Falcons pick up road win in Stratford, 45-41

By Nathaniel Underwood

The Abbotsford girls basketball team bounced back from their loss to Owen-Withee with a victory over the Stratford Tigers last Friday. The Falcons survived a second-half comeback attempt from the home team to come away with the 45-41 win.

The quartet of Sydney Falteisek, Calley Ruesch, Briseida Escalera and Sommer Brodhagen put up all 25 of the Falcons first half points. Falteisek and Ruesch did much of the early damage as the two squads traded baskets in the opening possessions. Abbotsford held a slight 15-13 advantage over the Tigers heading into the latter portion of the period, but they were on the verge of taking control of the contest.

A basket from Brodhagen cut a 6-2 Stratford run short and was the beginning of one of the most important stretches of the game. The Falcons went on to score an additional six straight points to go on a 8-0 run, capped off by a shot in the lane by Escalera. While the Tigers managed three more points before the end of the half, Abbotsford still held a comfortable 25-16 lead heading into halftime.

However, Stratford started out the second period on the attack. The Tigers worked themselves right back into the contest, putting up the first seven points of the half and outscoring the Falcons 11-3 over the first few minutes.

Holding on to a slim 28-27 lead, the Falcons got a transition basket from Neveah Treankler and a three-point shot from McKinley Klabon to put some distance back between themselves and their opponents.

Stratford was not finished yet, however and would pull back within a single possession a number of times over the middle minutes of the half. Abbotsford managed to hold them off, but could never get their lead out to more than eight. With less than a minute to play, two made free throws from Stratford brought them back within two points at 43-41. Falteisek managed to draw a foul and sank a pair of clutch free throws herself to put the Falcons back up by four in the game’s final moments. The Tigers were unable to come up with any points on their last possession and Abbotsford survived to take home a win.

Falteisek led the Falcons with 16 points, Ruesch added 11 of her own and Escalera had seven. Brodhagen finished with six points, Klabon recorded three and Treankler rounded out the scoring with two.

Abbotsford will go on the road to take on a fellow Marawood-North team in Athens this Thursday, Jan. 11. When the two squads met in the first game of the season, the Bluejays were able to come away with a 64-42 victory. Sophia Coker and Jazelle Hartwig were equally unstoppable in the previous meeting, putting up 24 and 23 points respectively and pulling down 14 rebounds each. The pair have continued to be Athens’ main source of offense, with Coker averaging 22.3 points per game and 11.7 rebounds and Hartwig putting up 12.6 points, 7.4 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game.

Tipoff for the rematch between the two conference foes is scheduled for 7:15 p.m.