Marathon wins round one
By Casey Krautkramer
The Edgar and Marathon varsity boys basketball teams finally got to play each other on Friday for the first time this season, after their first matchup originally scheduled on Jan. 12 was postponed because of a snow storm. Edgar brought its physicality from the football field onto Marathon’s basketball court Friday, but the Red Raiders still prevailed with a 5840 win.
It was a typical arch-rivalry battle between the Red Raiders and Wildcats that occurs every time they play each other. Basketball fans from each town can expect the same intensity from the teams when they face each other a second time during the regular season on Monday, Feb. 19, in Edgar.
Marathon senior forward Tyler Underwood admitted after Friday’s win against Edgar that the Red Raiders haven’t fared well in the past against opponents who play a “physical” brand of basketball.
“Every time we play against Edgar we know it’s going to be a physical game because they are always going to bring energy and play hard,” he said. “We love being in dog fights like this. This is a huge win for us because I’ve played varsity basketball for three years and we’ve always struggled against super physical teams like this and to be able to match their physicality really gives us high hope for the future and a lot of confidence going forward.”
Underwood said his head coach, Adam Jacobson, always preaches during practices that the team needs to be confident and consistent.
“We’ve had a lot of turnovers in our games this season, and those turnovers really stick out and are holding our team back so we need to play clean games,” he said. “We are usually pretty confident but we just need to be consistent by not turning the ball over in games.”
Marathon only committed 12 turnovers in its win against Edgar on Friday, compared to the 18 turnovers it had in its only loss this season that occurred on Jan. 15 against Mosinee.
Senior center Grant Warren led Marathon with 21 points and 14 rebounds in the team’s victory against Edgar. Underwood added 13 points. Sophomore guard True Thurs paced the Red Raiders with four assists. Senior guard Cooper Hoeksema and Warren collected three steals apiece. Individual player statistics for Edgar were not available before the newspaper was printed.
Marathon easily beat Newman Catholic, 83-42, on the road Tuesday. Individual player statistics were not available before the newspaper was printed.
The Red Raiders improve their record to 11-0 in the Marwood South Conference and 16-1 overall this season. Marathon remains ranked No. 2 in this week’s wissports. net Division 4 coaches poll behind unbeaten Mineral Point.
Edgar boys defeat Stratford
The Edgar varsity boys basketball squad upended Stratford, 60-49, on Tuesday in Edgar. The Wildcats avenged a close loss to the Tigers, 57-54, in the teams’ first matchup this season on Dec. 15 in Stratford.
Senior Brady Schmidt and sophomore Drew Bruesewitz led Straford with 11 points each in the loss. Individual Edgar player statistics were not available before the newspaper was printed.
Edgar improves its record to 8-3 in the Marawood South Conference and 13-4 overall this season. Stratford falls to 7-4 in the Marawood South and 13-5 overall this season.
Stratford did win back-to-back home games on Thursday against Wisconsin Rapids Assumption and on Friday against Colby.
The Tigers defeated the Royals, 60-44. Bruesewitz led a balanced scoring attack with 15 points while senior Henry Zaleski added 12 and senior Payton Glenn had 11. Bruesewitz paced the Tigers with five rebounds from his guard position. Junior Caleb Wrensch led Stratford with five assists and Glenn added four. Junior guard Reid Miller had three steals in the victory.
Stratford was blazing hot from threepoint range in its 82-50 win against Colby. The Tigers connected on 17 of its 28 three pointers for 60 percent shooting. Stratford also made 14 of its 28 two-point shots for 50 percent shooting.
Schmidt led Stratford with 26 points. He made eight of 12 three pointers for 66 percent shooting from long range. Miller added 16 points on four of seven made three pointers. Bruesewitz contributed 12 points on three of four shooting from three-point range.
Bruesewitz paced the Tigers with seven assists and Miller added five. Junior Kaden Foster led Stratford with two steals in the win against the Hornets.
Athens edges Abbotsford
The Athens varsity boys basketball team edged Abbotsford, 62-60, on Friday at home. Senior Andy Schaer led Athens with 19 points. Freshman Daxton Diethelm added 12 points and he paced the Bluejays with seven rebounds and six assists. Sophomore Jordan Frahm contributed 11 points. Senior Ryan Peel, Schaer and sophomore Riley Schultz-Becker led Athens with two steals apiece.
Athens lost, 65-52, to Phillips on Tuesday at home. Individual Athens player statistics were not available before the newspaper was printed.
The Bluejays currently have a 3-8 record in the Marawood North Conference and are 6-10 overall this season.
HANG TIME- Marathon senior Tyler Underwood floats in the air for a onehanded made shot to give his team a commanding 48-30 lead against Edgar with less than 10 minutes left in the game on Friday night. The Red Raiders ended up beating the Wildcats, 58-40, to remain unbeaten in the Marawood South Conference this season.
STAFF PHOTO/CASEY KRAUTKRAMER
