Stratford JV 56 vs. Bay City 8

The Bay City Blackcats came to visit on Friday, November 22. After this one, the new saying should be, "It’s not bad luck to cross paths with a black cat but bad luck for a black cat to cross paths with a Spartan."

This game was a mismatch from the beginning. The girls came out with a press, and it confused the Cats causing multiple turnovers. Allie Moss and Claire Kadane turned these into quick points. Allie got two baskets, and Claire dropped three. Stella Weiss worked the post, knocking one down as well. Brooke Sponsel had multiple rebounds, and Aniyah Cunningham seemed to be everywhere the Cats wanted to go, causing general havoc for their offense. Zoe Thompson also grabbed multiple steals with her speed and instincts and got a layup as well. At the end of one, the rout was on. Spartans 14 - Bay City 2

In the second quarter, the ball movement was great, and the scoring continued to come in bunches. Claire continued with a nice move and drove in the lane to add one of her three baskets for the quarter. She would finish with a game-high 12 points. Stella got on the board again with a drive. Brooke really got things going and added a free throw and three baskets, which included another coast-to-coast drive. Zoe knocked down two more for the quarter. The defense across the board was stingy as Madison Williams, Abigail Williams, Resse Oppermann, and Elyse Johnson came in and helped hold the Cats to 4 points for the entire first half. At halftime, Sparty was up 33-4.

In the second half, the girls played well and continued to dominate on defense giving up only 4 points for the second half. The scoring didn’t stop as the Spartans moved the ball around and Coach Hornbeak worked on the team's set plays. Allie got to the line for two free throws. Zoe kept pouring it on with 5 more points including a free throw to go for 11 on the evening. Stella got to the line as well for a free throw and hit another shot off a rebound. Brooke got another basket and she had 10 for the night. Resse heated up after grabbing multiple rebounds, and she got to the line for two free throws and another basket. Not to be outdone, Abigail, whose constant hustle paid off, dropped a free throw and two more baskets in the third. Elyse dropped in a nice shot as well as the girls closed out the Cats. I do give kudos to Bay City for making the long drive to fill in for a team that had to drop off our schedule. The luck of the Spartans was too much for the Blackcats as the girls put another one in the win column. Stratford 56 – Bay City 8

Stratford JV 36 vs. Aldine Davis Falcons 32

The Spartans hit the road for a rare Monday game before Thanksgiving. The Falcons would test the Spartans in what turned out to be a close game. Davis was much bigger than the Spartans and had a bit of a nasty streak. The girls stepped up and took the challenge head-on.

The first quarter was back and forth as both teams were able to get off some shots as the teams tried to figure each other out. Regardless, things were moving fast, and the play was aggressive. Claire Kadane and Allie Moss got things going early again in this game. Allie and Claire both got two first-quarter baskets, rebounds, and multiple steals early. Aniyah Cunningham and Zoe Thompson created pressure on the Falcon guards making it hard to get the ball inside. Davis had multiple big and tall post players, and they wanted to get the ball down low. The Falcons' coach after one Davis score made the mistake of using the ” too small” comment and hand gesture. Someone forgot to tell Stella Weiss, Resse Oppermann, and Abigail Williams that they were too small to handle the Falcons. They all played like giants and fought and clawed for every ball, out-rebounding and even blocking shots of the taller Davis players. Stella took an absolute beating but was able to get a basket to close out the scoring. After the first quarter, Stratford led 10-6.

The second quarter was more of the same, but the Spartans were able to get a little breathing room. Claire poured it on from the field, hitting two more shots and a no-doubter three from the wing. Allie was able to hit a short-range jumper as well. The girls moved the ball around well and did their best not to get mired down in the Davis game plan. The post-players kept the pressure on, and Stella got another hard-earned basket. At halftime, the Spartans were up 21-13.

In the third quarter, Davis started to make a move. The tempo of the game was the same, but the Falcons were able to get off some good shots and get the ball in the paint more than before. All the girls kept the pressure on, and nothing came easy for either team. Claire got another nice three pointer and a two-point jumper. The Davis posts were realty starting to get aggressive and quite vocal as Madison Williams, Elyse Johnson, Resse, Stella, and Abigail continued to drive them crazy, not allowing a clean rebound or put-back. Stella got another basket in the third. Spartans still led 28-23.

Things got interesting in the fourth as Davis made a big run at Stratford. The Falcons cranked up the pressure and physical contact. They added a press that really got our Lady Spartans out of rhythm. For a few series it seemed there were more than five Falcons on the court as they created multiple turnovers. All the girls continued to play hard, highlighted by Resse taking a textbook charge on a Davis breakaway to keep the damage to a minimum. Zoe really stepped up using her speed and craftiness to stop multiple Davis runs. Zoe hit a three-pointer, got to the line for one, and added another basket. Claire got one more much-needed bucket on her way to a game-high 18 points. Stratford was able to finally slow things down and control the ball to close out Davis and send us all home happy for Thanksgiving. The final score was Spartans 36 - Davis 32.