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By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
AUBURNDALE – The Auburndale boys basketball team found itself playing from behind for most of its Marawood Conference South Division showdown with Marathon, and in the end, the Eagles couldn’t catch up.
A 14-2 run by Marathon midway through the first half put the Raiders on top for good and they held on for a 64-55 victory in a battle of two of the three Marawood South leaders on Friday night at Auburndale High School.
Marathon improves to 10-2 overall and 8-1 in the conference, staying in a tie for first place with Wausau Newman Catholic (11-2, 8-1). Auburndale, which had won 10-straight games since an early-season loss at Marathon in late November, falls to 11-2 and 7-2 in the Marawood South.
Marathon jumped out to an 8-0 lead before Auburndale countered with 11 straight to take its only lead. A basket by Caden Weinfurter tied it and a 3-pointer from Blake Raab gave the Eagles an 11-8 lead with 9:16 to go in the first half.
Tyler Underwood and Grant Warren hit back-to-back baskets to regain the lead for Marathon, which never trailed again.
After a layup by Mason White Eagle, Marathon scored 10 in a row, six from Warren, who finished with a game-high 30 points and 12 rebounds.
Auburndale closed to within three at 30-27 by halftime after hoops from Lucas Yeske and Evan Scholl in the final minute of half.
Underwood scored and Warren converted a three-point play to open the second half for Marathon, which staved off a 6-1 run by holding the Eagles to just two field goals during a nearly seven-minute stretch.
White Eagle, who scored 14 points for Auburndale, made two baskets in a row to help the Eagles close to within 41-40 with 10 minutes left. Warren countered with nine-straight points for the Raiders to give them an eight-point lead.
Auburndale turned to the foul game during the final three minutes, trying to gain extra possessions. While Marathon helped the strategy, missing five of nine free throws, Auburndale was unable to take advantage as it misfired on four of five shot attempts.
The Raiders were able to close the game out by making 9 of 10 free throws, including five of six from Underwood, who chipped in 15 points in the victory.
Weinfurter finished with 16 points to lead Auburndale.
Auburndale will play a nonconference game at Spencer on Monday before hosting Rib Lake for a Marawood crossover game on Thursday. Marathon is at home against Mosinee on Tuesday before hosting Marawood North leader Athens on Thursday.
Raiders 64, Eagles 55
Marathon 30 34 – 64
Auburndale 27 28 – 55
MARATHON (64): Cooper Hoeksema 1-3 2-4 4, True Thurs 0-0 0-0 0, Drew Woelfel 0-0 0-0 0, Drew Love 3-7 5-6 11, Daniel LaQua 0-1 0-0 0, Tyler Underwood 4-6 7-10 15, Mason Seehafer 2-5 0-4 4, Grant Warren 12-17 5-7 30. FG: 22-39. FT: 19-31. 3-pointers: 1-4 (Warren 1-1, Hoeksema 0-1, Love 0-2). Rebounds: 31 (Warren 12). Turnovers: 13. Fouls: 13. Fouled out: none. Record: 10-2, 8-1 Marawood Conference South Division.
AUBURNDALE (55): Blake Raab 1-2 0-0 3, Trayton Weber 0-2 0-0 0, Lucas Yeske 3-7 0-0 6, Kaden Anderson 1-1 1-1 3, Alex Willfahrt 2-7 0-0 4, Evan Scholl 4-10 0-0 9, Mason White Eagle 7-9 0-0 14, Caden Weinfurter 6-13 3-3 16. FG: 24-51. FT: 4-4. 3-pointers: 3-16 (Raab 1-2, Scholl 1-4, Weinfurter 1-5, Yeske 0-2, Willfahrt 0-3). Rebounds: 21 (White Eagle 5, Scholl 5). Turnovers: 11. Fouls: 20. Fouled out: Yeske, White Eagle. Record: 11-2, 7-2 Marawood Conference South Division.