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By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
STRATFORD – The Stratford boys basketball team took control from the opening tip and never let Edgar back in the game, rolling to a 70-47 win in a WIAA Division 4 regional quarterfinal Tuesday night at Stratford High School.
The Tigers started the game with an 18-4 run and scored 25 points in the first quarter.
Travis Urlaub scored eight of his team-high 18 points in the opening quarter, sparking Stratford. The Tigers shot 56 percent (30 of 54) from the field overall and were a red-hot 11 of 14 in the first quarter.
“The guys played well tonight,” Stratford coach Curt Schmidt said. “We were ready, they moved the ball well, took good shots, we had our feet set, I was proud of the guys’ effort.”
Edgar got as close as nine after a 3-pointer by Kaleb Wolf and two free throws from Travis Haanstad late in the second quarter, but Stratford’s Greg Belter scored the final four points of the second quarter to take a 37-24 lead into halftime.
The run continued as Stratford scored the first six points of the third quarter and eventually pushed the lead to 54-33, scoring six points in the final 48 seconds of the period.
Stratford led by as many as 26 in the fourth after Nolan Bargender capped a 12-7 run over the first 4:45.
Despite sitting periodically because of foul trouble, Bargender finished with 15 points, Jake Reif added 11 and Belter had 10 for the Tigers, who scored 70 points for just the third time this season – the first against a team other than Northland Lutheran.
“The kids have improved tremendously and they play well together, but they have had to go through adversity,” Schmidt said. “We don’t have one first-team or second-team player this year. That says we’re not gifted offensively individually, but we play collectively very, very well. If you play defense, that keeps in every game – that’s why we’ve won so many close games and lost some close games.”
The victory sets up a Division 4 regional semifinal at Auburndale on Friday for Stratford. The Tigers handed Auburndale its only loss of the season on Feb. 11, downing the Apaches 46-40 at Auburndale.
“You’ve got to make shots and Auburndale’s got to be cold,” Schmidt said. “They were cold versus us. We played great defense…but they’re going to be angry and that’s not good for us. They’re going to be ready. We’re not going to change much at this point in the season…and we’re going to have to be ready to play.”
Tigers 70, Wildcats
Edgar 13 11 9 16 – 47
Stratford 25 12 17 16 – 70
EDGAR (47): Caden Untiedt 6-17 6-7 19, Tyler Kirsch 2-3 0-0 4, Travis Haanstad 0-2 2-2 2, Kaleb Wolf 3-10 1-1 8, Camden Heidmann 0-0 0-0 0, Zach Pospyhalla 0-0 0-0 0, Blake Lehman 1-4 1-2 4, Will Hannemann 4-11 1-2 9, David Kornack 0-2 1-2 1. FG: 16-49. FT: 12-16. 3-pointers: 3-19 (Untiedt 1-4, Lehman 1-4, Wolf 1-6, Haanstad 0-2, Hannemann 0-3). Rebounds: 27 (Untiedt 11). Record: 11-12.
STRATFORD (70): Greg Belter 4-9 2-3 10, Nolan Bargender 7-10 1-5 15, Jeremiah Hubing 0-0 0-0 0, Michael Bargender 0-4 1-3 1, Dawson Gebelein 0-0 0-0 0, Chase Griepentrog 0-0 0-0 0, Travis Urlaub 7-11 3-4 18, Austin Stasser 3-5 1-1 7, Jake Reif 5-10 0-0 11, Andrew Marcis 4-5 0-1 8. FG: 30-54. FT: 8-17. 3-pointers: 2-6 (Urlaub 1-3, Reif 1-3). Rebounds: 26 (Reif 6, Marcis 6). Record: 16-7.