Stratford boys basketball pulls away in second half to beat G-E-T, improve to 20-0

GALESVILLE – The Stratford boys basketball team found itself in an unfamiliar position during its nonconference game at Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau on Monday night.

Stratford trailed at halftime, by just two, but for the undefeated Tigers it is not a spot it has been in this season.

The Tigers were able to regroup, hold G-E-T to just 21 points in the second half, and won their 20th-straight game, 61-48.

Stratford (20-0), which already wrapped up the Marawood Conference South Division title and a No. 1 seed in its Division 3 sectional bracket, will finish its conference schedule Thursday at home against Auburndale. The Tigers finish their regular season Saturday with a nonconference game at Spencer.

The Tigers will open WIAA postseason play on March 1 at home in a regional final against either Viroqua or Adams-Friendship.

The Red Hawks (11-10) led 27-25 at halftime before Stratford got rolling as usually, outscoring its opponent 35-21 over the final 18 minutes.

Ben Barten made 11 of 14 shots and scored a game-high 28 points for Stratford. He also had 10 rebounds. Vaughn Breit added 12 points and 11 rebounds, and Okley Wrensch hit three 3-pointers and scored 11 points in the win for Stratford.

Tigers 61, Red Hawks 48
Stratford 25 36 – 61
Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau 27 21 – 48
STRATFORD (61): Teddy Redman 1-4 0-1 2, Max Vanderhoof 0-0 0-0 0, Okley Wrensch 4-7 0-0 11, Dawson Danen 0-1 0-0 0, Hunter Hannan 0-0 0-0 0, Chandler Schmidt 2-7 0-0 6, Branden Ackley 0-0 0-0 0, Vaughn Breit 5-13 1-3 12, Lance Heidmann 1-4 0-1 2, Ben Barten 11-14 6-9 28. FG: 24-50. FT: 7-14. 3-pointers: 6-19 (Wrensch 3-5, Schmidt 2-6, Breit 1-2, Heidmann 0-3, Redman 0-3). Rebounds: 40 (Breit 11, Barten 10). Turnovers: 9. Fouls: 11. Fouled out: Schmidt. Record: 20-0.
GALE-ETTRICK-TREMPEALEAU (48): Statistics not reported. Record: 11-10.