Falteisek triple-double helps douse Spencer

The Falcons girls basketball team got a tripledouble from Sydney Falteisek and 14 straight points from Briseida Escalera in the second half to pull away from the Spencer Rockets on the road in Tuesday’s non-conference matchup. Abbotsford improved to 8-2 with the 67-43 victory. Escalera’s second-period heroics coupled with a dominant evening from Falteisek helped the Falcons weather a second-half comeback from the Rockets to take a game that was perhaps too close for comfort at times for the visitors.

Abbotsford established themselves in the opening minutes, with Brissa Diaz connecting on two field goals to help the Falcons take a 8-0 lead. Spencer bounced back with seven straight points of their own, demonstrating that they would not be put away so easily. Both teams found points hard to come by as the period pushed into the middle portions, with two Falteisek field goals bookending a four minute sequence where neither team scored.

The pace picked up significantly in the final five minutes of the half, with the Falcons finally able to push the ball down the court and find transition baskets. Their lead stretched out to 24-11 as another Falteisek basket capped off a 16-4 run for the Falcons. Free throws kept the home team within striking distance, however, going 8-10 from the charity stripe in the first half and making up for the fact that the Rockets only had six field goals in the opening 18 minutes.

While Abbotsford had been in control of the game since its onset, the fact that Spencer had hung around despite shooting poorly from the field in the first half was perhaps some cause for concern. Those concerns were realized early in the second half, as shots started to fall for the Rockets and the Falcons’ lead quickly evaporated. Two threes from Autumn Davis highlighted a 10-0 start for Spencer in the second half, with the second of Davis’s threes giving the home team their first lead of the evening. The teams exchanged baskets, but Spencer still held a 36-33 advantage as the game clock ticked under twelve minutes.

With the Falcons still on the back foot, it was two clutch three point shots from Escalera that would jump start a comeback effort. Up until this point in the game, Abbotsford had been shooting poorly outside of the paint, but Escalera’s back-to-back threes came at a perfect time, putting the visitors ahead once again. The junior went on to score the next eight points for Abbotsford and the Falcons never looked back. They went on a 28-2 run over a five minute sequence in the middle of the half and used that to cruise to the 67-43 win.

Falteisek ended her stellar evening with 28 points, 12 rebounds, and 10 steals, recording one of the rarer triple-doubles in basketball. Escalera finished with 16 points, six rebounds, and led the team with five assists.

Calley Ruesch added 12 points while shooting 5-6 from the free throw line, Sommer Brodhagen contributed six points, and Diaz had four.

Next up for the Falcons will be the Owen-Withee Blackhawks, who are 2-7 on the season and near the bottom of the Cloverbelt-East conference standings. The game is set to be played in Abbotsford on Monday, Jan. 2 at 7:15 p.m.