By Paul Lecker

Sports Reporter

AUBURNDALE — Auburndale shot just 33 percent but made 19 of 23 from the free throw line and took care of Stratford 47-41 in a WIAA Division 4 girls basketball regional semifinal Friday night at Auburndale High School.

Paiton Richardson scored 13 points, and Taylor Gotz had 12 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Apaches (19-4). Gotz was 6 of 6, and Allison Linzmeier went 4-for-4 from the free throw line to lead the way for Auburndale.

The Apaches swept all three matchups from Stratford this season.

Auburndale led 18-8 after one quarter before Stratford (15-9) chipped away, cutting the Apaches’ lead to 34-31 heading into the fourth quarter.

Auburndale moves on to a Division 4 regional final at No. 1 seed Marathon (22-1) at 7 p.m. Saturday. The game will be broadcast on WOSQ-FM 92.3 and wdlbwosq.com.

Auburndale handed Marathon its only loss of the season, a 45-33 defeat back on Jan. 6. Marathon beat the Apaches at Marathon in a rematch on Feb. 6, 47-39.

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

Apaches 47, Tigers 41

Stratford 8 11 12 10 – 41

Auburndale 18 10 6 13 – 47

STRATFORD (41): Statistics not provided. Record: 15-9.

AUBURNDALE (47): Allison Linzmeier 1-3 4-4 6, Cheyenne Karl 3-8 2-3 8, Jenna Peplinski 0-2 1-2 1, Sylviann Momont 0-3 0-0 0, Paiton Richardson 5-8 3-3 13, Shannon Yahnke 2-4 3-5 7, Taylor Gotz 3-14 6-6 12. FG: 14-42. FT: 19-23. 3-pointers: 0-1 (Momont 0-1). Rebounds: 21 (Gotz 12). Assists: 9. Record: 19-4.