Falcons falter in first games of new season

The Abbotsford Falcons boys basketball team is off to a bit of a slow start to their 2021-22 campaign, dropping their season opener to Chequamegon 57-40.

Things began promisingly enough for the Falcons, who took a 27-26 lead after one half of play. Abbotsford’s biggest question mark coming into the season was who would supply the offense, with electrifying playmaker Cade Faber gone to graduation.

That answer came in the form of Adam and Brandon Diedrich, who combined for 27 of Abby’s 40 points on Tuesday, Nov. 30. Brandon showed off his range, scoring 14 points, connecting on two of three triples. Adam added another 13 points on five of eight field goal attempts.

Esteban Gomez supplied the Falcons with more offense, scoring nine points, but the Falcons only attempted 24 field goal attempts all night, and were just nine of 19 from the charity stripe and had just four assists.

Preston Bunkelman scored three points, and Blake Bargender had one, and after a promising start, it was a different story in the second half as the Screaming Eagles flipped a switch on defense, putting the clamps on Abby’s offense, and going on a tear on offense.

The Screaming Eagles held the Falcons to 13 points in the second half, and pumped in 31 points to erase their one point deficit and hand Abby its first loss of the season, and first loss in Marawood - North action.

78-34

Abbotsford’s season record dipped to 0-2 on Friday after suffering a lopsided loss to one of the top contenders for the Marawood Conference in the Eagles of Auburndale.

The Eagles raced to a 40-19 advantage in the first half that was keyed by a 27 point performance from Auburndale’s Alex Willfahrt. Trayton Weber added another 16 points for the Eagles.

The Falcons were nearly even on the glass, pulling down 22 boards to the Eagles’ 23, but the true tale of the tape is in the assists, turnovers and steals.

Auburndale dished out 23 assists compared to Abby’s 12, and turned the ball over just 16 times compared to Abby’s 31, with 23 of those turnovers coming from steals. Those extra possessions allowed the Eagles to keep putting points on the board, and in the second half the Falcons were outscored 38-15.

The Falcons had just 30 field goal attempts compared to Auburndale’s 55, but JV Castillo shot 50 percent from Down Town, connecting on three of six attempts to lead Abby with 10 points.

Adam Diedrich had nine points on four of eight field goal attempts, and a team high six rebounds. Brandon Diedrich notched six points and Brandon Hawkey scored four points in his season debut. Esteban Gomez and Blake Bargender collected three and two points.

50-41

The Falcons were on the road for a third straight game, battling it out with the Greenwood Indians on Monday.

Both teams were searching for the first win of the season, and the Falcons very nearly pulled it off thanks to a pair of double digit games from Brandon and Adam Diedrich.

Brandon scored 12 points in the non- conference clash, including a pair of triples, and his brother Adam had 11 points, but Abby could not close it out, extending their losing streak to 0-3.

Esteban Gomez added nine points, and Evan Reis recorded four points. JV Castillo finished with three points and Brandon Hawkey rounded things out with two points.

The recap of the Falcons 50-35 victory over the Pittsville Panthers at home on Tuesday, Dec. 7, will appear in next week’s edition.

The Abbotsford boys basketball team’s next game will be Thursday, Dec. 9 at home against Marawood Conference rival Newman Catholic. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:15 p.m.