Falcon girls crush Greenwood 60-33, now 3-1
The Falcons took care of business at home, defeating the Greenwood Indians 60-33 on Monday evening. Given the early season performances of both teams, the 27-point victory was the probable outcome of the Falcon’s second non-conference game of the season, but the visitors stuck around longer than many might have expected.
Greenwood jumped out to an early 6-1 lead, with the Indians’ top scorer Avry Wuethrich hitting two floaters in the lane on their first two possessions and Tysen Lindner finding room to operate down low to give her team the five point lead.
Abbotsford would slowly eat into that lead as the first half continued, finding some scoring opportunities off of turnovers forced by their press defense. Adriana Fuentes-Rivera would tie the game at 10-10 with a three-point shot and Sydney Falteisek gave the Falcons their first lead of the game at 14-12 on a layup with just over eight minutes left in the half.
Despite taking their first lead of the game, Greenwood’s 2-3 zone defense was making things tough on the Falcons. Open shots during their early offensive sets were hard to come by and Abbotsford struggled to convert on the few they did create. A long five-minute scoring drought by both teams was ended when Greenwood hit a three to go back up 15-14, but their last lead of the game would be short lived.
Fuentes-Rivera answered with a three on the Falcons’ next possession and Brissa Diaz followed it with a three of her own after an Abbotsford stop on the defensive end.
After a quick response from Greenwood, Falteisek hit a long two-point shot to bring the Falcons’ lead back to five at 22-17, capping off a flurry of scoring that would give Abbotsford the momentum heading into halftime.
After shooting under 25 percent in the first half, the Falcons opened things up in the second.
Greenwood closed the gap to three in the opening minutes, but the game was all Abbotsford from that point on. The Falcons went on a 13-0 run to go up 35-19, building a lead that would eventually force the Indians out of their zone defense. The home team cruised from there, led by Sommer Brodhagen and Falteisek on the offensive end of the floor and still forcing turnovers on the defensive side of the ball. After a surprisingly close first half, the Falcons dominated the second period, outscoring Greenwood 38-16 and taking the game 60-33.
In the second half, Abbotsford shot 50 percent from the floor and drew 14 fouls, which led to 21 free throw attempts. Brodhagen hit on nine of her ten free throws over the course of the game and led the Falcons with 19 points and eight rebounds. Falteisek finished the game with 14 points and a teamhigh five steals. Diaz and Fuentes-Rivera both contributed nine points apiece and Briseida Escalera and McKinley Klabon finished with six and three points respectively.
Abbotsford’s effort on the defensive end kept them in the game while they tried to figure things out on offense. Twenty-six points came off of Indian turnovers and 10 were scored in transition. They also finished the game with 22 steals as a team.
The victory pushes the Falcons’ overall record to 3-1. All four of their games to open the season have ended with point differentials greater than 25 points, with this latest game against Greenwood being the closest Abbotsford has played thus far.
They will take on an undefeated Auburndale squad at home this coming Friday, Dec. 2. The Eagles sit at the top of the Marawood-South conference and are coming off a 66-45 win over Rosholt. The varsity tip-off is set for 5:30 p.m.
