Abby girls advance to WIAA regional semis
The Abbotsford Falcons girls basketball team put their road loss to the Phillips Loggers behind them to defeat the Nekoosa Papermakers at home in the opening round of the WIAA D-4 playoffs. The Falcons controlled the game from start to finish on Monday. That the Falcons, a seventh seed, were beating the tenth seeded Papermakers was not much of a surprise.
What was a surprise was the game being played on a Monday, but winter weather caused the game to be moved up a day earlier. No matter, it only made the inevitable arrive all the sooner.
The Falcons started their playoff opener on a tear, and it came from a surprising source. Five Falcons all splashed a triple in the first half.
Alea Graff, Bridgett Pogodzinski, Calley Ruesch, Briseida Escalera and Adriana Fuentes all came up with big threes to help put Abbotsford out in front in the early minutes of the game.
Sydney Falteisek and Graff had buckets inside or hit jumpers, and despite a rough patch midway through the first, Abbotsford sauntered into the locker room with a 35-20 advantage.
That lead only grew in the second half. Abbotsford’s defense was nearly rock solid as they allowed just two Papermakers to score in double digits.
Kiya Kolo led Nekoosa with a team high 23 points, and her teammate Kaelyn Chasenah added 11 points, but no other Papermaker scored more than four points in the regional quarterfinal.
As good as Kolo was, sophomore point guard Sydney Falteisek was better.
Falteisek was all over the court, and connected from all spots on the floor as she scored a game high 25 points, 13 of which came in the second half as the Falcons scored 37 second half points to defeat Nekoosa 68-47.
Besides Falteisek, Graff was also in double figures with 12 points. Escalera was nearly there with nine points.
Fuentes collected eight points, Sommer Brodhagen had six points, Pogodzinski tallied five points and Ruesch finished with her three points.
The victory over Nekoosa in the first round of the postseason ensures that the Falcons will have at least one more game, which will be a regional semifinal against the Auburndale Eagles on Friday.
Abbotsford’s win over the Papermakers also ensures an even more impressive milestone this year - with the win on Monday, the Falcons move to 13-11 for the 2021-22 season.
This means that no matter what happens in their game with the Auburndale Eagles on Friday, the Falcons will finish the 2021-22 season with a winning record.
It’s a stunning turnaround considering last year’s Abbotsford squad had just four wins. With the bulk of this year’s team returning, next year could be even more special.
Of course, first things first, and the Falcons will need to take care of business against the Eagles. Abbotsford will be on the road for their regional semifinal with Auburndale, and will hope to avenge a 62-31 loss that came all the way back on Dec. 3 of last year.
Phillips, 79-37
The Abbotsford Falcons wrapped up their regular season with a road loss to Marawood North champion Phillips on Thursday.
The Loggers controlled the game from the start, earning a 79-37 victory to sweep the season series. The Loggers were guided by Jada Eggebrecht’s 28 points and sister Kacy Eggebrecht’s 16 points.
No stats for Abbotsford were available upon publication.
SENIOR LEADER -Alea Graff scans the court for a driving lane on Monday. Graff scored 12 points in her final home game at Abbotsford.STAFF PHOTOS/SAMI YOCIUS
