Abby girls sweep Rib Lake, fall to Marathon
The Falcons went 1-1 over the last week of play, defeating Rib Lake but losing at home to Marathon.
Rib Lake, 57-32
Abbotsford cruised past Rib Lake Tuesday night, crushing their Marawood North conference foes 57-32 behind a double-double from Sydney Falteisek.
The Falcons dominated from the onset, shooting nearly 50 percent from the floor and scoring 17 points before Rib Lake managed to get their second field goal. Abbotsford’s offense feasted on the blocks, getting 40 of their 57 points in the paint to Rib Lake’s 10. The Falcons’ defense also forced 25 turnovers from their opponents, which turned into 27 points for Abbotsford and only allowed Rib Lake to attempt 26 shots all game.
By halftime, the visiting Falcons squad led by 18 and a 14-4 run to open the second half put the game out of reach.
Sydney Falteisek led the team with 18 points, 10 rebounds and four steals. Calley Ruesch added 13 points, Briseida Escalera had 10 points and a team high five assists and Sommer Brodhagen had six points and five rebounds. Adriana Fuentes- Rivera contributed five points, Brissa Diaz had two points and three steals, Azul Diaz had two points and Azalea Atkinson had one.
Marathon, 50-43
The girls suffered a tough loss at home against Marathon this past Thursday. Despite leading in many offensive cate- gories, the Falcons could not overcome a large number of turnovers and fouls, allowing the visiting Red Raiders to sneak away with a 50-43 win.
Abbotsford was first to take any significant advantage in the game. While they had trailed for much of the opening minutes, the Falcons kept themselves within striking distance, never allowing Marathon’s lead to extend past two possessions. A 10-point run, highlighted by six points from Sommer Brodhagen, gave Abbotsford a 19-13 lead with a little over four minutes left to play in the half.
Just as it appeared that Abbotsford had taken some control over the game, the final series of possessions all went Marathon’s way. The Red Raiders put up 12 points over the last four minutes of the period, nearly matching their total from the first 14 minutes of game time. Meanwhile, the Falcons had five turnovers to just two shot attempts, neither of which fell for an Abbotsford team suddenly struggling for offense.
The sequence put the home team in a six point hole heading into the second period, a deficit that they would slowly but surely dig themselves out of once play resumed. Sydney Falteisek took over on offense, scoring the first ten points for Abbotsford coming out of the half and pushing the Falcons back to the lead. With the home team holding a narrow 3332 advantage as the game advanced into its final quarter, neither squad was able to find any success on offense, both entering a three-minute-long scoring drought.
Marathon finally broke that streak with a basket from Mylee Haehlke, putting the Red Raiders back on top. Six straight points went to the visitors, putting Abbotsford in the uncomfortable position of being behind with time running low. Never able to quite close the distance, the Falcons were forced to start fouling intentionally, but Marathon’s free throw shooting kept their lead steady and gave them the 50-43 victory.
Despite shooting 37 percent from the field compared to Marathon’s 27 percent, Abbotsford found themselves on the losing side of a close contest. The Falcons turned the ball over 21 times which led to 23 points for Marathon, a stark contrast to Abbotsford’s eight points off of 14 turnovers for the visitors. Add that to the fact that the Red Raiders made the most of the 29 free throw attempts, hitting on 20 of them, and Marathon was able to just make up for their less than ideal shooting percentage.
Falteisek was the chief source of offense for the Falcons. The junior had over half the team’s total points, ending the game with 27. She also led Abbotsford in rebounds and steals, recording 11 and five respectively. Brodhagen had eight points and four assists and Briseida Escalera had two points and five assists. Brissa Diaz, Calley Ruesch and Neveah Treankler each had two points and Diaz had six rebounds. McKinely Klabon added five rebounds for the Falcons.
The Falcons have two more games on their regular season schedule. The first is scheduled for this Thursday, Feb. 9 in Assumption. The Royals boast a 16-4 record this season, though they have lost three of their last four games. Tipoff is set for 7:15 p.m.
