Falcon girls can’t find wins on road trip

The Abbotsford girl’s basketball team continued down a tough stretch of their schedule, taking two more losses over the past week. Both came on the road as the Falcons traveled to Phillips Tuesday evening and Edgar last Friday. The loss to the Loggers was their third in a row and dropped Abbotsford to 10-6 on the season.

Phillips, 81-53

Beating the number one team in the Marawood-North conference on the road was always going to be a tough ask, but the Falcons likely would have liked to have the first half of their game against Phillips back if they could. While Abbotsford managed to outscore the firstplace Loggers 35-27 in the second half, a 54 point first period effort from the home team far outpaced the 18 points that the visiting Falcons could muster. The Loggers used that large lead they earned in the first half to continue their undefeated Marawood-North campaign, winning 81-53.

The Loggers’ height and full court pressure played a large part in their success over Abbotsford. Phillips ended the game with 25 points off of turnovers and out-rebounded the Falcons 41 to 27. These rebounds led to 21 second chance points for the home team, compared to just five such points for Abbotsford.

These aspects were highlighted in the opening minutes of the game, as the Loggers took a 26-6 lead in the first quarter of the game. The Falcons were able to start to find more flow offensively as play progressed, but they still were unable to stop Phillips on the blocks, leading to the lopsided first half score.

The Loggers backed off on defense in the second half, which gave Abbotsford more room to operate. The Falcons took advantage, looking much more comfortable on offense and cutting slightly into the deficit. The difference was too great to overcome, however, and Phillips still cruised to a 28-point victory.

Sommer Brodhagen led Abbotsford with 19 points and Sydney Falteisek added 15. Briseida Escalera had 10 to put three Falcons in double figures. McKinley Klabon ended the game with three points and Brissa Diaz, Calley Ruesch and Adriana Fuentes each had two.

Edgar, 75-50

Abbotsford traveled to Edgar last Friday evening, hoping to bounce back from a loss to Athens earlier in the week. The Wildcats had other ideas, however, using big runs at the beginnings of both halves to defeat the visiting Falcons 75-50.

Scoring points off of turnovers and being highly efficient on the offensive side of the floor were the keys for success for Edgar in the Marawood-North/South crossover game. The Wildcats’ defensive pressure forced some early misplays from the Falcons, which allowed the home team to jump out to an 11-2 lead.

After a tough start, Abbotsford settled into the game, matching the Wildcats blow for blow. They managed to bring themselves within five points of the lead at 28-23 when Sydney Falteisek hit a jumper from the left block with under two minutes left in the half. Edgar responded with a three from Reagan Borchardt on the following possession, however, and went on a 8-1 run over the final minute of play to hold a 36-24 lead going into halftime.

The second period did not go any better for the Falcons than the ending of the first. Abbotsford had no answers for Edgar’s Borchardt or Leah Davis, both of whom ended the game with more than 20 points. Meanwhile, the visitors struggled to find opportunities on the offensive side of the ball, the Wildcats mostly taking away the Falcons’ transition game. Edgar outscored Abbotsford 26-6 in the first ten minutes of the half, leading by over 30 points and putting the game out of reach.

The Wildcats led in most statistical categories, but perhaps most revealing were their 21 points off turnovers and their effective field goal percentage of 51.7 percent. Meanwhile, Abbotsford only had five points off turnovers and had an effective field goal percentage of 39.1 percent, largely brought down by shooting just 3-19 from beyond the three-point line.

Falteisek was the game’s second highest scorer, her 22 points accounting for nearly half of Abbotsford’s final total. She also brought down nine rebounds, which also led the Falcons. Briseida Escalera had 10 points and eight rebounds, Sommer Brodhagen had five points, four rebounds and four assists, and McKinley Klabon went 2-for-3 from the field, recording four points. Also scoring for the Falcons were Adriana Fuentes with three points, Azul Diaz with three, Brissa Diaz with two and Calley Ruesch with one.

The Falcons will have their third straight road game this Thursday when they travel to Prentice. The game is to start at 7:15 p.m.