Abby boys lose pair to Owen-Withee, Athens
The Abbotsford Falcons boys basketball team found themselves still looking for an end to their current losing streak after falling to Athens and Owen- Withee this last week. The Falcons are currently 1-16 this season with seven games remaining in their 2022-23 regular season campaign.
Athens, 86-37
Abbotsford went on the road Tuesday evening to take on Athens. The Bluejays proved to be too much for the visiting Falcons to handle, the home team coming out on top 86-37.
Athens demonstrated why they sit alone at the top of the Marawood-North standings. The Bluejays dominanted the contest from its onset, using a combination of accurate passes to get baskets underneath and a plethora of perimeter shots to quickly build a large lead over Abbotsford.
A 33-0 run by Athens in the first half all but crushed any hopes of an upset by the Falcons. Abbotsford went over ten minutes without a field goal, the streak finally ending when Grayson Totzke hit a three with just over a minute left in the first period.
The Falcons doubled their offensive output in the second half, scoring 25 points in the second period as opposed to the 12 they put up in the first. However, they were unable to cut into Athens’ lead, as the Bluejays, even with their production slowed, still scored 29 points in the second half.
63-33
The Falcons could not match the firepower of Owen-Withee in Monday night’s matchup in Abbotsford, falling to the Cloverbelt-East leading Blackhawks 63-33. A low scoring start would have likely been what the Falcons were looking for going into the game, as their options for keeping up with an O-W offense firing on all cylinders were limited. And while the Blackhawks had only scored eight points through the first six minutes, Abbotsford had only managed one over that same time frame. The use of a high trapping zone by Owen-Withee’s defense only made things more difficult on the Falcons’ offense and the turnovers forced by the Blackhawks seemed to push their sluggish attack out of its slump.
With under four minutes left in the half, Adam Diedrich put in what was just the Falcons’ second basket of the game. Abbotsford’s inability to score had put them in a 21-point hole, down 24-3 before Diedrich’s field goal. The Falcons seemed to find some footing following the basket, scoring eight more points before the end of the period. Despite the offensive spurt, they still found themselves trailing 31-13 at halftime.
The second period did not go much better for the home team. While they had slightly more consistency on offense, turnovers and Owen-Withee’s overall team height still proved to be too much for Abbotsford to overcome. A 19-7 run for the Blackhawks over the middle minutes of the period expanded their lead beyond 30 points and put them beyond the Falcons’ reach.
Brandon Diedrich was the only Falcon to score in double digits, scoring 12 points over the course of the game. Blake Bargender and Adam Diedrich both had four points and Esteban Gomez, Grayson Totzke and Gatlin Faber all had three points. Gomez also led the team in steals with five. AJ Brodhagen and Jack Schindler rounded out the scoring with two points each and Brodhagen led the Falcons in rebounds, bringing down six.
Abbotsford’s next opportunity to get its second win of the season will be in a non-conference game this Friday against Crandon. The Cardinals are 1-6 in the Northern Lakes conference and are 2-11 overall this season. They are currently in the midst of a six game losing streak and are coming off of a 54-37 loss to Three Lakes. The tipoff between the two teams is set for 7:15 p.m.
