Wyatt Drexler 3-7 0-0 7, Carlos Hackel 0-0 0-2 0. FG: 18-39. FT: 7-10. 3-pointers: 4-13 (Noreen 2-4, Nystrom 1-3, Drexler 1-4, Olson 0-1, Stratman 0-1). Rebounds: 20 (Jacobson 7). Turnovers: 21. Fouls: 19. Fouled out: Hackel. Record: 2-3.