The Stratford Sophomore Team built on the momentum of their SBISD Tournament Championship win with two wins during the Thanksgiving Break.

vs. Cy Ranch

On Monday, the team jumped out to a big lead thanks to a 16-0 run to start the game. The team led by as many as 22 and eventually won 58-48. Anderson Fitzgerald used his spot at the top of a 1-3-1 zone to force turnovers and break free for layups on lead passes from teammates to tally 14 first half points and eventually pace the team in scoring with 20. Cody Hanlen had 5 points of his own and was instrumental in setting up with assists to Alex Harris (8 points) on layups after cuts to the hoop. Penetration and ball movement led to some open 3 pointers, as Stratford hit five - 3 by William Ubell (11 points total), Hanlen, and Beckett Swilling (5 points each total). Timely scoring off the bench from Ben Harris (3 pts), Jaylon Rosser (2 pts), Jack Watson (2 pts), Jack Seely (2 pts), and AJ West (1 pt) and aggressive defense helped maintain a consistent lead for a comfortable win.

vs. Katy Jordan

Stratford followed up Monday’s win with a 66-45 emphatic victory over Katy Jordan on Tuesday. Aggressive defense and high-level passing made for a lot of easy baskets as the Spartans posted 37 points in the first half to lead by 13, spurred by 18 points from Anderson Fitzgerald and 8 from Jaylon Rosser. The lead grew to 22 in the third quarter before a barrage of 3-pointers from Jordan (36 of their 45 points came off of 3-pointers) trimmed the lead entering the 4th quarter.

Sammy Shafaei, Luke Johnson, Timon Muchira, Ryan Sakalosky,  and Jackson McDonald were able to extend the lead at the start of the 4th quarter, as a switch to man-to-man defense stifled Jordan’s 3-pointer run before a 13-2 run to end the game, highlighted by two 3-pointers from William Ubell, buckets by Alex Harris and Cody Hanlen, and a final basket from Anderson Fitzgerald to finish with 20.