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Mar. 14—COLUMBUS GROVE — "Who is that?"
It was Columbus Grove coach Brian Schroeder's first thought when he saw Lauryn Auchmuty, a first-grader at the time, demonstrating her skills at a clinic for younger players.
Little did Schroeder know that Auchmuty was about to be one of his team managers and, many years later, the school's all-time leading scorer.
Auchmuty scored her 1,000th career point as junior, broke Lauren Slusser's record of 1,500 points during a 51-45 win over Crestview on Dec. 19, and nine days later, passed her cousin Blake Reynolds to become the school's all-time leading scorer in either the boys or girls programs.
As a result of Auchmuty's dominance on the court, the 5-foot-7 senior guard was named Player of the Year in both the Putnam County League and Northwest Conference, and now, The Lima News Dream Team Player of the Year.
Along with the scoring record, Auchmuty has also set the mark for most points and three-pointers in a single season at Columbus Grove, the single-game scoring record for the Bulldogs when she had 42 against Allen East on Dec. 5 and broke former teammate Kenzie King's record for most three-point field goals in Putnam County history.
But right now, her main focus is on her team's 2 p.m. Saturday state title game against Rootstown at University of Dayton Arena.
Heading into this weekend, Auchmuty's two biggest hopes are to go out as a winner in the final game of her high school career and for someone to one day break all of those records she set along the way.
"Records get broken, and I hope mine do too eventually," Auchmuty said. "Being able to reach these records and having the community there and the team to support me just means a lot. Taking this team to state is one of the main goals we've had, and we're looking forward to enjoying every moment of it."
Auchmuty's averages of 23.2 points, 5.8 rebounds, 4.4 steals and 2.5 assists per game are an important part of why Columbus Grove is 26-2 this year and has already set the mark for most wins in school history.
It isn't so much the wins that stood out this season but the losses that made the Bulldogs a stronger team during their journey.
Since back-to-back losses to Ottoville and Ottawa-Glanforf in early January, Columbus Grove has won 15 straight games, with the hopes of getting one more victory and making school history once again on Saturday.
"We made it our mission to come out harder after that," Auchmuty said. "We set a goal to not lose another game, and we haven't since then. Losing those games impacted the team because it never feels good, but you learn from those mistakes and move on.
"We want to get our names out on the main hallway with the trophy and to make school history. We want to make this a season that everyone will remember forever when they come in our school and see this group of girls on the wall."
Auchmuty's signature moment of the season came in March 7's 43-40 win over Mintser, when she drove the length of the court with 15 seconds left for a go-ahead layup and, soon after, hit two key free throws to clinch Grove's first-ever state championship appearance.
"There's a lot of emotions," Auchmuty said following the Minster game. "I was happy on the court, then got in the locker room and started crying, so it was a mix of emotions. We made school history once again. We've never been to state semis or state, so we're just going to take practice day by day this week and hopefully bring home a win on Saturday."
Next year, Auchmuty is committed to playing basketball at the University of Findlay, where she'll join forces with two former rivals, Erica and Carly Thorbahn of Ottoville.
"As good as she is in high school, I think she's going to be even better in college because she'll be dialed in on one sport," Columbus Grove coach Brian Schroeder said. "She went to the state semis in soccer in the fall, and on Monday, she'll probably be on the track wanting to do something special in the spring. The moment she can focus on basketball and weight training and some of those other micro skills, I think she's going to some awesome stuff in college."
No matter the result of this weekend's game, Auchmuty said she's singularly focused on making the final moments of her high school career memorable.
"It's not about the records anymore or the wins and losses; it's just been about getting to enjoy the moment with my team while we have it," she said.
"We just want to go in and play our hardest. We're going to have to adapt to playing in Dayton. It's going to be way different than any other high school gym, so we just need to get used to being there and then play how we know how to play.
"We want to show our community that we can play basketball the way we were taught and show them that all the hard work has paid off. Their support means everything to us."
