Tigers down Loggers, fall to Red Raiders
Stratford’s varsity boys basketball team beat Phillips, 55-36, on Monday at home but it came up short, 54-50, against Marathon on Tuesday at home.
The Tigers led the Red Raiders, 25-21, at halftime. Marathon outscored Stratford, 33-25, in the second half for the comeback win. The Tigers are now 9-7 overall and 5-7 in the Marawood South Conference this season. The Red Raiders, meanwhile, improve to 17-4 overall and 8-4 in the South.
Senior guard Cody Miller led Stratford in scoring in both the team’s home games early this week. Miller poured in 17 points in the win against Phillips and 13 in the loss to Marathon.
Stratford senior guard Max Vanderhoof led the team with eight assists and three steals against the Loggers. Juniors Jacob Skroch and Camden Daul grabbed seven rebounds each against Phillips.
Tigers head coach Curt Schmidt was pleased with his team’s effort in the victory against Phillips.
“I thought we shot the ball well,” Schmidt said. “I also thought we got good minutes from our bench. I was really proud of the defensive effort of our guys to slow down their inside game.”
Marathon dominated Wisconsin Rapids Assumption, 74-42, on Friday at home.
Seniors Mike Hahn and Brock Warren led the Red Raiders with 14 points each. Hahn paced Marathon with 10 rebounds and Matt Vande Boom with six assists in the the victory.
Marathon then edged Shiocton, 72-70, on the road Saturday. Senior guard Jaden Koeller led the Red Raiders with 24 points, followed by Warren with 21 and Vande Boom with 14. Koeller and Ben Robbins paced the squad with four assists each. Warren led the team with nine rebounds.
Red Raiders head coach Adam Jacobson loved the win against an always solid Shiocton team.
“It was a great non-conference road win against an excellent Shiocton program,” Jacobson said. “All credit goes to our players and our assistant coaches who continue to keep working hard and improving.
“Hopefully we can continue to improve each day and play our best basketball when it matters most in February. I am so proud of our players and assistant coaches and I thank them for all of their efforts.”
‘Cats chase South title
Edgar’s boys basketball team took another step closer on Tuesday to winning the Marawood South Conference championship this season. Edgar beat Auburndale, 61-50, at home on Tuesday to split the regular-season series.
The Wildcats improve to 15-2 overall this season and 11-1 in the Marawood South. Edgar now has a two-game lead over Auburndale in the Marawood South Conference standings. The Wildcats’ only tough conference games remaining are this Friday, Feb. 5, at Phillips and this Monday, Feb. 8, at Marathon.
Girl playoffs set to begin
The Stratford varsity girls basketball team will start WIAA Division 3 postseason play as a No. 3 seed at No. 2 seed Osseo-Fairchild in a regional semifinal game on Friday, Feb. 12.
Edgar received a No. 1 seed in its Division 4 regional. Edgar will play a home regional semifinal game on Friday, Feb. 12, against the winner between No. 4 Spencer vs. No. 5 Abbotsford this Tuesday, Feb. 9. No. 3 seed Marathon plays at home this Tuesday, Feb. 9, vs. No. 6 seed Thorp.
Athens received a No. 1 seed in Division 5. Athens will play a home regional semifinal game on Friday, Feb. 12 against the winner between No. 4 Mercer vs. No. 5 Wausau Newman this Tuesday, Feb. 9.
