Falcon girls sweep Buccaneers, 69-41
The Abbotsford girls basketball team bounced back from a recent losing streak with a win over Prentice last Friday. The Falcons dominated their Marawood-North foe, claiming the 69-41 victory on the Buccaneers’ home court.
While the first game between the two teams earlier this year was a close affair in which the Falcons managed to pull away late to come away with the win, this matchup saw the Abbotsford squad in control for most of the game. An 11-3 run spurred by seven points from Calley Ruesch gave the visiting Falcons a 21-10 advantage midway through the first half.
Six straight points from Sommer Brodhagen curbed a Buccaneers comeback and the Falcons went on another scoring spree to end the period, putting up 10 points over the final two minutes to take a 34-22 advantage.
A flurry of early offense from both teams to open the second half saw Abbotsford still coming out on top. Four straight possessions ended in turnovers for Prentice and the Falcons expanded their lead out to 44-27. Turnovers continued to be a thorn in the side of the home team, as they gave up the ball 23 times over the course of the game, leading to 23 points for Abbotsford.
Benefitting from turnovers and pushing the ball when the opportunities presented themselves, the Falcons were able to answer the sporadic scoring from Prentice to continue to hold a doubledigit lead over the rest of the half and complete the season sweep of their conference rivals.
Abbotsford featured a balanced attack, with six of their players scoring nine or more points in the contest. Brodhagen led the team in scoring, putting up 17 points over the course of the game. Ruesch was 2-for-3 from beyond the arc and had 12 points and Briseida Escalera had 11 points, seven rebounds and three steals. Sydney Falteisek, Brissa Diaz, and Adriana Fuentes each had nine points and Falteisek led the team in rebounds with 13 and assists with five.
Following the win, Abbotsford is now 11-6 overall and has a 4-2 record in the Marawood-North conference.
The Falcons will be back in action on Thursday evening against the Marathon Red Raiders. Marathon is 9-9 this season and is coming off two close wins over Newman Catholic and Stratford. The game will be the second half of a doubleheader between the Marathon and Abbotsford boys and girls varsity squads and it is set to start at 7:15 p.m.
