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By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
AUBURNDALE – The Stratford girls basketball team has righted the ship.
The Tigers held Auburndale without a made field goal for the final 13 minutes of the first half to open up a double-digit lead and held on the rest of the way for a 47-39 victory in a Marawood Conference South Division game Friday night at Auburndale High School.
The victory is Stratford’s third in a row. After starting the season 1-5, the Tigers are now 4-5 overall and 4-3 in the Marawood South, climbing into a three-way tie for third place with Auburndale (7-3 overall) and Wisconsin Rapids Assumption, both teams Stratford beat this week.
Two baskets by Hannah Bolder and another from Kali Karl put Auburndale up 8-3 early before Stratford clamped down defensively.
Stratford had an 11-0 run, which included two free throws and a 3-pointer from Taya Nett, and a 3-pointer from Brenna Ackley.
Chelsey Gliniecki added another 3-pointer, and Stratford closed the half on an 8-0 run to take a 26-14 lead at intermission.
“We are not a prolific offensive team,” Stratford coach Tammie Christopherson said. “We started the season 1-5 with a heck of a schedule. We found our way a little bit, found what works for us. We are grinders. We’re not going to go out and score 70 points. We do what we do, and we’re starting to do it really well. We’re starting to take some teams by surprise now.”
Auburndale picked up its offense in the second half to make it a game again.
Natalie Aue had two baskets and Mackenzie Raab hit a shot after making a steal to bring the Apaches to within 38-31 with 8:16 remaining.
Stratford continued to struggle at the free throw line, making only 8 of 18 in the second half and 13 of 31 for the game, the Apaches were able to close to within two at 39-37 following a rebound and basket by Aue and a free throw from Karl with 4:31 to go.
Auburndale would only score two more points, both on free throws from Raab, and Stratford was able to close out the game.
A three-point play and another basket by Callie Lehman, and three free throws in the final 1:38 allowed Stratford to win by eight.
“Our defense has really locked down,” Christopherson said. “We graduated a lot of our offense last year. I feel like everyone is looking to score now, we have a different leading scorer almost every night. If everybody can dump in six or eight points, we’ll take that. I think before, a lot of people were shying away from looking to score, and I think now I have eight or nine girls that are looking to put the ball up.”
After starting 4-0, Auburndale is 3-3 in its last six games, but coach Mike Gehrke said he likes the team’s balanced scoring and the fact that any number of players can step up to lead the team.
“They (Stratford) got a nice lead early on and we had to fight and claw to get it back close that I think we ran out of gas,” Gehrke said. “We had to work hard and I’m proud of the girls for how hard they worked. If we could work a little harder in the first half, I’d be even happier.
“I have a balanced team. We don’t rely on one person and have five or six girls that could lead us in scoring on any night. It’s been a chore to get the girls to look to shoot, but they’re getting better at it every day.”
Auburndale plays a nonconference game at Neillsville on Dec. 28, while Stratford will compete at the Bangor Tournament on Dec. 28-29.
Tigers 47, Apaches 39
Stratford 26 21 – 47
Auburndale 14 25 – 39
STRATFORD (47): Callie Lehman 3-3 2-4 9, Taya Nett 4-9 5-8 14, Blaire Lindner 0-3 2-5 2, Jadyn Dahlke 0-0 0-0 0, Macie Schillinger 1-2 0-0 2, Mariah Zawislan 0-4 0-3 0, Chelsey Gliniecki 4-11 3-7 12, Kaylee Hollatz 1-5 0-2 2, Brenna Ackley 2-5 1-2 6. FG: 15-42. FT: 13-31. 3-pointers: 4-10 (Lehman 1-1, Nett 1-3, Gliniecki 1-2, Ackley 1-1, Hollatz 0-3). Rebounds: 33 (Lindner 9, Gliniecki 8). Turnovers: 18. Fouls: 20. Fouled out: none. Record: 4-5, 4-3 Marawood Conference South Division.
AUBURNDALE (39): Mackenzie Raab 1-6 2-3 4, Taylor Stanton 0-1 0-0 0, Kali Karl 1-5 2-6 4, Paityn Hamus 0-0 0-0 0, Isabelle Hilber 2-9 1-2 5, Maggie Willfahrt 1-4 1-1 3, Natalie Aue 3-3 4-7 10, Hannah Bolder 5-13 3-5 13. FG: 13-41. FT: 13-24. 3-pointers: 0-5 (Raab 0-2, Hilber 0-2, Stanton 0-1). Rebounds: 25 (Bolder 6). Turnovers: 18. Fouls: 23. Fouled out: Willfahrt, Karl. Record: 7-3, 4-3 Marawood Conference South Division.