By Paul Lecker

Sports Reporter

AUBURNDALE — Auburndale junior Paiton Richardson scored 18 points and grabbed seven rebounds to lead the Apaches to a 62-38 rout of Athens in a nonconference girls basketball game Tuesday night at Auburndale High School.

Auburndale improves to 17-4 while Athens falls to 15-6.

Auburndale jumped out to a 32-16 lead by halftime after outscoring the Bluejays 16-4 in the second quarter. The Apaches continued to pull away with a 19-4 run in the third quarter, building a 31-point lead.

Sylviann Momont added 11 points and 11 rebounds for Auburndale.

Kyncaide Diedrich scored 24 of Athens’ 38 points in the loss.

Auburndale plays at Edgar on Saturday at 3 p.m. in the third-place game of the Marawood South-North crossovers. The Apaches open WIAA Division 4 postseason action with a regional semifinal at home on Feb. 27 against the winner of Tuesday’s game between Stratford and Stevens Point Pacelli.

(Hub City Times Sports Reporter Paul Lecker is also the publisher of MarshfieldAreaSports.com.)

Apaches 62, Bluejays 38

Athens 12 4 4 18 – 38

Auburndale 16 16 19 11 – 62

ATHENS (38): Emily Czech 0-3 0-2 0, Brittany Ange 0-3 0-1 0, Vanessa Frahm 2-9 0-1 5, Kyncaide Diedrich 8-13 6-6 24, Gabi Janke 0-1 0-0 0, Hanna Ellenbecker 0-1 0-0 0, Savannah Janke 4-9 0-0 8, Paige Denzine 0-0 0-0 0, Kaitlyn Brooks 0-2 1-2 1, Alexa Gajewski 0-0 0-0 0. FG: 14-41. FT: 7-12. 3-pointers: 3-6 (Diedrich 2-3, Frahm 1-1, Czech 0-1, Janke 0-1). Rebounds: 15 (Frahm 5). Assists: 9 (Ange 3). Record: 15-6.

AUBURNDALE (62): Abby Bauer 0-1 0-0 0, Cassie Mitchell 0-0 2-2 2, Ashley Peplinski 1-2 0-0 2, Allison Linzmeier 1-3 0-0 2. Cheyenne Karl 4-9 0-0 8, Jenna Peplinski 1-1 0-0 2, Sylviann Momont 4-7 3-4 11, Paiton Richardson 8-12 2-2 18, Shannon Yahnke 3-9 3-6 9, Taylor Gotz 4-9 0-0 8. FG: 26-53. FT: 10-14. 3-pointers: 0-4 (Bauer 0-1, A. Peplinski 0-1, Karl 0-1, Richardson 0-1). Rebounds: 34 (Momont 11). Assists: 15 (Linzmeier 5). Record: 17-4.