Auer Leads Lew-Port to Far West Regionals

Auer Power is real.

The Eden Radiers found that out Wednesday night. Lewiston-Porter junior Sophie Auer, a forward who plays more like a guard, led her team with 18 points helping them punch their ticket to Saturday’s Far West Regionals with a 55-42 victory Wednesday at Buffalo State College.

After a fairly evenly played 1st half Eden trailed Lew-Port 23-18. But a 12-0 run by the Lancers that began in the closing seconds of the 2nd quarter put the Raiders in a hole they were unable to climb out of.

Auer scored 14 of her points in the second half. She used her size in the paint and drove to the basket every chance she had.

“The whole defense played great,” Auer said. “We knew if we could get a good stop on defense we could turn it around and get some good offensive looks. We have a great group of girls on this team, Sarah Woods and Lucia hitting those three’s, just an overall really good win. We’re heading to Regionals!”

Lew-Port hasn’t reached this point since the 1992-93 season.

Sophomore Ashley Ballou proved her worth by dropping in 10 points for Eden and a number of offensive rebounds to give the Raiders a chance.

Unfortunately for the Raiders whenever they made a bucket, Lew-Port answered back with two more.

“Coming into this game, we were aware of how tough this game was going to be,” Eden first-year head coach Bill O’Hare said. “They play quick, we were prepared but just couldn’t guard them.”

The Raiders had won 14 in a row including wins over Sacred Heart, East Aurora and Southwestern this past Sunday in the B2 Final.

“This is a great group of girls,” Lew-Port head coach Richard Lindamer said after the win. “I honestly could say, all of the coaches will tell you, we love coming to practice every day. We told the girls at half to just calm down. Our shots will come.”

Auer had a lot of help along the way. Sarah Woods had 10 points, Lucia Sanchez went 4-for-4 from three-point land good for a 12-point night and Aliza Whitehead had seven, including a three-pointer.

“It’s awesome to be playing with all of these seniors,” Sanchez said. “We all love playing together. I’m glad that I could do my part to help us win.”

Junior Maggie Zittel had a team-high 12 points for Eden.

With the win, Lew-Port advances to the Far-West Regionals Saturday in Section V where they will face Waterloo. The game will be played at Rush-Henrietta High School and will be live streamed on the NFHS Network.