Falcons take down Rib Lake, fall to Eagles in Marawood challenges
By Nathaniel Underwood
The Abbotsford girls basketball team split a pair of road games over the past week. They grabbed their second victory of the season with a win over conference foe Rib Lake on Tuesday night and suffered a defeat at the hands of the Auburndale Eagles last Friday evening.
Rib Lake, 52-39
After three consecutive losses, the Falcons were able to get back in the win column after defeating the Rib Lake Redmen 52-39 on Tuesday night. Three Abbotsford players scored in double digits and Abbotsford led by as many as 20 in a dominant performance in the Marawood-North matchup.
After falling behind 2-0 to start the game, the Falcons went on a 7-0 run to retake the lead. They never trailed after that point.
While the Redmen were able to bring the score back within two at 10-8, Abbotsford’s Oriah Harris and Sommer Brodhagen took over the game on the offensive side of the ball. Harris put up 13 points in the first half and Brodhagen added nine, the pair combining to score 22 of the team’s 26 points in the opening period. Most of their damage was done in the paint, a section of the floor that Abbotsford found a good amount of success throughout the evening.
A stretch over the middle portions of the half saw the Falcons able to pull away, going on an 11-1 run to go up by double digits. By halftime, they had opened up a 26-14 lead.
More Falcons got in on the scoring in the second half, but Sydney Falteisek led the offense in the latter period. Ten of her 12 points came in the final 18 minutes and a key fourpoint play from the Abbotsford senior put the Falcons up 38-18.
While Rib Lake was able to keep pace with the Falcons the rest of the way, even eating into that 20 point lead over the game’s final moments, Abbotsford had done enough to take the comfortable 52-39 win.
Harris finished the game with 17 points, Brodhagen had 13, and Falteisek added 12. Azul Diaz had four points, Calley Ruesch and Neveah Treankler contributed two and McKinley Klabon and Asia Atkinson both hit free throws in the contest’s closing minutes to finish with one point each.
Auburndale, 35-28
For the second time that week, the Falcons found themselves in a tight road test. After 35 minutes of game time, the Friday night defensive battle between the visiting Abbotsford squad and the hosting Auburndale Eagles was still within a single possession.
Down 31-28, the Falcons desperately needed to get a stop and find a way to get points on the board, a task that had been difficult all evening. As time continued to ebb away, the Falcons’ defense nearly came away with a steal, but Auburndale was able to maintain control.
Moments later, the ball found the hands of the Eagles’ Myah Katzenberger on the right block. Katzenberger fired up a turnaround jumper that found the bottom of the net, a clutch shot that all but sealed the win for the home team.
Abbotsford’s next possession ended in a turnover, their 36th of the contest, as Au-
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burndale’s full court press continued to fluster the visitors and, following two Eagles free throws and desperation heave at the end of the game, the Falcons once again found themselves on the short side of a close contested game.
Neither side was able to maintain much offensive momentum in a game that saw 66 total turnovers between the two squads. Abbotsford held the largest lead in the first half after Briseida Escalera’s basket gave them a 9-5 advantage midway through the period, with neither squad able to distance themselves from the other. An 18-11 lead for the Eagles in the early moments of the second half was the biggest point differential of the contest, but five straight points from Abbotsford courtesy of Calley Ruesch, Sydney Falteisek and Oriah Harris helped the Falcons quickly close back in.
While Abbotsford was able to keep the game close, they never led in the second half. Auburndale was better able to make use of the numerous turnovers, scoring 24 of their points off of Falcon possessions that had not ended in a shot. Meanwhile, Abbotsford only managed eight points off turnovers, despite forcing 30 from the Eagles.
Escalera led the team with eight points and had a team-high four steals. Falteisek added seven points, nine rebounds and three steals and Oriah Harris had five points. Ruesch had three points and three steals, Azul Diaz and Neveah Treankler had two points each, and Sommer Brodhagen had seven rebounds and one point.
The Falcons are now 2-4 this season. They will invite the Newman Catholic Cardinals into town on Friday, Dec. 8 and will be looking to build on their victory over Rib Lake. The Cardinals started the year with five consecutive losses before finally notching a victory in their most recent game where they defeated Marathon 37-31. The game is to start at 7:15 p.m.
