Stratford boys basketball cruises past Prentice in Marawood crossover

By Paul Lecker

Sports Reporter

STRATFORD — The Stratford boys basketball team closed out its regular-season schedule with a dominating performance as it whipped Prentice 67-40 in the fifth-place game of the Marawood Conference crossovers on Thursday night at Stratford High School.

The Tigers (14-8) led 18-13 after one quarter and pulled away for good by outscoring Prentice (11-11) 37-17 in the second half.

Stratford shot 55 percent from the field (29 of 52). Michael Bargender led the way for the Tigers, making 7 of 8 shots and scoring a game-high 18 points. He also grabbed seven rebounds.

Derek Schmidt added 10 points, and Jake Schmitt had eight points and eight rebounds for Stratford.

Dalton Rohde led Prentice with 16 points.

Stratford plays at Edgar in a WIAA Division 4 regional quarterfinal Tuesday at 7 p.m.

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

Tigers 67, Buccaneers 40

Prentice 13 10 8 9 – 40

Stratford 18 12 18 19 – 67

PRENTICE (40): Drew Rohde 3 3-8 10, Joe Jast 0 0-0 0, Brant Johnson 0 0-0 0, Cody Esterholm 0 0-0 0, Alex Urich 0 0-2 0, Taylor Brayton 2 0-0 6, Troy Komarek 0 3-4 3, Dalton Rohde 7 2-6 16, Beau Merriman 2 0-0 5. FG: 14. FT: 8-20. 3-pointers: 4 (Brayton 2, Merriman 1, D. Rohde 1). Fouls: 15. Fouled out: D. Rohde. Record: 11-11.

STRATFORD (67): Dawson Gebelein 4-9 0-0 8, Nick Stoflet 0-1 0-0 0, Michael Bargender 7-8 4-5 18, Ethan Nagel 2-4 0-0 5, Derek Schmidt 4-7 1-2 10, Jake Reif 4-11 0-0 9, Mitch Guralski 1-1 1-1 3, Jake Schmitt 4-6 0-0 8, Tanner Weinfurtner 3-4 0-2 6, Brenden Fecker 0-1 0-0 0. FG: 29-52. FT: 6-10. 3-pointers: 3-11 (Schmidt 1-2, Reif 1-3, Nagel 1-3, Stoflet 0-1, Gebelein 0-2). Rebounds: 31 (Schmitt 8), Assists: 14 (Schmitt 4, Reif 4). Record: 14-8.