Abby boys fall to Athens, 73-57

The Abbotsford Falcons boys basketball team tried to play spoiler for Athens’ undefeated Marawood-North record and stop Bluejays’ center Aiden Janke from reaching 1,000 career points in their Tuesday evening game, but came up short in both endeavors as they fell to the visitors 73-57.

While Abbotsford managed to slow down Janke and Connor Sheahan, the Bluejays’ other top offensive weapon, the Falcons could not stop them entirely, and Athens found other ways to score when necessary.

The home team started the game a bit shaky, giving up nine straight points to Athens and failing to score in the game’s first four minutes. Esteban Gomez got Abbotsford on the board with a tough shot near the basket, which kicked off a 8-3 run for the Falcons to bring them back within four points. Tough defense from the Bluejays would halt Abbotsford’s brief offensive spurt and Athens’ lead would slowly build back toward double digits as the half progressed.

A three off the glass from AJ Brodhagen would bring the Falcons back within seven, but Athens answered immediately on the opposite end. A back and forth would ensue over the final five minutes, with Abbotsford drawing back within that seven point deficit multiple times only to have the visitors respond. A small run at the end of the half by Athens extended their lead back out to double digits as the Falcons found themselves down 35-23 heading into the locker rooms.

The Bluejays found opportunities to push the ball early in the second half, widening the gap between the two teams by finding transition baskets. Janke’s 1,000th career point came off an offensive rebound that he put back up to give Athens a 46-25 advantage with 15 minutes left to play. The Falcons managed to keep things even through the middle minutes of the period, but could not dig significantly into their opponent’s lead.

After failing to make much headway earlier in the half, Abbotsford took some momentum heading into the final stretch of the game. Four straight three-point field goals, two courtesy of Blake Bargender and one apiece from Gomez and Adam Diedrich, followed by a transition layup from Brandon Diedrich cut the lead to 62-50 with 4:30 left to play. That would be all the closer the Falcons would get, however, as two corner threes from Athens’ Andy Schaer all but sealed the game for the Bluejays.

Abbotsford held Janke to just 31 percent from the floor and Sheahan was 0-4 from three point range, but both still scored in the double digits and got a boost from Schaer and Connor Komarek, who contributed 14 and 12 points respectively.

Meanwhile, only Brandon Diedrich scored in the double digits for the Falcons, leading them with 14 points. They did, however, have three players with nine points, as Adam Diedrich, Bargender and Brodhagen all ended the game with that total. Gomez had eight, Grayson Totzke added six and Evan Reis rounded out the scoring for Abbotsford with two.

Abbotsford will host Stratford next, with the Tigers set to come to town on Friday, Jan. 6. The game is to begin at 7:15 p.m.