Stratford wins the regional title
By Casey Krautkramer
The Stratford varsity boys basketball team’s relentless defense led the WIAA Division 4 No. 2 playoff seeded Tigers to a 21-point home win against No. 7 Edgar, 73-52, in Friday’s regional semifinal and a 32-point home victory against No. 3 Hurley, 64-32, in Saturday’s regional championship.
Stratford outscored Edgar, 36-19, in the first half of Friday’s playoff game. The Wildcats nearly matched the Tigers’ offensive output in the second half as they were only outscored, 37-33, but it was too little too late. Edgar not only had to put up with Stratford’s always tough defense but the Tigers’ offense was hot shooting the basketball too. The Tigers made a blistering 72 percent on 18 of 25 shooting twopoint shots and 41 percent on 10 of 24 three-point shots for a total 57 percent shooting on 28 of 49 shots from the floor.
Stratford senior floor general Drew Bruesewitz did what he always does by driving to the basket either for a bucket or to get fouled, or both, as was the case to begin Friday’s regional semifinal against Edgar. He made the basket and the free throw to give the Tigers an early 3-0 lead. Senior forward Kaden Foster nailed a three pointer and Stratford was off and running with a 6-0 advantage.
Edgar junior guard Gavin Mauer drilled a three pointer to bring the Wildcats within a point, 10-9, of the Tigers. Later as Stratford led, 25-10, Edgar senior forward Ty Schnelle did his best to keep the Wildcats in the game by making a basket underneath while being fouled. He made the free throw to convert the traditional three-point play to bring the Wildcats within 12 points of the Tigers.
Edgar trapped Stratford in the second half to try to get back into the game but the Tigers handled it pretty well. Foster said his team practices a sureness drill to make sure he and his teammates do a good job of taking care of the basketball when opponents are trapping them in games. He said it was a tough physical game like he expected against Edgar.
“We all thought it was a trap game,” Foster said. “It’s hard to beat a team three times in a row. We came up with the win by 21 points and everyone on our team played a good game by hustling and rebounding.”
Stratford head coach Curt Schmidt knew it would be a tough game against Edgar.
“Luckily we shot well and were able to survive some foul trouble in the first half,” he said. “Edgar has improved a lot in the last five games. They play hard and they had guys getting shots off and Leyton (Schuett) has played really well. I just thought overall our defense was pretty good and I was very happy with it.”
Bruesewitz scored a game-high 23 points in the playoff win against Edgar. He also led Stratford with five assists. Junior guard Brooks Vanderhoof contributed 15 points, Foster added 12 and senior forward Jett Schoenherr had eight. Junior guard Riley Spindler scored seven points in the win. Foster led the Tigers width five rebounds and he tied with Vanderhoof for the team lead in assists with three apiece. Senior guard Caleb Wrensch, Spindler and Vanderhoof contributed three assists each.
Edgar senior forward Leyton Schuett led the Wildcats with 17 points on seven of 19 shooting from the floor against Stratford. Schnelle added 12 points on five of See REGIONAL CHAMPIONS/ page 14
HAVING FUN CUTTING DOWN THE NET - Stratford senior boys basketball player Will Kraus enjoys removing a piece of the net from the home rim on Saturday night after his team’s 64-32 WIAA Division 4 regional championship win. PHOTO BY JENNY CHAPEL
Kaden Foster Regional champions
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eight shooting and Mauer had nine points on four of 10 shooting. Schnelle led Edgar with seven rebounds while Mauer and Schuett added four rebounds apiece.
The Wildcats conclude this season with an 11-15 record. Edgar head coach Zach Paul gave his thoughts on his team’s season.
“I thought the season was one of growth and resilience,” he said. “Losing four starters from last season and only having one kid with relative experience definitely showed early in the season. I’m proud of the way our players never gave up and competed all season. We gained some valuable experience that should help tremendously next winter.”
Schuett’s scoring career
Schuett ends his Edgar High School boys basketball playing career with 1,089 points which ties him with alumni Drew Guden for fifth place in boys school history. Guden met his career scoring mark in 2021.
Larry Brown still holds the Edgar boys basketball career scoring record with 1,275 points in 1981. Ryan Bargender is second all-time among Wildcats boys career scoring leaders with 1,174 points in 1997. Kyle Brewster is third with 1,170 career points in 2021. Caden Untiedt is fourth on the boys career scoring list with 1,111 points in 2013. Corky Untiedt is sixth in career scoring with 1,071 points in 1972, Tim Knoeck is seventh with 1,059 points in 1985 and Justin Sinz is eighth with 1,057 career points in 2010.
Tigers blow out Northstars
Stratford took advantage of getting to the free throw line eight more times than Hurley did in the first half of Saturday night’s regional championship in Stratford. The Tigers made eight of 10 free throws while the Northstars made one of two free throws in the opening half of play. All seven of Bruesewitz’s first-half points came from made free throws. Spindler led Stratford with 10 points at halftime and Wrensch had eight.
The Tigers outscored the Northstars by 16 points in each half. Wrensch ended up with a game-high 21 points. Spindler contributed 12 points while Bruesewitz added 10 and Foster had eight. Junior guard Trygve Aschenbrenner came off the bench to score five points at the end of the game. Bruesewitz paced the Tigers with four assists and Foster had three. Foster led Stratford with seven rebounds while Wrensch had five. Foster and Schoenherr paced the team with four steals apiece.
Foster expressed how he felt about his team winning the regional championship.
“We are obviously hoping to make it to the state tournament like every other team but it feels great to just reach another step on the stairs to make it to state,” he said.
Stratford improves its record to 26-2 this season while Hurley ends its season at 21-5. Stratford now plays against Auburndale, 23-3, in a WIAA Division 4 sectional semifinal at 7 p.m. this Thursday, March 13, at Wausau West High School. Bonduel, 25-1, plays against Southern Door, 23-3, in the other Division 4 sectional semifinal on Thursday at Green Bay Southwest High School. The winner of these two games will play against each other in the sectional championship this Saturday, March 15, at SPASH.
HERE COMES THE CALVARY OF TIGERS - Stratford junior guard Brooks Vanderhoof (11) leads the Tigers down the court while his teammates, senior Jett Schoenherr (4) and junior Riley Spindler (11) follow him along with Edgar sophomore Kaden Bargender (11).
STAFF PHOTO/CASEY KRAUTKRAMER
BATTLING FOR THE REBOUND - Stratford juniors Trygve Aschenbrenner (34) and Jack Remus (32) box out Edgar senior Kasen Ristow toward the end of Friday’s WIAA Division 4 sectional semifinal that the Tigers won, 73-52, in Stratford.
STAFF PHOTO/CASEY KRAUTKRAMER