Reach Chris Howell at 567-242-0468 or on X @Lima_Howell
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It was Columbus Grove coach Brian Schroeder's first thought when he saw Lauryn Auchmuty, a first-grader at the time, demonstrating her skills at a clinic for younger players.
Little did Schroeder know that Auchmuty was about to be one of his team managers and, many years later, the school's all-time leading scorer.
Auchmuty scored her 1,000th career point as junior, broke Lauren Slusser's record of 1,500 points during a 51-45 win over Crestview on Dec. 19, and nine days later, passed her cousin Blake Reynolds to become the school's all-time leading scorer in either the boys or girls programs.
As a result of Auchmuty's dominance on the court, the 5-foot-7 senior guard was named Player of the Year in both the Putnam County League and Northwest Conference, and now, The Lima News Dream Team Player of the Year.
Along with the scoring record, Auchmuty has also set the mark for most points and three-pointers in a single season at Columbus Grove, the single-game scoring record for the Bulldogs when she had 42 against Allen East on Dec. 5 and broke former teammate Kenzie King's record for most three-point field goals in Putnam County history.
But right now, her main focus is on her team's 2 p.m. Saturday state title game against Rootstown at University of Dayton Arena.
Heading into this weekend, Auchmuty's two biggest hopes are to go out as a winner in the final game of her high school career and for someone to one day break all of those records she set along the way.
"Records get broken, and I hope mine do too eventually," Auchmuty said. "Being able to reach these records and having the community there and the team to support me just means a lot. Taking this team to state is one of the main goals we've had, and we're looking forward to enjoying every moment of it."
Auchmuty's averages of 23.2 points, 5.8 rebounds, 4.4 steals and 2.5 assists per game are an important part of why Columbus Grove is 26-2 this year and has already set the mark for most wins in school history.
It isn't so much the wins that stood out this season but the losses that made the Bulldogs a stronger team during their journey.
Since back-to-back losses to Ottoville and Ottawa-Glanforf in early January, Columbus Grove has won 15 straight games, with the hopes of getting one more victory and making school history once again on Saturday.
"We made it our mission to come out harder after that," Auchmuty said. "We set a goal to not lose another game, and we haven't since then. Losing those games impacted the team because it never feels good, but you learn from those mistakes and move on.
"We want to get our names out on the main hallway with the trophy and to make school history. We want to make this a season that everyone will remember forever when they come in our school and see this group of girls on the wall."
Auchmuty's signature moment of the season came in March 7's 43-40 win over Mintser, when she drove the length of the court with 15 seconds left for a go-ahead layup and, soon after, hit two key free throws to clinch Grove's first-ever state championship appearance.
"There's a lot of emotions," Auchmuty said following the Minster game. "I was happy on the court, then got in the locker room and started crying, so it was a mix of emotions. We made school history once again. We've never been to state semis or state, so we're just going to take practice day by day this week and hopefully bring home a win on Saturday."
Next year, Auchmuty is committed to playing basketball at the University of Findlay, where she'll join forces with two former rivals, Erica and Carly Thorbahn of Ottoville.
"As good as she is in high school, I think she's going to be even better in college because she'll be dialed in on one sport," Columbus Grove coach Brian Schroeder said. "She went to the state semis in soccer in the fall, and on Monday, she'll probably be on the track wanting to do something special in the spring. The moment she can focus on basketball and weight training and some of those other micro skills, I think she's going to some awesome stuff in college."
No matter the result of this weekend's game, Auchmuty said she's singularly focused on making the final moments of her high school career memorable.
"It's not about the records anymore or the wins and losses; it's just been about getting to enjoy the moment with my team while we have it," she said.
"We just want to go in and play our hardest. We're going to have to adapt to playing in Dayton. It's going to be way different than any other high school gym, so we just need to get used to being there and then play how we know how to play.
"We want to show our community that we can play basketball the way we were taught and show them that all the hard work has paid off. Their support means everything to us."
Reach Chris Howell at 567-242-0468 or on X @Lima_Howell
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Continue reading...
