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By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
NEILLSVILLE – The Stratford girls basketball team had no answer for Neillsville’s relentless defensive pressure, committed 28 turnovers, and dropped a 53-35 decision to the No. 1-seeded Warriors in a WIAA Division 4 regional final Saturday night at Neillsville High School.
Stratford, coming off a hard-fought six-point regional semifinal win over Onalaska Luther on Friday, turned the ball over on five of its first six possessions, fell behind 9-0, and never recovered.
Stratford coach Tammie Christopherson said the tough battle Friday perhaps took a toll of her team.
“We played a really, really hard game last night (Friday) and I think we were just a little tired, a little slow and we just struggled,” Christopherson said. “We did some good things at times, but we couldn’t string enough together.
“They are an incredible team and talented team. We knew this part of the sectional is really, really good and it’s tough all around. I just felt like we were a step slow all day today.”
A three-point play by Carly Pankratz, who led the Tigers with 12 points, helped them crawl back to within 9-5 but as Neillsville went scoreless for more than eight minutes, Stratford could not make up any more ground.
Sydney Subke hit her second 3-pointer to end the drought and spark an 11-3 run that gave the Warriors a 20-8 lead.
A pair of buckets from Subke, who scored a game-high 22 points, put Neillsville up by 14, before a 3-pointer from MyKayla Stueber in the final minute of the half for the Tigers cut the deficit to 26-15 at halftime.
Neillsville again turned to its defense to spark its offense, turning the Tigers over eight times over the first seven minutes of the second half and pushed its lead to 44-22 on another hoop from Subke.
Stratford (20-6) made one final push, scoring nine-straight points as Pankratz hit a 3 and Emily Zuelke scored inside, but it wasn’t enough as the Tigers would not make a field goal over the final 7:50 and the Warriors were able to close out the win.
“We had a great group of seniors we had to say good-bye to today and they leave a lasting impression,” Christopherson said. “Carly Pankratz matured as a sophomore and turned into our go-to offensive player at times, and she really helped us get over some of those scoring woes that we’ve had in the past. We had an inside-outside game, and we haven’t always had that. These kids got better all season, and I don’t know if we even hit our ceiling had the season kept going, but they kept growing the entire season and that was a key to our success.”
Neillsville (23-3) moves on to a Division 4 sectional semifinal against No. 2 seed La Crosse Aquinas (22-4) on Thursday. A site is yet to be announced.
Warriors 53, Tigers 35
Stratford 15 20 – 35
Neillsville 26 27 – 53
STRATFORD (35): Kayla Casperson 1-2 4-6 6, Laney Pankratz 0-0 1-2 1, Carly Pankratz 4-7 2-3 12, Daisy Yoder 0-6 3-4 3, Tria Tubbs 0-2 5-6 5, MyKayla Stueber 2-9 0-0 6, Kassedey Downey 0-1 0-0 0, Emily Zuelke 1-1 0-1 2, Lucy Zaleski 0-0 0-0 0, Abbi Lewerenz 0-0 0-0 0, Erika Frick 0-0 0-0 0, Alyssa Bargender 0-0 0-0 0. FG: 8-28. FT: 15-22. 3-pointers: 4-12 (C. Pankratz 2-2, Stueber 2-9, Yoder 0-1). Rebounds: 33 (Tubbs 8). Turnovers; 28. Fouls: 16. Fouled out: none. Record: 20-6.
NEILLSVILLE (53): Gracie Schoengarth 1-2 0-0 2, Madi Davel 2-8 3-4 8, Sydney Subke 9-15 0-0 22, Braelyn Anding 2-6 4-4 9, Jessica Kuhn 1-6 3-3 6, Laylah Walk 1-3 0-0 2, Kaylee Lawerence 0-2 0-0 0, Emerson Ormond 1-1 0-0 2, Tessa Warren 1-4 0-0 2, Riley Hemp 0-0 0-0 0, Mercedes Bayles 0-0 0-0 0, Maddie Shaw 0-0 0-0 0. FG: 18-45. FT: 10-11. 3-pointers: 7-19 (Subke 4-8, Davel 1-2, Anding 1-3, Kuhn 1-4, Lawerence 0-1, Warren 0-1). Rebounds: 19 (Anding 4). Turnovers: 12. Fouls: 17. Fouled out: none. Record: 23-3.