Falcons grab two non-conference wins

EASY BUCKET - Christian Fuentes makes a second half layup after slipping through Cadott’s defense.

STAFF PHOTOS/NATHANIEL UNDERWOOD By Nathaniel Underwood

The Abbotsford Falcons boys basketball team went 2-1 over the last week, picking up wins over Cadott and Loyal after falling to Edgar.

Cadott, 92-75

A massive 60-point first half featuring 10 three-pointers fueled the Falcons past the Cadott Hornets on Monday evening. Irvin Aguilera put up 21 points, Grayson Totzke and AJ Brodhagen both recorded double-doubles and Abbotsford improved to 6-8 with the 92-75 victory.

Abbotsford shot 10-for-17 from beyond the three-point line in the first 18 minutes of Monday evening’s contest and made the most of their numerous trips to the free throw line, going 14-for-19 from the charity stripe. These two factors helped the Falcons grow a significant lead that allowed them to weather a second period resurgence from the visitors.

The Falcons scored on six of their first seven possessions, starting out the scoring with a quartet of threes from Koren Decker, Jack Sheahan and Christian Fuentes before Totzke and Aguilera added baskets of their own. The offense continued flowing for the Falcons as they jumped out to a 20-5 lead in the first four minutes of the contest, scoring 17 straight points in the process.

Continuing to lay on the pressure, Abbotsford outscored the Hornets 20-12 over the next few minutes. Back-to-back threes from Totzke and Aguilera briefly put the Falcons up 40-17. While Cadott managed to score seven straight points to put a small dent in the home team’s lead, a pair of threes from Totzke and a basket from Brodhagen quickly widened that gap once more.

By halftime, the Falcons found themselves up 60-40, and a three from Aguilera and a layup courtesy of Decker to start the scoring in the second half gave them their largest advantage of the evening. After those two baskets, however, the offense suddenly stalled for Abbotsford as the Hornets turned up the pressure with their full-court defense. Turnovers and short-lived possessions for the Falcons led to them going scoreless for six-and-half-minutes.

During that stretch, Cadott managed to pull back within single-digits, scoring 16 unanswered points. A three from Miguel Bautista finally cut into the Hornets’ growing momentum and a defensive foul on the play allowed Sheahan to eventually get to the line and sink two free throws, essentially giving the Falcons five points on one trip down the floor.

The play seemed to revive Abbotsford’s shooting and the Falcons outscored their opponents 20-5 over the next five minutes to reestablish a firm hold over the contest, eventually leading to their double-digit victory.

In addition to his team-high 21 points, Aguilera also led Abbotsford in assists and steals, recording five of each while shooting 9-for-11 from the free throw line. Totzke, meanwhile, grabbed the most rebounds for the Falcons, collecting 15 boards while adding 16 points.

Decker had 14 points and four assists, Brodhagen picked up 11 points and 10 rebounds, and Sheahan finished with 10 points. Also scoring for the Falcons were Fuentes with seven points, Payton Schreiber with six points, Bautista with three points and Chase Boller and Carter Cihlar with two points each.

Loyal, 58-55

Koren Decker put up 20 points, Grayson Totzke had a double- double and the Falcons completed a second-half comeback as they defeated the visiting Loyal Greyhounds 58-55 on Saturday afternoon.

After trailing by as many as 10 points in the second period, Abbotsford was able to battle back to deal the Greyhounds their third consecutive loss. A basket from Loyal’s Cain Toufar put the visitors up 44-34 with just over 10 minutes left in the contest. The Falcons stepped up on both sides of the ball in those final ten minutes, holding their opponents to just 11 points while putting up 24 themselves.

Following Toufar’s make, baskets from Miguel Bautista and AJ Brodhagen on three straight possessions cut Loyal’s lead down to three. A minute later, Irvin Aguilera hit a shot from beyond the arc to make it a one-point game. While the Greyhounds staved off Abbotsford’s rally for some time, a layup and free throw from Aguilera knotted the game at 5050 with three minutes left in the contest.

