Stratford girls are on a mission

Tigers top ‘Cats, keep their title ambitions alive

There’s not player on Stratford girls basketball team that was alive the last time a Tigers squad won the Marawood South title.

A quick search online shows the last titles came in 2000 and 2001. But if the Tigers continue to play as they do, there might be a new trophy sitting in that gleaming case. It’s an ambition that fuels Stratford in every practice and game. “We’ve wanted it every year, and it’s been so hard to get it,” senior wing Breanna Ackley said. “It would mean a lot and I hope this year we can bring it home.”

The Tigers are alone atop the Marawood South after defeating Edgar 51-34 on Thursday, but their margin for error remains slim in part to a 35-31 loss against Auburndale on Monday, Jan. 11.

Head coach Tammie Christopherson spoke about the Tigers’ brutal schedule after Stratford’s 55-43 defeat of Abbotsford on Jan. 8, but she noted that even though it was a gauntlet, iron sharpens iron, and the schedule represents a chance to test the Tigers best against other great teams.

“There’s not many teams that are putting themselves out there like we are, but we want to play the best to be the best,” Christopherson said. “Come tournament time, we will be battle tested because every non-conference game we have, those teams are ranked in the state.

“We are not for the faint of heart, and we are going to get after it these next three weeks. Even when we have not played our best, we are right in every game. I truly believe we are a team that can beat anyone.”

Those aren’t boastful words. The Tigers are 7-3 in league play, and even their losses have been closely contested. The Tigers got plenty of games in through the month of January, and Ackley and her senior class have led the charge.

It was Ackley who was the difference maker in the Tigers victories over Abbotsford and Edgar. Ackley put a heat check on the Falcons when they pulled to within 10 on Jan. 8, and her 30 point effort gave the Tigers a 55-43 victory.

Ackley showed her full range in that game, striking from three and inside.

“I was really feeling it. I saw the shots were open, got a nice screen from my teammates, and I just took it. Thankfully they were falling.” Stratford’s next game would be a very different match from their one with Abbotsford. Against Abby, the Tigers were able to crash the boards and get second chance points against the shorter team.

Stratford’s match against the newly minted Eagles in Auburndale three days later was a different affair, with each team’s bigs going at it in the paint.

It was a low-scoring contest for both teams, with neither side cracking 40 points. The Tigers were held to just 13 points in the first frame. Not that Aburndale was much better, with the Eagles going into halftime only up 16-13.

The Tigers defense continued to hold the Eagles in check, and Annamarie Aue was the only Eagle to score in double figures, finishing with 12.

Ackley paced the Tigers with 11 points and eight boards, but the Eagles did their best to hold Stratford’s offense down, and Emily Hughes and Makenna Leonhardt were limited to five points.

Stratford scored 18 points in that second half, but could not get the better of the Eagles, giving up 19 to drop a 35-31 decision to their conference rivals as their title hopes took a big hit.

But the Tigers are nothing if not resilient, and even though Stratford lost a tough road game to Bonduel a day later, their offense was much better in that Jan. 12 non-conference meeting.

Their defense on the other hand harda time stopping Allaina Robaidek and Kara Troxel who scored all but ten of Bonduel’s 54 points. Troxel had 21 points and Robaidek added 23, but even so, the Tigers were up 28-24 at the break.

Bonduel came back in the second half, and not even Ackley’s 22 points and Hughes’ 16 could overcome a comeback by Bonduel, who out-scored the Tigers 30-21 in the final frame for a 54-49 victory.

It was just the second time that the Tigers have suffered back to back losses, but things were different once they were back in the comfortable confines of home, where they hosted a familiar foe in Edgar.

The two teams had seen each other once before, with Edgar picking up a 52-41 win over Stratford, but on Jan. 14 it was the Tigers who were the ones delivering the drubbing.

Each side was evenly matched in that first half, and the Tigers only had an 18-14 lead going into the second half.

But one team rose, and another team fell. The Tigers rode a balanced offense to stop Edgar in its tracks, out-scoring their rivals 33-24 in the last stanza to earn a 51-38 victory and take first in the Marawood South.

Ackley turned in 12 points, but the story of the game was Lauren Kraus, who dropped in 11 points. Bailey Linzmaier added another nine points and senior guard Tanaya Schillinger pitched in with eight more points.

Difficult non-conference games with Crandon and Phillips lie ahead, along with another crack at Assumption. If the Tigers can maintain the form that carried them to victory over Edgar, perhaps this year’s team can achieve a feat not seen in Stratford in over two decades.

A BATTLE FOR EVERY POSSESSION- Stratford senior Gracie Hauke (#25) fights for a loose ball during the Tigers road win against Marawood North Abbotsford. The Tigers dropped a pair of games, but picked up a victory over conference rival Edgar to keep their Marawood South title hopes alive. If they win it all, it would be their first title in 20 years.STAFF PHOTO/ROSS PATTERMANN