This story is sponsored by: Chili Implement
By Steve Pilz
For MarshfieldAreaSports.com
STRATFORD – The Stratford Tigers boys basketball team earned a chance to play for a regional championship as it drained 11 3-pointers and defeated Washburn 69-53 in a WIAA Division 4 regional semifinal Friday night at Stratford High School.
The fourth-seeded Tigers (20-5) will face a monumental challenge Saturday evening when they go up against No. 1 seed Marathon at 7 p.m. at Marathon High School.
The Raiders easily handled Stratford previously this season, once by 20 and the other by 19.
The Tigers are not alone. Marathon has steamrolled through everyone but Mosinee, a Division 2 school. in which they lost by three. The Raiders are 24-1 after dispatching Colby on Friday night.
That being said, it’s never a sure thing to beat a team three times in a season, especially those as familiar with each other as these two Marawood Conference foes are.
Then again, these are not your Grandpa’s Stratford Tigers. These guys shoot the three.
The Tigers broke open a close game early in the second half to down Washburn (21-4).
The Tigers jumped out to a couple nine-point leads but the Castle Guards were 21-3 for a reason and every time Statford made a run, Washburn reeled them in.
The Castle Guards closed the gap to 27-25 late in the first and finished the session trailing just 34-31.
“They’re a good team,” said Stratford coach Curt Schmidt. “They were 21-3. They have length. They run a really good match-up zone; probably the best we’ll see in our area, one of the best I’ve seen. They do a really good job of passing people off. Some people try to play match-up but they don’t really pass it off real well. We worked pretty hard all week trying to break that down. They’ve held teams down and they score a lot of points.”
Washburn featured 10 seniors on their 12-man roster and were determined until the end. They took their first lead of the game at 35-34 when Franco Soltero drilled a 3-pointer. Soltero finished with a team-high 16 points. Teammates Alec Croteau and Austin Barningham added 12 and 10, respectively.
The teams were still tied at 42 at the 12-minute mark when things slowly began to turn.
That turn’s name happened to be Brady Schmidt.
With the Castle Guards nipping at their heels, Stratford’s senior sharp-shooter drained four 3-pointers to keep Washburn at bay.
Schmidt finished with 18 points, but it was teammates Henry Zaleski and Drew Bruesewitz who kept the Tigers afloat as well.
Bruesewitz had 11 in the first half, 21 in the game and went 10-for-10 from the charity stripe with three triples.
Zaleski was equally impressive nabbing 13 first-half points, 22 for the game and three 3’s to boot.
“I thought we really played good ‘D’ down the stretch when they tried to come back,” continued Schmidt. “We had shooters open and we were shot ready. We got stops at the end when we needed them. I was very happy with our defensive effort. That’s a quality win for us. A milestone for our guys getting 20 wins this season. Proud of them.
“Tough game tomorrow. They’re No. 1. We’re glad to have the opportunity to play in a regional final. Fun for the seniors. It shows their hard work. And the underclassmen see it and have been a part of it so it helps them going forward.”
Tigers 69, Castle Guards 53
Washburn 31 22 – 53
Stratford 34 35 – 69
WASHBURN (53): Austin Barningham 4 0-0 10, Alec Croteau 3 5-8 12, Louie Sonday 1 2-4 4, Brodi Anderson-Erickson 1 0-0 3, Kaleb Evey-Warren 1 0-0 2, Davis Wright 2 0-0 4, Javier Le Bouton Chediak 1 0-0 2, Franco Soltero 6 3-4 16. FG: 19-49. 3-pointers: 5-20 (Barningham 2, Croteau 1, Anderson-Erickson 1, Soltero 1). FT: 10-17. Turnovers: 10. Fouled out: none. Record: 21-4.
STRATFORD (69): Caleb Wrensch 1 0-0 2, Reid Miller 0-0-1 0, Jett Schoenherr 1 0-0 2, Drew Bruesewitz 4 10-10 21, Payton Glenn 2 0-0 4, Henry Zaleski 8 3-3 22, Brady Schmidt 6 1-3 18, Brandon Gebelein 0 0-2 0. FG: 22-51. 3-pointers: 11-27 (Schmidt 5, Bruesewitz 3, Zaleski 3). FT: 14-19. Turnovers: 12. Fouled out: none. Record: 20-5.