Tiger boys, girls both 1-1 in tourneys

By Casey Krautkramer

Stratford’s varsity boys basketball team was losing, 20-19, to Owen-Withee after a sluggish first half of play in the opening game of its home holiday tournament on Thursday. Stratford played much better basketball in the second half and the Tigers made 12 of its last 13 free throws down the stretch to seal a 54-46 win against the Blackhawks.

Juniors Drew Bruesewitz and Alec Chapel connected on all of their free throws at the end of Thursday’s game against Owen-Withee.

“We always practice those end-of-thegame situations and how to finish them,” Chapel said. “It was nice to have a win after our loss to Auburndale.”

It was indeed a nice bound back victory for the Tigers after suffering a 77-42 home loss to the Eagles in its previous home game. Auburndale and Marathon, whom Stratford also lost to earlier this season, remain undefeated in the Marawood South Conference.

Stratford head coach Curt Schmidt was also relieved to that his team got a crucial victory against Owen-Withee.

“This win was important because we were not shooting the ball well in the first half of this game,” he said. We shot something like 19 percent in the first half and we did not shoot well from three-point range, so in the second half we stressed to our players to get the ball more inside. Fortunately we were able to get the ball into Henry Zaleski inside and we mixed up some of our offensive formations. I thought Henry did a great job finishing by the basket.”

Senior guard Brady Schmidt led Stratford with 14 points. Zaleski, a senior, and Bruesewitz added 13 points each. Bruesewitz paced the Tigers with four assists.

Stratford then lost, 61-56, to Wausau East in its home holiday tournament on Friday. Bruesewitz led Stratford with 26 points and Zaleski added 11. Bruesewitz and junior Caleb Wrensch paced the Tigers with four assists each. Bruesewitz and Chapel led the team with seven rebounds apiece. Stratford currently has a 7-3 overall record this season.

Tiger girls split tourney games

The Stratford varsity girls basketball squad lost, 65-35, to a tough Bangor squad in last Wednesday’s first game in the Cochrane- Fountain City holiday tournament. Junior guard Kayla Casperson led the Tigers with 12 points and sophomore post player Tria Tubbs paced the team with 12 rebounds in the loss.

Stratford bounced back to beat Shullsburg, 54-44, on Thursday in the holiday tournament. Freshman guard Carley Pankratz led the Tigers with 20 points while Tubbs contributed 14 and Casperson 10. Stratford currently has a 6-6 overall record this season.

CLUTCH PLAY ON THE BASELINE- Stratford senior guard Brady Schmidt passes the basketball toward a teammate during the Tigers’ win against the Owen-Withee Blackhawks on Thursday in Stratford’s holiday tournament.

STAFF PHOTO/CASEY KRAUTKRAMER