Playoffs are on the horizon
By Casey Krautkramer
Stratford’s varsity girls basketball team is peaking at the right time with the regional playoffs less than two weeks away. The Tigers have won two straight games and six out of their last eight contests which head coach Tammie Christopherson said is important going into this weekend’s playoff seeding meeting. Stratford’s only two losses during its recent stretch of games are against Bonduel and Phillips which both have 20-2 records this season. Bonduel is ranked No. 5 in the wissports.net Division 4 coaches poll. “I told the team that the playoff seeding meeting is coming up so every game we have is a must win for us,” Christopherson said. “We need to not limp through
See TIGERS BASKETBALL/ page 14
DETERMINED TO GET A BUCKET- Stratford sophomore Mykayla Stueber is shown driving hard in the lane during the team’s 73-22 home win against Chequamegon on Thursdsay. She scored the basket toward her 11 game points against the Screaming Eagles.
PHOTO/CASEY KRAUTKRAMER Tigers basketball
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our final stretch of games and instead make a statement to get a good playoff seed. It’s crunch time right now because we are getting pretty close to the time of the year where there are no second chances so we need to play and practice at a high level all the time.”
Stratford received a major boost on Thursday when senior Sailor Kauffman returned for Senior Night during the team’s 73-22 home win against Chequamegon. She and Ashley Hollatz are the team’s only seniors this season. Christopherson said Kauffman was motivated to return on Senior Night after missing the team’s previous five games after sustaining a knee injury in the team’s 58-52 home win against Auburndale on Jan. 11.
“It was an incredible thing to have her out there with us on Senior Night,” she said.
Hollatz was also happy to see her classmate and teammate Kauffman return from injury on Senior Night against Chequamegon.
“That was great,” Hollatz said. “I love playing with Sailor because I have played with her since I was little and it really hurt to see her go down with an injury against Auburndale and to just see her get a couple of minutes on the court against Chequamegon was really good.”
Freshman Carly Pankratz, sophomore Tria Tubbs and junior Kayla Casperson led Stratford with 13 points apiece in Thursday’s win against Chequamegon.
Stratford won its second straight game on Tuesday by edging Newman Catholic 39-35, in Wausau. Tubbs led the Tigers with 12 points. Stratford improves its record to 9-5 in the Marawood South Conference and 12-10 overall this season.
Boys’ Senior Night
Stratford’s boys basketball squad beat Cheqaumegon, 46-43, on Friday’s Senior Night. Senior guard Brady Schmidt led the Tigers with 17 points. Stratford blasted Greenwood, 64-18, in Monday’s road game. Schmidt paced the Tigers with 12 points while sophomore Brady Berg added 11 and senior Henry Zaleski had 10.
The Tigers improve their record to 8-4 in the Marawood South Conference and 15-5 overall this season.
