vs. Heights

On Tuesday, we played Heights High School, and after falling behind early, we came out very strong in the 3rd quarter and took over the game from that point forward. We maintained that lead throughout the game and made all but one free throw at the end to seal the Bi-District victory at Delmar Fieldhouse. It was a very satisfying victory as we were the underdogs but prevailed to become Bi-District Champs! We were led in scoring by Joaquin Andrews with 17 points and 13 rebounds. CJ Williams had 11 points, Trent Burke had 10 points, JD Cheeves had nine, Kobe Hines had four, and Elliot Harlan had a free throw.

vs. George Ranch

Our first playoff game was against George Ranch at the Merrill Center in Katy. The game started well for us with CJ Williams coming out hot and pacing our first-half scoring. By halftime, we had a six-point lead and felt good about the game. We pushed the lead to eight midway through the third quarter, but GR kept fighting, created some turnover opportunities, and by the end of the fourth, were leading by two points. We ran an awesome out-of-bound play for JD Cheeves, who made a phenomenal acrobatic layup to tie the game. After a GR timeout, they worked the clock down to under 20 seconds remaining as they held the ball for the last shot. With 3.3 seconds remaining, one of their guards hit a very deep three-pointer near the top of the key to secure the victory. Not the ending we wanted, but we fought to the end.

Thus ends the high school career of some pretty special seniors. Over the past two years, when these seniors began their Varsity career, their overall record was 37-34, with a 20-8 District record and a 2-2 playoff record. We were Bi-District champs each year. While I am 100% confident we would have had a much better record if we could have avoided the injury bug this year, the results over this two-year span are truly satisfying. People in the basketball community know who Stratford is now, and it is up to the underclassmen to keep the tradition going! Great overall season!

This final note is a celebration for the hard work and dedication this basketball team put into making this year a success. Our final record of 16-18 with a 8-6 District record was not indicative of how good this team was. Throughout the entire year, we battled debilitating injuries that caused us to juggle lineups all year. But through that adversity, we competed at a high level with a very challenging schedule, which included a top-tier San Antonio Tournament against many teams still in the playoffs and a VYPE Holiday Tournament that included some of the best players in the state.