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MarshfieldAreaSports.com
MARATHON – The Stratford boys basketball team was poised for an upset of top-seed Marathon for the first 18 minutes, but the Raiders proved too strong over the second 18.
Marathon outscored No. 4 seed Stratford by 16 points in the second half to earn a 59-43 victory in a WIAA Division 4 regional final Saturday night at Marathon High School.
With their third win of the season over Stratford, the Raiders (23-3) move on to a D-4 sectional semifinal against another Marawood Conference South Division team, No. 2 seed Auburndale (23-3), on Thursday at Marshfield High School. Marathon handed Auburndale two of its three losses this season. Check out the statewide WIAA regional scoreboard here
Neenah St. Mary Catholic (24-2) will take on Crivitz (24-1) in the other sectional semifinal, with the winners meeting for the sectional championship and a berth in the state tournament next Saturday, March 11, at Appleton East.
Stratford (13-12) played even with Marathon in the first half, going into the break tied at 26-26. However, the Raiders were able to pull away in the second, holding Stratford to just 17 points.
Ashton Wrensch finished with 20 points to lead the Tigers, who shot just 39 percent from the field (19-for-48) and only 4-for-15 from 3-point range.
Raiders 59, Tigers 43
Stratford 26 17 – 43
Marathon 26 33 – 59
STRATFORD (43): John Seitz 2-7 0-0 5, Reid Miller 0-0 0-0 0, Ashton Wrensch 10-20 0-1 20, Drew Bruesewitz 1-5 1-2 4, Caleb Wrensch 0-0 0-1 0, Ben Zuelke 0-1 0-0 0, Kaden Foster 0-0 0-0 0, Payton Glenn 0-2 0-0 0, Henry Zaleski 1-3 0-0 2, Jett Schoenherr 0-0 0-0 0, Izaiah Hadlock 4-5 0-0 9, Brady Schmidt 1-5 0-0 3, Brandon Gebelein 0-0 0-0 0. FG: 19-48. FT: 1-4. 3-pointers: 4-15 (Hadlock 1-2, Seitz 1-3, Bruesewitz 1-3, Schmidt 1-5, Zaleski 0-1, A. Wrensch 0-1). Rebounds: 17 (A. Wrensch 7). Fouls: 9. Fouled out: none. Record: 13-12.
MARATHON (59): Statistics not reported. Record: 22-3.