Stratford boys basketball holds off Wausau Newman Catholic, improves to 4-0

By Paul Lecker

Sports Reporter

WAUSAU — The Stratford boys basketball team improved to 4-0 this season by holding off Wausau Newman Catholic 45-44 in its Marawood Conference South Division opener Thursday night at Newman Catholic High School.

The Tigers led 35-31 heading into the fourth quarter and were able to hold off Newman to grab the victory. Newman falls to 4-2.

Jake Reif scored 21 points and had six rebounds, four steals, and three assists for Stratford. Derek Schmidt added 13 points and seven rebounds.

Stratford hosts 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.)

Tigers 45, Cardinals 44

Stratford 13 7 15 10 – 45

Newman Catholic 8 10 13 13 – 44

STRATFORD (45): Dawson Gebelein 4-8 1-2 9, Nick Stoflet 0-0 0-0 0, Michael Bargender 1-1 0-0 2, Ethan Nagel 0-3 0-0 0, Derek Schmidt 4-8 4-7 13, Jake Reif 7-13 4-6 21, Mitch Gurlaski 0-2 0-0 0, Jake Schmitt 0-4 0-0 0. FG: 16-39. FT: 9-15. 3-pointers: 4-13 (Reif 3-6, Schmidt 1-3, Nagel 0-2, Gebelein 0-2). Rebounds: 26 (Schmidt 7). Assists: 12 (Schmitt 4). Record: 4-0, 1-0 Marawood Conference South Division.

NEWMAN CATHOLIC (44): Mitch Michalske 0-0 0-0 0, Jason Tubbs 0-6 0-0 0, Nick Thoreson 1-1 0-0 3, Bailey Lemke 1-1 0-0 3, Josh Watson 1-6 0-0 2, Jake Gajewski 7-19 1-3 15, Dane Fronek 5-7 3-4 13, Jeff Ford 3-11 2-2 8. FG: 18-51. FT: 6-9. 3-pointers: 2-12 (Lemke 1-1, Thoreson 1-1, Tubbs 0-5, Gajewski 0-4, Watson 0-1). Rebounds: 27 (Ford 7). Assists: 11 (Tubbs 3, Lemke 3, Gajewski 3). Record: 4-2, 0-1 Marawood South.