Falcon boys bounced by Rib Lake, 70-62
By Nathaniel Underwood
After a 3-1 start, the Abbotsford Falcons have had a tough opening to their Marawood-North schedule. While they had their opportunities against conference foes Prentice and Rib Lake, the Falcons ultimately fell to 0-2 in conference play after the Redmen dealt them a 70-62 loss at home on Friday evening.
Struggles at the start of both the first and second periods put Abbotsford in a tough position against their Marawood-North rival. Rib Lake opened the contest with 11 straight points. The Redmen scored on four of their first five possessions, two of them coming off of second chance opportunities. Grayson Totzke got the Falcons on the board with a short jump shot three minutes into the game, but the opening sequence put the visitors in the driver’s seat for the rest of the evening.
After falling behind 16-4, Payton Schreiber hit a much needed three for the Falcons. This triggered an 11-3 run for the Falcons over the middle portion of the first half. Threes from AJ Brodhagen and Koren Decker were instrumental in narrowing Rib Lake’s lead.
Abbotsford would keep themselves close as the scoring slowed, a basket from Chase Boller making the score 2319, but the final seven minutes of the period belonged to the Redmen. They outscored the Falcons 18-8 down the stretch, reestablishing a double digit lead over the home team.
While both squads shot around 50 percent from the field during this run, Rib Lake managed to earn extra shots. Two offensive rebounds directly led to points for the Redmen and five Falcon turnovers resulted in empty possessions for Abbotsford and additional chances for the visitors on the opposite end.
The Falcons could not get much going on the offensive side of the ball to start the second period. A lone basket by Brodhagen was their only score over the first five minutes as they shot 1-for-10 from the field and committed five turnovers. While it took a few minutes for Rib Lake to get into gear, they scored on six straight possessions to go up 56-29 with 13 minutes left.
Another basket from Brodhagen broke up what turned into an 18-2 run for the Redmen. Carter Cihlar’s threepointer with just under 10 minutes in the contest finally got the Falcons offense back into gear, but the 30 point deficit was too much to overcome.
Abbotsford shot better in the final quarter of the game, getting six points from four different players, including two three-pointers from Cihlar and Christian Fuentes. Irvin Aguilera and Brodhagen also had six points during the Falcon rally. While they ended up outscoring Rib Lake 35-29 in the second period, time was not on the Falcons’ side, leading to their second conference defeat.
Brodhagen was one rebound short of a double-double, putting up a team-high 17 points and nine rebounds in the loss. The senior also had four blocks.
Aguilera also finished in the double-digits with 10 points, adding five rebounds and three assists. Fuentes ended the game with eight points, three blocks, and two steals, Cihlar had six points, and Jack Sheahan and
STAFF PHOTO/NATHANIEL UNDERWOOD
Schreiber had five points each, with the former finishing with six rebounds and the latter collecting four.
Totzke and Boller both had four points and three assists and Decker rounded out the scoring with three points.
The Falcons will look to get back on track next Thursday, January 2 against another Marawood-North foe as they travel to Phillips. The Loggers are currently 5-1 this season, with their only loss coming at the hands of Auburndale. They will be coming into the game on a two game win streak, having defeated Chequamegon and Athens in back-to-back games last week. Tipoff between the two conference rivals is scheduled for 7:15 p.m.
POWER IN THE PAINT - AJ Brodhagen notches two of his 17 points against Rib Lake on Friday night. He also had nine rebounds.
STAFF PHOTO/NATHANIEL UNDERWOOD
WEAVING THROUGH THE DEFENSE - Irvin Aguilera scores after slipping past the Rib Lake defenders during the Falcons’ second confrence game.
