Abby ousts Colby from playoffs with 52-35 win

By Nathaniel Underwood

The fifth-seeded Abbotsford Falcons girls basketball squad faced off against the 12th-seeded Colby Hornets in the first round of the WIAA Division 4 playoffs. The elimination game between neighboring schools was a rematch of an early season contest in which the Falcons won 69-29. While the Hornets were able to keep things closer this time around, the Falcons were still able to come away with a double-digit victory, defeating Colby 52-35. Abbotsford’s first period offense was bolstered largely by a pair of seniors. Sommer Brodhagen and Sydney Falteisek combined to score 29 of the Falcons’ 32 first half points and were key in the home team’s run to pull away from the Hornets.

Though they never led, Colby was able to keep things close for the first quarter of the game. Even after the Falcons were able to pull out to an 18-9 lead, baskets from Elizabeth Perez and Lilly Brzezinski made it a two score game once more.

The Falcons began to tighten up their defense over the next few minutes and left things to their two top offensive options on the opposite end. Falteisek scored five straight points for Abbotsford and Brodhagen added three more as Abbotsford went on an 8-0 run to take a 26-13 lead, taking control over a once close game “The players were able to adjust to Colby’s strengths as well as capitalize on our own,” Falcons head coach Ally Meserole said. “Brodhagen and Falteisek attacked the basket and rebounded well.”

A three-point shot from Angelique Hernandez cut back into the Abbotsford lead, but by halftime, the Falcons were still up by 12 points.

A 12-4 run for Abbotsford to open the second half, highlighted by a pair of consecutive baskets from McKinley Klabon helped

STAFF PHOTOS/NATHANIEL UNDERWOOD

the Falcons put the game on ice. Colby had seven different players score in the second period, but they could not find enough consistency on that side of the ball to mount a comeback attempt.

“Tonight we could not seem to find enough scoring,” Hornets head coach Terry Schmitt said following the game. “We had too many [scoring] droughts. Defensively they worked hard but couldn’t seem to come up with an answer for Brodhagen and Falteisek and we again did not shoot well from the line.”

Brodhagen led all scorers with 23 points and Falteisek added another 17 for the Falcons. Klabon finished with four points, Azul Diaz and Celia Schindler both had three points and Briseida Escalera had two.

Hernandez put up 11 points for the Hornets in their final game of the season. Brzezinski added eight more, Dakota Hoeper had five and Perez finished with four. Also scoring for Colby were Brezlyn Boyer, Lucia Perez and Alexis Vanderhoof, all of whom had two points and Olivia Krause had one point.

The Falcons will move on to play the fourth-seeded Stratford Tigers in Stratford on Friday, Feb. 23. Game time is set for 7 p.m.

Abby picks up two victories

The Falcons wrapped up their regular season with two victories, picking up wins over Chequamegon and Spencer last week. The Abbotsford defense held both their opponents to under 40 points, defeating the Screaming Eagles 58-36 on Thursday before downing the Rockets 43-35 on Friday.

Early first-half runs allowed the Falcons to take control in both contests. A 6-6 tie against Chequamegon was broken after Sommer Brodhagen put back an offensive rebound to give her team the lead. A basket from Briseida Escalera then kicked off a stretch where Abbotsford was able to score on six of their next seven possessions. Led by nine points

See ABBY VS. COLBY/ Page 16

OFFENSIVE LEADERS - Angelique Hernandez, left, scores from short range while Sommer Brodhagen, right, boxes out Harrison Schmitt. The pair led their teams in scoring on Tuesday. Abby vs. Colby

Continued from page 9

from Sydney Falteisek, the Falcons’ 15-2 run gave them a 21-8 advantage and control over the contest.

The Screaming Eagles were able to take a bit out of Abbotsford’s 25 point advantage over the final five minutes of the game, but the visitors were able to coast to their final conference win on Thursday night. In the end, the Falcons came out with a 46-36 rebounding advantage, including 25 offensive rebounds that they were able to turn into 20 second chance points.

