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By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
AUBURNDALE – The Auburndale boys basketball stepped into the postseason Tuesday and didn’t miss a beat, rolling to a 79-35 win over Montello in a WIAA Division 4 regional quarterfinal at Auburndale High School.
The fourth-seeded Eagles (17-8) won for the 16th time in their last 18 games and moves into a D-4 regional final at home against No. 5 seed Colby (16-7) on Friday at 7 p.m. Montello finishes the season at 2-23.
Auburndale started the game on an 18-5 run as Treyton Weber, Caden Weinfurter and Lucas Yeske all had two baskets.
Following a 3-pointer from Caleb Postler for Montello, Auburndale ripped off 15-straight points as Weber scored twice inside and Alex Willfahrt added a pair of baskets.
The Eagles took a 37-12 led into halftime and were never threatened.
“About midway through the half we got going a little bit,” Auburndale coach Chad Weinfurter said. “We knew they didn’t handle the ball real well just looking at their stats, so we ran our half-court trap, got some steals, and got it going that way. Eventually our offense picked it up.”
Auburndale pushed the lead to 54-17 with a 9-0 run and was able to clear the bench for the final 10 minutes.
Twelve different Eagles scored in the win, with Wienfurter and Yeske each scoring 11, and Weber 10, as they shot 52 percent (30-for-58).
Next up is a Colby team that likes to play fast and shoot the 3-point shot.
“Going into the sectional we didn’t know where we would get seeded with the new formula,” Chad Weinfurter said. “To get the four seed and get a chance to play at home twice, that’s pretty exciting. Colby is a fantastic team. I really like watching them on tape, they’re an entertaining team to watch, the trick is how to defend them.”
Eagles 79, Hilltoppers 35
Montello 12 23 – 35
Auburndale 37 42 – 79
MONTELLO (35): Ayden Drew 4-8 1-1 9, Caleb Postler 8-16 2-6 20, Logan Ross 0-1 0-0 0, Caey Bond 0-3 0-0 0, Domanick Lopez 0-1 0-0 0, Bodie Bloom 0-7 0-0 0, Stephen Penland 0-0 0-0 0, Coleton Stoegbauer 0-0 0-0 0, Gabe Lopez 0-0 0-0 0, Seth Mehling 1-4 0-0 2, Braedy Alberts 1-6 2-2 4, Matthew Postler 0-0 0-0 0. FG: 14-46. FT: 5-9. 3-pointers: 2-7 (C. Postler 2-3, Bond 0-1, Bloom 0-3). Rebounds: 27 (Drew 7). Turnovers: 22. Fouls: 19. Fouled out: none. Record: 2-23.
AUBURNDALE (79): Blake Raab 2-2 0-0 5, Gavin White Eagle 1-2 2-4 4, Trayton Weber 5-7 0-0 10, Austin Quinlan 0-2 0-0 0, Lucas Yeske 5-10 1-4 11, Kaden Anderson 1-2 2-3 4, Alex Willfahrt 4-8 0-2 8, Evan Scholl 0-1 4-4 4, Tim Schmitt 1-3 1-2 3, Terrance Cottrell-Roberson 2-4 0-0 6, Mason White Eagle 4-6 2-4 10, Aden Cherney 0-1 0-0 0, Ian Brown 1-3 0-0 3, Mason Rachu 0 0-0 0, Caden Weinfurter 4-7 0-0 11. FG: 30-58. FT: 12-23. 3-pointers: 7-17 (Weinfurter 3-4, Cottrell-Roberson 2-3, Raab 1-1, Brown 1-3, Weber 0-1, Anderson 0-1, Scholl 0-1, Cherney 0-1, Yeske 0-2). Rebounds: 40 (Willfahrt 9, Yeske 8). Turnovers: 10. Fouls: 10. Fouled out: none. Record: 17-8.