Falcons roll Panthers, can’t hold off Marathon
By Nathaniel Underwood
The Abbotsford boys basketball team went 1-2 in a trio of contests last week, defating the Pittsville Panthers on the road but suffereing defeats at the hands of two Marawood squads.
Marathon, 64-56
A 16-point advantage midway through the second period was not enough for the Falcons on Friday evening as the visiting Marathon Red Raiders mounted a furious late-game rally to down Abbotsford 64-56.
The hosting Falcons shot better from the field, finishing with a 45.5 percent field goal percentage to Marathon’s 35.5 percent, but the overall volume for the Red Raiders turned the game in their favor. Nineteen offensive rebounds for Marathon were converted into 15 points and they managed to score 21 points off of 22 Abbotsford turnovers. Meanwhile, the Falcons had just eight secondchance points and only seven of their 56 points came off of a Red Raider turnover.
Abbotsford’s more consistent shooting put them ahead in the latter portion of the first period and the beginning of the second.
Koren Decker hit a corner three to break a 13-13 tie and Jack Sheahan sank a mid-range jumper two possessions later to put Abbotsford up by multiple baskets. The Falcons kept their lead throughout the rest of the period, going up by as many as nine points and heading into halftime ahead 33-26.
Field goals from Irvin Aguilera and AJ Brodhagen kicked off the scoring in the second period and put the Falcons up by double-digits. Abbotsford outscored their opponents 14-5 over the first eight minutes of the period, opening up a 47-31 advantage and seemingly securing a hold over the game’s momentum.
Six straight points for Marathon gave the visitors life, however, and the tides began to slowly shift in their favor. A pair of threes from Christian Fuentes and Decker over the next two minutes momentarily kept the Red Raiders at bay, but a key sequence following Decker’s three opened the floodgates.
Marathon’s Ean Shuda answered the Falcons’ three with one of his own and a foul called on Abbotsford during the shot gave the ball right back to the Red Raiders. The visitors did not waste the opportunity as Shuda found teammate Landon Sneider open for another three, giving Marathon what was essentially a six-point possession.
The pair of baskets made it just a two possession game and, perhaps more importantly, gave the Red Raiders the momentum they needed to mount their late game comeback effort. Decker managed to answer by hitting a tough mid-range jump shot on Abbotsford’s next time down the court, but Marathon outscored the Falcons 17-1 down the stretch.
Decker was the Falcons chief source of offense on Friday, going 6-for-13 from the field and racking up 22 points. The junior also led Abbotsford in steals, finishing the game with three.
Grayson Totzke was one-point away from a doubledouble performance, scoring nine points while grabbing 14 rebounds. He also had three assists. Sheahan had six points and four rebounds, Aguilera led the team with six assists and had six points, Brodhagen and Payton Schrieber had five points each and Christian Fuentes finished with three points.
Pittsville, 67-41
Koren Decker collected 18 points on six three-point pointers, Grayson Totzke added another 16 points, and the Falcons cruised to a 67-41 road victory over Pittsville last Thursday evening.
Despite falling behind 21-11, the Falcons used a 29-4 spurt across the end of the first half and the beginning of the second to dig themselves out of the double-digit deficit and establish their own significant lead.
Halfway through the first period, Payton Schreiber found Miguel Bautista open under the basket for a quick two-points that kickstarted Abbotsford’s rally. Irvin Aguilera followed with a field goal of his own and Totzke scored seven straight points for the Falcons, his threepointer with under six minutes left in the half giving Abbotsford the lead.
The Panthers managed to briefly recapture a one-point advantage, but Totzke came through once again, turning a steal by Aguilera into a transition layup. The Falcons held Pittsville scoreless over the final minutes and a three from Decker capped off the 18-2 run for Abbotsford heading into the break.
The visitors continued to lay down the pressure early in the second period. The Falcons scored on four of their first five possessions, Decker knocking down a pair of threes, Aguilera adding a third and Totzke picking up an offensive rebound putback. Pittsville was finally able to answer after the final three by Decker, but the Panthers’ once 10-point lead was now a thing of the past, the home team now facing their own 13-point deficit.
Unlike Abbotsford, however, Pittsville was not able to mount their own comeback attempt. After matching their opponents for a majority of the period, Abbotsford closed out the game on a 10-0 run to seal their 26-point victory.
Twelve three-pointers and a 53.6 percent shooting percentage from inside the arc fueled the Falcons dominant win. Capitalizing quickly on Pittsville turnovers was also key, as the Falcons collected a third of their points in transition and scored 28 points off of 18 turnovers by the home team. Abbotsford also controlled the boards, outrebounding the Panthers 40-27.
All of Decker’s team-high 18 points came via the threepoint shot, hitting six of his 10 three-point field goal attempts. Totzke went 7-for-14 from the field, picking up 16 points, 11 rebounds and four assists. Aguilera also finished in double figures, putting up 10 points, dealing out six assists and notching four steals.
Christian Fuentes had eight points and three assists, Bautista, Chase Boller, and AJ Brodhagen all came away with four points, Jack Sheahan had two points and Schreiber finished with one point.
Rib Lake, 70-51
The Falcons could not keep pace with an efficient Rib Lake squad last Tuesday evening, falling to their Marawood-North counterparts 70-51. The hosting Rib Lake squad finished the game shooting nearly 60 percent from the field, scoring over a point per possession. While Abbotsford shot 57.6 percent from two point range, making 19 of their 33 attempts from inside the three-point line, they made just two of their 24 shots from beyond the arc.
The home team jumped out to a 12-2 lead after making their first five shot attempts. A driving layup from Irvin Aguilera and a three from the top of the key from Payton Schreiber sliced the lead down to five, but another 5-for-5 shooting streak for Rib Lake saw them take a 23-8 advantage.
A small 7-2 run capped by Jack Sheahan’s corner three brought the Falcons back within 10 points, but they would get no closer the rest of the evening. Rib Lake outscored Abbotsford 13-3 over the next three minutes, going up 38-18 and solidifying their control over the contest.
Abbotsford went 12 for 21 from two-point range as they tried to rally in the second period, but could not lock in from deep, going 0-for-11 from three-point range in the
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DRIVING TO THE BASKET - Irvin Aguilera pushes in towards the lane in the Falcons loss to Marathon on Friday. STAFF PHOTO/NATHANIEL UNDERWOOD Abby boys basketball
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final 18 minutes of play. They also managed to get to the free throw line 13 times in the second period but converted on just three of those opportunities.
Back-to-back baskets from Aguilera and Schreiber on the Falcons first two possessions of the second half had Rib Lake’s lead down to 14, but the home team kept Abbotsford at an arm's length for the rest of the evening. A 9-1 stretch for Rib Lake near the end of the contest put away the Falcons for good.
Schreiber led the team with 11 points, shooting 5-for-10 from the field and gathering five rebounds. Aguilera and Grayson Totzke both had nine points, Aguilera adding three rebounds and two assists while Totzke led the team in both categories, collecting seven rebounds and three assists.
Sheahan finished with six points, AJ Brodhagen had five points, and Chase Boller had four. Miguel Bautista had three points and Christian Fuentes and Koren Decker rounded out the scoring with two points each.
FIGHTING FOR POSITION - Payton Schreiber boxes out Marathon’s True Thurs on a free throw attempt during a conference game against the Red Raiders. Schreiber had a team high 11 points against Rib Lake earlier in the week.
STAFF PHOTO/NATHANIEL UNDERWOOD