Falteisek had 19 points and nine rebounds and Brodhagen put up 10 points, eight rebounds and three assists in the win. Celia Schindler ended the game with five points and five Falcons finished the game with four points, including Escelara, Neveah Treankler, McKinley Klabon, Campbell Brodhagen and Riley Podevels. Treankler led the team with four steals and Klabon added seven rebounds. Asia Atkinson and Lillian Graun also got in on the action, putting up two points each.

It was a similar story in Spencer one day later. Abbotsford jumped out to a 12-2 lead to take momentum from the start of the contest. Treankler slipped by the Rockets’ defense on the opening jump ball to get the Falcons on the board first, Falteisek picked up six points and Klabon finished off the run with a three-point shot as the hosting Abbotsford squad scored on six of their first eight trips down the court.

By halftime, the Falcons held a 13 point lead, holding Spencer to just 12 points in the first 18 minutes of the game. Early second-period baskets from Falteisek and Sommer Brodhagen gave them a 29-14 lead, but the Rockets were not quite finished yet.

The visitors scored the next seven points of the contest and pulled back within eight, threatening to make a game of it. A drive and subsequent field goal from Escalera ended the Spencer run and the game turned into a defensive battle from there, a turn that benefited the leading Falcons. They outscored the Rockets 12-5 over the next nine minutes, another three from Klabon running Abbotsford’s lead back out to 15 points with just four minutes to play. While the Rockets would try to rally over the game’s final moments, time was not on their side and the Falcons were able to come out with the win in their final regular season game.

Falteisek shot 7-for-9 on the day and put up 16 points in the victory. Escalera had seven points and seven rebounds, Klabon and Brodhagen had six points each and Treankler finished with four points. Schindler and Podevels rounded out the scorers with two points each.

Colby beats Thorp in crossover

The Hornets picked up a win over the Thorp Cardinals last Thursday’s Cloverbelt crossover game. They scored a season high 63 points in the victory over their West counterpart while holding the Cardinals to 48.

Four Colby players finished with double digit points as the Hornets put together one of their most productive offensive performances of the season. Part of that output was aided by the large amount of free throws attempted in the game. Colby went to the charity stripe 47 times over the course of the contest while Thorp was afforded 34 such attempts. The Hornets’ ability to take better advantage of these opportunities was a difference maker, as Colby’s 61.7 free throw percentage outpaced the Cardinals’ 29.4 percent and resulted in 19 more points for the Hornets.

Eleven straight points for Thorp gave them an early lead and while the Hornets were able to counter with two straight baskets from Lilly Brzezinski and a third courtesy of Dakota Hoeper to pull back within a possession, they could not quite overcome the Cardinals’ run in the first period. Brynn Polivka’s three-point shot coupled with two free throws from Elizabeth Perez in the half’s final minute kept things, with the Hornets only trailing 26-24 at the break.

Angelique Hernandez tied the game on Colby’s first possession of the second period, connecting on two free throws of her own. Two more free throws from Hoeper put the Hornets ahead for the first time since the first few minutes of the contest and the visitors never trailed again. The Cardinals pulled back within a point, but a three from Polivka kicked off a 9-2 run that put Colby up 38-30. The Hornets managed to maintain this lead and ended the game on another 9-2 stretch that sealed the game.

Hoeper ended the game with 15 points, going 3-for-5 from the field and making nine of her 10 free throw attempts. She also added seven rebounds in the win. Polivka finished with 13 points, Hernandez had 11 points, seven rebounds and six steals and Alexis Vanderhoof put up 10 points and had two blocks. Perez put up eight points and six steals, Brzezinski had five points and seven rebounds and Alia Hamus rounded out the scoring with one point.

The Hornets will end the season with a 4-19 record. After starting the season 3-3, challenges began to pile up for the squad, though Schmitt was proud of how they handled adversity.

“I thought the girls gave great effort all year and worked hard,” Schmitt said. “Injuries and illnesses all year have been obstacles for the team but they always came to practice with great attitudes. But when healthy we were in a some close games we just could not come out on the winning end.”

Colby will have the opportunity to return a majority of its varsity squad next season, including its entire starting lineup.

“A bright spot is that we will return a lot of experience next year and as hard as they work things will get better,” Schmitt added. “I really enjoyed this group these ladies are great representatives of Colby.”