By Paul Lecker

Sports Reporter

STRATFORD – Wausau Newman Catholic outscored Stratford by 21 points in the middle two quarters to blow past the Tigers 65-40 in a Marawood Conference South Division boys basketball game Friday night at Stratford High School.

Newman Catholic pulls out of a tie and into sole possession of second place in the Marawood South, improving to 12-3 overall and 5-2 in the conference. Stratford is now 9-4 and 4-3 in the conference.

Newman led 14-10 after the first quarter before busting the game open. The Cardinals took a 30-15 lead by halftime and outscored Stratford 18-8 in the third quarter to take a 25-point advantage.

Eight different Cardinals scored five points or more in the win. Jeff Ford led the way with 14 points. Newman shot 48 percent (22 of 43) from the field.

On the other hand, Stratford was just 14-for-43 shooting overall and 2-for-14 from 3-point range. Leading scorer Jake Reif, who came into the game second in the Marawood South in scoring at 16.8 points per game, was held to just three on 1-for-10 shooting. He did have a game-high seven assists.

Dawson Gebelein, Michael Bargender and Derek Schmidt each scored 10 points for Stratford.

The Tigers play at Auburndale on Tuesday. The game will be broadcast on WOSQ-FM 92.3 and wdlbwosq.com.

(Hub City Times Sports Reporter Paul Lecker is also the publisher of MarshfieldAreaSports.com.)

Cardinals 65, Tigers 40
Newman Catholic 14 16 18 17 – 65
Stratford 10 5 8 17 – 40
NEWMAN CATHOLIC (65): Mitch Michalske 2-3 2-4 6, Jason Tubbs 4-9 0-0 11, Nick Thoreson 2-3 1-2 6, Bailey Lemke 1-2 2-2 5, Josh Watson 2-4 2-2 6, Jake Gajewski 2-7 4-4 8, Dane Fronek 4-8 1-2 9, Jeff Ford 5-7 4-6 14. FG: 22-43. FT: 16-22. 3-pointers: 5-12 (Tubbs 3-7, Thoreson 1-2, Lemke 1-1, Watson 0-1, Michalske 0-1). Rebounds: 23 (Tubbs 5). Assists: 18 (Watson 4). Record: 12-3, 5-2 Marawood Conference South Division.
STRATFORD (40): Dawson Gebelein 4-6 1-1 10, Nick Stoflet 1-6 4-4 6, Michael Bargender 5-6 0-0 10, Cole Hoffman 0-1 0-0 0, Ethan Nagel 0-2 0-0 0, Derek Schmidt 3-6 3-4 10, Jake Reif 1-10 1-3 3, Mitch Gurlaski 0-1 0-0 0, Jake Schmitt 0-5 0-0 0, Tanner Weinfurtner 0-0 1-2 1. FG: 14-43. FT: 10-14. 3-pointers: 2-14 (Schmidt 1-3, Gebelein 1-1, Hoffman 0-1, Guralski 0-1, Nagel 0-2, Stoflet 0-2, Reif 0-4). Rebounds: 22 (Schmitt 6). Assists: 11 (Reif 7). Record: 9-4, 4-3 Marawood South.