What a great week for the Stratford Boys Basketball Team!!! SHS had two hard-fought victories this past week which guaranteed us a spot in the upcoming playoffs for the second consecutive year!!! It is good to make the playoffs, but we are not done yet. We have three games to go, and we want to win all three!!

SHS vs. Cy-Ridge (1/31)

It was clear Cy-Ridge wanted to win this one badly!!! Ridge came out with a 7-0 run that put us in catch-up mode the entire game. But our boys were resilient and methodical, keeping their lead within striking distance. During the second half, Ridge had a 12-point lead, but going into the 4th quarter, the lead was down to eight, which was manageable.

We made a concerted run toward the middle of the 4th and turned up our defensive intensity, while making key baskets. With 1:36 left in the 4th, Vasili Fakaris made a corner 3-pointer that gave us the lead for the 1st time!!! We traded points for the last minute and then things got crazy.

Throughout the game the scorer’s table was starting the clock before they should have, which caused the ref to stop our game multiple times to correct it. With 36 seconds remaining, we were down by one point, and they were taking the ball out in front of the scorer’s table. We were denying the ball, trying to get a steal, and the scorer’s table started the clock early again, which caused a couple of clock resets. After a timeout by Ridge, they held onto the ball too long and got a 5 second call, which gave us the ball. But we missed the subsequent shot. When all looked lost, Ridge took the ball out, and JD Cheeves created a turnover, passed the ball to Joaquin Andrews at half court, who quickly passed the ball up to Shia Francis for a layup. He missed it, but Jalen Jefferson was there for the rebound and put-back, which put us up by one point with 3.6 seconds remaining. After Ridge’s final timeout, they tried a half-court shot that did not come close. Game!!!! Final score 41-40!!!

Leading scorers were as follows: Shia scored 14 points, Vasili scored 12, Joaquin and Wes Wohlfahrt each scored five, Jalen contributed three, and JD chipped in with two. Great come-from-behind victory!!!!!

SHS vs. Memorial (2/3)

Rivalry Game part Deaux!!!! Game was at Don C. Coleman and was another hard-fought victory for SHS, 36-28!!!! In keeping with our theme this past week, our opponent was focused on winning this game and played extremely tough basketball against us. But just like we did earlier in the week, we were focused, determined, and executed in the second half to pull out the victory.

But by no means was it an easy victory. Within the first 30 seconds of the game, we lost our starting 2-guard, Jalen Jefferson, to a bloody nose that required a doctor’s visit. He was able to come back before the end of the game but did not play. The early results are positive that he will be able to play in our next game.

We led most of the game, but with just under 2 minutes to play, we only held a 5-point lead after Memorial hit a couple of deep threes. We regrouped and relied on our senior leader Wes Wohlfahrt to use as much clock as we could on each subsequent possession. He played that role to perfection!!!! In that last two minutes, we milked the clock away, played solid defense, took advantage of scoring opportunities, and Joaquin Andrews sealed the game with two key rebounds of missed MHS shots and knocked down three of four free-throws. Great team victory!!!!!!

We were led in scoring by Joaquin with 14 points, JD Cheeves scored seven points, Vasili Fakaris contributed six points, Seven Francis had four points, Wes contributed three points, and Shia Francis chipped in with two points.

Upcoming Week:

Next week is another big week for us. On Wednesday (2/7), we hit the road to play Jersey Village at 7 pm. That will be another tough game as that gym always causes us problems regardless of the sport!!!! Then Saturday (2/10), we will have Senior Day at Stratford against league-leading Cy Fair at 12 pm!!! We will be celebrating the Stratford careers of Wes Wohlfahrt, Jalen Jefferson, Seven Francis, and Luke Covington.

Please come out and support your ever-improving boys basketball team, especially on Senior Day!!!! For all fans that come to the game, the owner of KP’s Kitchen has offered Stratford America a 20% discount for the weekend of February 10th for all dine-in or carryout orders!!! You can wear Stratford gear or just mention Stratford Spartans when you order.