After rescheduling the Stratford vs. Memorial men’s basketball game for Saturday afternoon due to the inclement weather earlier in the week, coaches and school officials were concerned about a decrease in the turnout. No worries!

With a packed gym and a rowdy crowd, the Mustangs took on the Spartans and battled it out for four periods on the court.  The Stratford gym was filled almost to capacity and the fans were urging their respective teams on, if not taunting their opponents.

“This is a playoff atmosphere game and a rivalry game on top of that,” explained Stratford’s coach Mitch Hornsby. “It was an exciting game and the crowds were wild and the kids played their tails off.”

With each team trying to find their rhythm, Memorial was first to put points on the board as Matt Staff sunk the first bucket of the game from behind the arc. Stratford immediately answered back with a three pointer of their own. However, it was Memorial who was to dominate the first period as Jackson Kajander and Staff were responsible for most of the 18 points scored in the first period.

Stratford came out sluggish for the first period and had trouble capitalizing under the net. However, Rodney Milum was effective hitting some crucial threes to keep Stratford in the game finishing the period with nine points. 

“We came out a little flat on offense, but these boys kept their patience and made up for it on the defensive end of the court”, said Hornsby. “We stopped giving up second chance points which was really killing us early in the game.”

During the second period, Mustang forward Will Patchell and Co. put heavy pressure on the Spartan offense. Stratford picked up the tempo and was more effective in rebounding and scoring. The last minutes of the period found Memorial struggling as foul trouble and moving violations seemed to take them off their game plan.  The Spartans pushed ahead to take the lead 30-27 at the end of the second period.

The third period was a hard fought battle as both teams struggled for every possession. Stratford’s Brad Daniel was effective down low drawing fouls and earning some points at the line, but defense defined the third quarter as only 17 combined points were scored throughout the period.  

The fourth period Memorial found themselves in foul trouble and struggling to stay on their game. The Spartans capitalized on some key Mustang turnovers as well as a technical foul. The Spartans finished the Mustangs off with a great team effort in the fourth quarter as they earned a 60-49 victory in a very physical game.

“We worked as a team and came out and played our defense and we stopped them,” said Stratford guard Rodney Milam. “If we keep working as a team we will have a good chance at making the playoffs and being successful.”

Stratford’s William White was the game’s high scorer with 24 points as Rodney Milam dropped in 17 of his own. Leading the way for Memorial was Jackson Kajander with 19 points and Will Patchell with nine.

The win by the Spartans puts the pressure on in District 19-5A as Stratford, Memorial, and Spring Woods are all 4-3 in district play. Aldine leads the district at 7-0 and Nimitz is in second at 5-2. With games remaining, there should be some exciting court action to come.

The Spartans look forward to continuing district play as they host the Macarthur Generals on Tuesday and the Mustangs look to host Spring Woods also on Tuesday.

Subscribe to this comment's feed