After forcing an empty possession from Loyal, Decker blew past his defender on the Falcons’ next possession and sank a layup to give his team their first lead since the 11 minute mark in the first half. The Greyhounds managed to tie things back up, but a pair of made free throws from Decker gave the Falcons the lead for good. Christian Fuentes earned two-points off a goal-tending call on Loyal and Totzke and Decker added free throws in the final minute to seal their up-

See FALCON WINS/ Page 16

PICTURE PERFECT PASS - Koren Decker finds an open teammate under the basket after drawing in two Cadott defenders. Continued from page 8

set bid.

The Falcons made 52.4 percent of their field goal attempts, including going an impressive 16-for-23 from two-point range. While more offensive rebounds and fewer turnovers gave Loyal an advantage in offensive opportunities, they could not capitalize upon those, shooting 37.5 percent from the field and making just four of their 19 shots from beyond the three-point line.

Midway through the first period, a three from Totzke and a layup courtesy of Jack Sheahan gave the Falcons a 14-12 advantage. However, Loyal scored seven straight points to start an 18-8 run to give them a lead that they would hold for much of the evening.

Decker shot 7-for-10 from the field and made four of his six free throw attempts to collect his team-high 20 points in the win. Totzke added 11 points and grabbed 10 rebounds and six assists, leading the Falcons in the latter two categories. Aguilera had 10 points, five assists and two steals, Brodhagen picked up eight points and six rebounds and Fuentes finished with four points and three assists. Bautista had three points and three assists and Sheahan rounded out the scorers with two points.

Edgar, 77-51

Abbotsford traveled to Edgar last Thursday evening for a Marawood conference matchup with the Wildcats. The hosting Edgar squad used strong post play and an effective offensive second half to cruise past the Falcons 77-51.

The Wildcats took control of the boards on Thursday, outrebounding Abbotsford 47-24 and scoring 50 of their 77 points in the paint. Meanwhile, the Falcons collected just 22 points at that same range. Edgar proved to be more efficient shooting the basketball as well, connecting on 50.8 percent of their shots compared to Abbotsford’s 33.9 percent.

AJ Brodhagen put the Falcons ahead 7-5 with a play in the paint in the opening minutes of the contest, but things quickly shifted in favor of the home team. Abbotsford was held scoreless for the next six minutes, allowing Edgar to score the 10 unanswered points. Brodhagen broke the scoring drought on a similar move to his last basket, but the Falcons still found themselves in a multi-possession deficit Abbotsford battled back a few minutes later, going on their own 9-3 run and getting baskets from Brodhagen, Koren Decker, and Jack Sheahan to pull back within two points.

They could not quite close the gap, however, and a 17-2 stretch for the Wildcats across the end of the first half and the beginning of the second period put the Falcons in a position that they would not be able to recover from. Grayson Totzke finally got the visitors on the board in the second period, but they still found themselves in a 39-24 hole after Edgar scored on their first four possessions of the half.

The two teams traded baskets back and forth after Totzke’s make, but Abbotsford was unable to make much headway cutting into Edgar’s now double-digit lead. A three from Christian Fuentes at the midway point in the half brought them within 14 points, but that was all the closer the Falcons could get. The Wildcats went on to score the next 11 points of the game and outscored Abbotsford 24-12 over the final nine minutes of the contest.

Irvin Aguilera had the most points for the Falcons on Thursday, putting up 13 while gathering four rebounds and two assists. Decker added 10 points and two assists, Sheahan had nine points while shooting 4-for-6 from the field, and Brodhagen had eight points, four rebounds and two assists.

Fuentes had five points and Totzke, Chase Boller and Carter Cihlar all had two points each. Totzke also led the team in rebounds with six.

The Falcons will continue their campaign after a small break, traveling to Rib Lake to take on their Marawood-North conference rivals next Tuesday, Feb. 4. The Redmen got the better of Abbotsford last time the two squads faced off, defeating them 70-62. The game will start at 7:15 p.m.

SCORING SURGE - Jack Sheahan scores two of his 10 points during Abbotsford’s season-high 92 point performance.

STAFF PHOTO/NATHANIEL UNDERWOOD