Abby comes up short in Cadott
By Nathaniel Underwood
The Abbotsford Falcons boys basketball team traveled to Cadott on Tuesday evening for a non-conference game against the Hornets. In a closely contested match, the Falcons fell 54-52.
In a game as close as this one had been for much of the evening, it seemed only fitting that it would go right down to the wire. With four minutes to play, Grayson Totzke made two free throws to put the Falcons up 50-46. Cadott was able to answer over the next few minutes, however, scoring seven straight to take a 53-50 advantage.
Blake Bargender put back a missed shot to bring the Falcons back within one, but Cadott’s defense held over the final minute and a half to claim the victory.
Abbotsford led by as many as 10 points earlier in the contest, taking a 29-19 lead after Irvin Aguilera turned a steal into two points on the opposite end. Two quick three-point shots from the Hornets in the final seconds of the half cut significantly into the lead that Abbotsford had been growing over the course of the first half.
After going down 9-8, the Falcons went on a 12-2 run over the middle minutes of the first half.
Starting with a free throw made by Preston Bunkleman, Abbotsford had six different players score over the course of the run, an indication of the balanced attack that they utilized throughout the evening. Totzke capped off the push with a triple from the top of the key to put the Falcons up 20-11.
However, Cadott refused to go away, keeping the Falcons within striking distance. The Hornets slowly but surely ate away at Abbotsford’s lead before retaking it a few minutes into the second half. Cadott’s Braden Schneider’s layup briefly put the home team up 36-35, but a three from Aguilera just seconds later turned the tide back in Abbotsford’s favor.
While they would not manage to build their lead back out to what it once was, the Falcons would still maintain control over the game until its closing moments. The visitors went 1-for-6 shooting and had two turnovers in the final four minutes of the game while the Hornets were able to make the most of their final possessions.
Nine players scored for Abbotsford on Tuesday night. Aguilera led the team with 12 points, shooting 4-for-7 from the field. Totzke added 11 points and had a team high eight rebounds. Bunkleman added six with five rebounds, Koren Decker had six points and Blake Bargender had five points.
Evan Reis and Payton Schreiber both had four points, with the former bringing down five rebounds and the latter four. AJ Brodhagen and Noah Schraufnagel rounded out the scoring, combining for two points each.
While the Falcons shot slightly better from the field, ending the day by making 35.2 percent of their shots compared to their opponent’s 32.8 percent, Cadott outrebounded them 42 to 32. The Hornets were able to take advantage, scoring 13 second-chance points to Abbotsford’s seven.
Abbotsford will look to bounce back from their first two losses with yet another road contest on Thursday, Nov. 30. They will face off against the Blackhawks in Owen-Withee, with a start time of 7:15 p.m.
