Stratford boys basketball starts strong, holds off Marathon to clinch Marawood South title

By Paul Lecker
For OnFocus

STRATFORD – Stratford started the game on a 15-3 run and that proved to be enough to keep its undefeated season intact.

The Tigers used a stifling defense to hold down Marathon early, jumped out to a 12-point lead over the first seven minutes of the game, and led by at least seven the rest of the way as they cruised to a 65-52 victory in a Marawood Conference South Division boys basketball game Friday night at Stratford High School.

Stratford is now 19-0 overall and 15-0 in the Marawood South, clinching its first conference title since 2006. Auburndale lost at Edgar on Friday and was eliminated from the title chase.

The Tigers play a nonconference game at Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau on Monday and finish their regular-season schedule with a home game against Auburndale on Thursday.

Chandler Schmidt opened the scoring with a 3-pointer, and Lance Heidmann and Vaughn Breit each put in hoops to push the Tigers out to a quick 7-0 lead.

After 3-pointer from Carter Hanke for Marathon, the Tigers scored eight-straight points, capped by another 3-pointer from Schmidt, to make it 15-3 7:05 into the game.

The game was fairly even after that, with Stratford leading between seven and 12 points the rest of the first half, and took a 28-19 lead into intermission.

Stratford maintained its lead throughout the second half. Every time Marathon made a punch, Stratford punched back.

The Tigers made 13 of 18 free throws in the second half and led by at least eight the rest of the way.

Vaughn Breit, despite sitting much of the second half dealing with foul trouble, had a team-high 17 points for the Tigers. Schmidt added 13 points and nine rebounds, and Ben Barten chipped in 10 in the victory.

Hanke had a game-high 21 points for Marathon.

Tigers 65, Raiders 52
Marathon 19 33 – 52
Stratford 28 37 – 65
MARATHON (52): Jaden Koeller 0-2 2-2 2, Clarke Mouw 2-10 2-4 7, Mitchell Kurtz 3-6 0-0 7, Cameron Schilling 1-11 0-1 2, Matt Vande Boom 0-1 0-0 0, Preston Weber 3-4 1-2 8, Hunter Seubert 2-8 2-2 5, Carter Hanke 8-14 4-5 21. FG: 19-56. FT: 11-16. 3-pointers: 5-24 (Weber 1-1, Hanke 1-3, Kurtz 1-3, Seubert 1-4, Mouw 1-5, Koeller 0-1, Schilling 0-7). Rebounds: 27 (Hanke 7). Turnovers: 12. Fouls: 26. Technical foul: Koeller. Fouled out: Koeller. Record: 15-4, 11-3 Marawood Conference South Division.
STRATFORD (65): Teddy Redman 2-6 0-0 5, Okley Wrensch 1-3 0-0 3, Dawson Danen 2-3 2-2 6, Hunter Hannan 1-1 0-0 2, Chandler Schmidt 3-6 5-7 13, Vaughn Breit 5-9 5-9 17, Lance Heidmann 4-5 0-0 9, Ben Barten 2-5 6-8 10. FG: 20-38. FT: 18-26. 3-pointers: 7-16 (Schmidt 2-4, Breit 2-5, Heidmann 1-1, Redman 1-3, Wrensch 1-3). Rebounds: 27 (Schmidt 9). Turnovers: 13. Fouls: 16. Technical foul: Breit. Fouled out: Barten. Record: 19-0, 15-0 Marawood Conference South Division.