The Stellrecht brothers, Nate and Steve, grew up on a dairy farm near Spooner, Wis. They are identical twins in every sense of the term. Nate and Steve weren't attached at the hip, literally, but it seemed like they were for the first 22 years of their lives.

Both attended UW-River Falls in the 1990's and both played baseball for the Falcons. Both Stellrecht brothers reveled in others mixing them up at local watering holes and found pure joy in seeing how long the conversation would last as the opposite twin. They still do.   

Nate stayed in River Falls with his wife, Lisa. They have two boys and a girl. Steve moved up the road a bit to New Richmond. Steve and his wife, Karen, also have three kids. You guessed it, two boys and a girl.

The identical twin brothers are teetering around the half-century mark and still look identical. Their unplanned game-day gear this past Friday night consisted of a hat, jeans, a hoodie sweatshirt, and work boots. The only difference, albeit a big one, is the reason for telling this story.

Nate's hoodie was River Falls blue and gold. Steve sported a New Richmond Football hoodie.    

It was a Stellrecht family affair and area basketball fans had cat scratch fever as the Wildcats hosted the Tigers in the WIAA Region Semi-Final boys' basketball playoffs.

Nate's son, Austin, is a 6'4" 210-pound junior forward for the Wildcats. Steve's son, Nick, is a 6'5" 218-pound junior forward for the Tigers. Flying the family flag even higher, Nick's mom, Karen, is an assistant coach for the New Richmond boys' basketball team, one of four female assistant boys' basketball coaches in the Big Rivers Conference. 

"We had a preview of it in football," said Assistant Coach Karen Stellrecht, "but it's fun to see them on the court at the same time."

Austin and Nick are both three sport athletes. Nick was named to the All-Region team as a quarterback for the Tigers. Austin played defensive end and one of his main duties was to sack his cousin. The sacks lacked. Tiger Stellrecht stayed upright. 

It was a close game at halftime, but New Richmond trounced River Falls 40-7 on the grid iron. Tiger Stellrecht was 1-0 in the cousin clash.

Speaking of football, besides Nick Stellrecht making All-Region, the Tigers' Trevor Solland, Aiden Eckert, and Abe Monson were named to the All-State team. Those three also play on the Tiger basketball team with Nick.

Wildcat center, 6'7" senior Eli Johnson, was named All-State in football at the tight-end position. Fellow Wildcat, 6'2" senior guard Preston Johnson, was named All-Conference at defensive back spot.

As one may expect, with a plethora of football talent playing on the hardwood, Friday's game was expected to be a tough one.

"It was a battle, probably the most physical game we've played all year," said Karen Stellrecht. "Neither Nick or Austin backed down and I knew they wouldn't."

"Friday's game was absolutely the peak cinema of a high school basketball game," said Wildcat Austin. "And, honestly, I didn't even realize I was playing against my cousin most of the time."

"It was more fun than weird," said Tiger Nick. "We're both similar players, so it was just fun."

"There's a little trash talk," said Austin. "But we both know it's just love. There's always a little friendly bicker back and forth."

River Falls evened up the cousin clash count in early January with a 71-52 win in Kitty City. Tiger Nick returned the favor at New Richmond in early February with a 52-40 win to move the cousin clash to 2-1, however, the Wildcats were decimated with injuries and the flu bug.

"Coach Turpin joked after the second time we played them," said River Falls' Preston Johnson, "that we have the best-looking Stellrecht in the conference."

Friday's basketball rubber match was every bit of March Madness.

"I told our team Austin always seems to be in the right place at the right time," said aunt and Coach Karen Stellrecht, "so you have to keep him off the glass. He jumps really well and he's strong."

With 4:05 left in the fourth quarter and the Wildcats clinging to a 55-54 lead, Tiger guard Abe Monson's driving left-handed lay-up caromed off the rim. Wildcat Stellrecht and his flowing locks snared the rebound as the lane cleared like a Main Street in front of an ambulance with loud flashing sirens. Every New Richmond player scurried back like a mischief of mice to make sure the cat-like quickness of Brody Graetz would not beat them back. That is, every Tiger except Tiger Stellrecht. Nick Stellrecht reached out his paw and swatted the ball away from his cousin and made the easy lay-in for the one-point lead.

It was a lead New Richmond refused to relinquish.

"That was probably the most exciting game I've ever played in for any sport," said Tiger Stellrecht. "The fans, the atmosphere, and especially the ending was unbelievable."

Tiger Stellrecht leads Wildcat Stellrecht 3-1 in the cousin clash, as New Richmond prevailed 67-65 in a last second missed-shot nailbiter. Nick plays baseball and Austin runs track in the spring, so the next official Stellrecht slugfest will not take place until next fall.

"We play basketball against each other all the time on Nick's sport court in his backyard during the summer," said Austin. "I'm not going to lie, though, Nick usually gets me there. He has since we were little."

Nick, sheepishly giggled.

Those backyard beat downs, however, may be strengthening Wildcat Austin's growl over the years. Austin made the JV3 basketball team his freshman year and two years later was a huge factor for the River Falls' varsity team.

"Austin has put the work in," said aunt and opposing Coach Stellrecht. "It's crazy how much he's improved and how his confidence has grown."

"The biggest thing for Austin is the weight room," said Nick. "He's bigger, faster, stronger every year."

"Austin has worked so hard and if he continues this off-season," said Coach Turpin, "hopefully, he'll start getting the better end against Nick next year."

With the win over River Falls, sixth-seeded New Richmond traveled to Rhinelander to take on the second-seeded Hodags on Monday night in the Region Finals. 

"I would cheer for New Richmond if they weren't the team that shut us down," said Austin. "But they did, so I'm cheering for Rhinelander. I'll cheer for Nick, though."

Wildcat Austin's newfound fandom for the Hodags was short-lived. Tiger Nick and New Richmond prevailed yet again. New Richmond advanced from the Section Semi-Finals on Thursday with a 62-55 win.