Falcons cut down Spencer in first round
The Abbotsford girls basketball team moved on to the second round of the WIAA playoffs after defeating the 12th seeded Spencer Rockets at home on Tuesday.
Spencer, 44-35
The Falcons’ first playoff game was perhaps a little closer than they would have liked. Despite Abbotsford claiming a big lead early, Spencer managed to stick around until the very end. The Falcons managed just enough offense in the final minutes to hold off the Rockets, winning 44-35.
While there were perhaps certain things that could have gone better for Abbotsford at the start of the game, the results were certainly nothing to complain about. The Falcons started out the game taking a 22-2 lead over their Cloverbelt-East foes, the makings of a complete blowout.
Aggressive defense from Abbotsford coupled with poor shooting from Spencer created the huge margin between the two teams. Twelve minutes of game time passed before the Rockets scored their first field goal, the two points they had garnered earlier coming from free throws.
In fact, Spencer’s shooting woes continued throughout the half, only converting on three of their shots from the field.
That being said, their defense clamped down. After scoring 22 points in the first ten minutes of the game, Abbotsford’s offense screeched to an abrupt halt. The Rockets shifted into a 1-3-1 zone and began to swarm the ball making for difficult shots and forcing turnovers. A layup from Sommer Brodhagen with eight minutes remaining on the clock would be the last points the Falcons would score in the half.
By holding on the defensive end of the court, Spencer was slowly able to chip away at Abbotsford’s lead over the remainder of the half, using free throws and a few field goals to cut Abbotsford’s lead down to single digits.
Nursing a 22-13 lead, the Falcons ended their nearly nine minute scoring drought with a basket from Sydney Falteisek in the first minute of the second period. However, while the drought had ended, the home team’s offensive problems had not and the Rockets continued to chip away at the lead.
A deep three from Spencer’s Autumn Davis cut Abbotsford’s lead down to 2622 with thirteen minutes remaining. Another basket from Falteisek was the Falcons’ answer and the four-point difference was all the closer Spencer would manage to get.
While Abbotsford would never balloon their lead out to their original 20-point margin, they would steadily build it back to double digits behind the shooting of Brodhagen and Falteisek and they’d come away with the 44-35 win.
Falteisek led the team with 19 points and Brodhagen added 16 of her own. Calley Ruesch added six points, Brissa Diaz had two and Adriana Fuentes-Rivera had one.
Phillips, 75-39
The Falcons concluded their regular season at home, inviting the Marawood-North leading Phillips Loggers to Abbotsford last Thursday. With their fourth straight undefeated conference season on the line, the visiting Loggers took care of business, downing the Falcons 75-39. It was a tough opening for Abbotsford, falling behind 12-1 before a basket by Sommer Brodhagen gave them their first field goal five minutes into the game. A combination of Phillips’ height and press-into-zone defense made things difficult for the Falcons to get into rhythm early on offense, and while they would hold even with the visitors over the middle minutes of the half, they could not quite cut into the early double-digit deficit they had found themselves in.
Another 12-1 run for the Loggers over the final six minutes of the half solidified Phillips’ lead and gave them a 43-17 advantage at halftime.
Following a pair of free throws from Phillips’ Kacy Eggebrecht, who had scored her 1,000th career point earlier in the game, the Loggers expanded their lead past the 30-point mark early in the second period, leaving little opportunity for Abbotsford to come back in the affair. Once again, they would keep the deficit even through the middle sequences of the period, but Phillips would outscore the Falcons 15-2 over a late five minute stretch to put the game away for good.
A 51-34 rebounding advantage for the Loggers as well as shooting 42.4 percent from the field and 6-for-9 from beyond the three point line were key in the contest. Abbotsford in comparison hit 28.6 percent of their shots while failing to make any of their 11 three-point attempts.
Brodhagen and Sydney Falteisek both ended the game with 11 points. Falteisek also had a team high 12 rebounds and seven steals while Brodhagen had the most Falcon assists with four. Brissa Diaz added eight points, Briseida Escalera had seven and Calley Ruesch rounded out the scoring with two points.
The Falcons will go on the road for their next playoff game on Friday, Feb. 24 against fourth seeded Osseo-Fairchild. The Thunder had a bye in the first round and boast a 16-8 record. Game time is set for 7 p.m.
