Falcon boys down Cards, fall to Prentice

By Nathaniel Underwood

The Abbotsford boys basketball team split a pair of contest over the past week. They grabbed a win after going on the road to take down the Newman Catholic Cardinals last Thursday before losing to the Prentice Buccaneers at home on Tuesday night.

Prentice, 78-63

It was a tale of two halves in Abbotsford’s Marawood-North opener against Prentice. The Falcons opened up a double- digit lead in the first period but saw it evaporate as foul trouble and a sudden resurgence of the Buccaneers’ shooting pushed the visitors to a 78-63 victory.

The key stretch of the contest came in the middle minutes of the second period. The Falcons still held a 44-36 lead with 13 minutes left in the game, but an impressive shooting streak from the Buccaneers completely flipped the game’s outlook.

Over the next eight minutes, Prentice shot 87.5 percent from the field, hitting 14 of their 16 shots and outscoring Abbotsford 34-13. One of the missed shots resulted in an offensive rebound and an immediate put back for the Buccaneers, allowing them to still get points on the play. Meanwhile, the Falcons offense that had put up 41 points in the first half had gone relatively cold with a number of starters battling foul trouble throughout the period.

The 21-point swing over the eight minute streak sank what looked to be a promising start to the conference schedule for Abbotsford.

A pair of threes from Koren Decker on consecutive possessions followed by a steal and layup by AJ Brodhagen broke an 11-11 tie and put the Falcons ahead for the rest of the period. Grayson Totzke made a tough jumper to put Abbotsford up by 10 with five minutes left in the period and another Decker three combined with a fast break basket from Brodhagen gave Abbotsford a 38-22 advantage, their largest of the contest.

Totzke led the team with 20 points, 14 of which came in the first half. Decker added another 14 points and Brodhagen, Irvin Aguilera and Payton Schreiber all had seven points. Christian Fuentes finished with five points and Jack Sheahan had three.

Newman Catholic, 80-67

Grayson Totzke scored 27 points, Irvin Aguilera and Koren Decker hit three three-point shots each and the Falcons rallied past a 12-point deficit in the first half to defeat Newman Catholic 80-67 in a Marawood-North/South duel.

Abbotsford’s ability to grab offensive rebounds was a key statistical advantage they held over the Cardinals during last Thursday’s contest. The Falcons grabbed 20 offensive rebounds over the course of the evening while they limited their opponents to just five. This led to 19 second chance points for Abbotsford, 15 more than Newman.

The early portions of the game belonged to the Cardinals. The home team jumped out to a 22-10 advantage, making 10 of their first 18 shot attempts. Abbotsford, meanwhile, struggled to find consistency on offense and with just four and half minutes left in the period, the Falcons still found themselves down by 12.

Abbotsford fortunes shifted as they bucked their poor

See ABBY BOYS BASKETBALL/ Page 15

FIGHTING THROUGH CONTACT - Payton Schreiber scores two of his seven points against Prentice. STAFF PHOTO/NATHANIEL UNDERWOOD

SNEAKING BY - Irvin Aguilera splits two Buccaneer defenders in the Falcons’ first Marawood-North game. STAFF PHOTO/NATHANIEL UNDERWOOD Abby boys basketball

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shooting at the end of the first half. Totzke made back to back baskets for the Falcons to get them back on track and the visitors went on to score eight straight field goals to close out the half. Aguilera hit a key three pointer off an offensive rebound during the rally and Totzke capped off the run with a layup that cut the Newman lead down to one. After scoring 14 points over the first 14 minutes of the game, the Falcons rattled off 18 over a three minute span to bring themselves right back into the game.

The two squads battled back and forth over the lead to open the second period, neither able to take more than a one possession advantage over the other. A basket from Totzke gave the Falcons a 54-52 lead with 10 minutes left in the game and after Abbotsford was able to get a stop on defense, they finally managed to break away slightly after Payton Schreiber came through with a play in the paint to put the visitors up by four.

Another scoring spurt sealed the game for Abbotsford. Up 60-57, the Falcons went on a 16-2 run, led by nine points from Totzke and four more courtesy of Jack Sheahan. The sequence turned a once close game firmly in favor of the Falcons, who left with a doubledigit victory over the Marawood-South team.

It was another double-double night for Totzke, who added 10 rebounds to his 27 points, leading Abbotsford in both categories. Aguilera and Decker’s shooting from range turned out to be key as well, as the pair accounted for all six of the Falcons made three-pointers. Aguilera added six rebounds and Decker had a team-high four assists.

Schreiber finished with seven points and six rebounds, Sheahan had six points and AJ Brodhagen put up five points. Miguel Bautista and Christian Fuentes also scored for the Falcons, putting up four and two points respectively.