Abby grabs first win of season over Indians
By Nathaniel Underwood
The Abbotsford boys basketball team went 1-2 over the past week of action, continuing to battle through an early season gauntlet of road challenges by defeating Greenwood on Monday night and falling to the Owen-Withee Blackhawks and the Auburndale Eagles last Thursday and Friday.
Greenwood, 67-32
The Falcons notched their first victory of the 2023-24 season on Monday evening when they took on the Indians in Greenwood. Abbotsford had their best offensive half of the year, scoring 40 points in the first period to run away with a 67-32 road win.
Payton Schreiber, Blake Bargender and Grayson Totzke all finished as double- digit scorers and the Falcons hit half their shots inside the three-point line in a dominating performance. 21 steals and 44 points in the paint also helped fuel the Abbotsford victory. The visitors never trailed in the contest. A basket from Bargender a minute into the game put the Falcons on the board and an Irvin Aguilera steal-turned-layup coupled with a transition bucket from Evan Reis quickly stretched their lead out to six.
Abbotsford controlled the flow of the game from that point on, their aggressive press defense forcing numerous turnovers. They took a 26-10 lead on a layup from Preston Bunkelman and then scored 14 straight points over the final four minutes of the half. Schreiber had 10 of those points, connecting on four consecutive field goal attempts and helping fuel the run for the Falcons.
While the Falcons’ offense slowed over the final minutes of the second half, they still kept Greenwood to just 16 points while scoring 27 of their own.
A 17-4 run for Abbotsford over the middle portion of the period helped them to pull out to a 36 point lead, the Falcons’ defense still forcing mistakes from the home team. Bargender scored seven points over this stretch and Totzke added six of his own. The run put a game that had already seemed largely out of hand out of reach for the Indians and Abbotsford was able to walk away with their first victory.
Schreiber led the squad with 16 points on 7-of-14 shooting. He also brought down a team-high eight rebounds and recorded three steals. Bargender shot 6-of-10 to end the evening with 14 points and Totzke had 11 points, seven rebounds, four assists and five steals.
Bunkelman had eight points and four assists while Aguilera added eight points and recorded five steals. AJ Brodhagen finished with six points and five rebounds and Evan Reis had four points and six rebounds.
Auburndale, 59-30
Abbotsford was dealt another road loss on Friday evening when the team traveled to Auburndale to take on the Eagles. Even though the home team could not get much consistency from beyond the three-point line, their defense made it difficult for the Falcons to get anything going in the paint, a trade off that worked in the Eagles’ favor.
Auburndale scored 34 of their 59 points in the paint while shooting 54.8 percent from two-point range, contrasting significantly with Abbotsford’s six points in the paint and 18.5 field goal percentage from inside the arc. The Eagles also shot 24 free throws to Abbotsford’s six, additionally showcasing their domination down on the blocks.
After falling behind 13-3, Abbotsford made a small comeback to bring them back within two possessions. Two consecutive baskets from AJ Brodhagen were followed by a three from Koren Decker, cutting the Eagles’ lead down to five. The Falcons could not build on the momentum, however, and the Eagles went on to score the next nine points, once again pull-
See OPENING GAUNTLET/ Page 17
FAST BREAK POINTS - Grayson Totzke scores a transition basket for Abbotsford in their win over Greenwood on Monday evening. Totzke ended the evening with 11 points.
STAFF PHOTO/CHEYENNE THOMAS Opening gauntlet
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ing out to a double digit lead.
Abbotsford was only able to connect on four field goals in the second half, and with Auburndale playing a clean game, committing just six turnovers and nine personal fouls, there were not any avenues for the Falcons to come back in the contest.
Payton Schreiber put up a team-high 10 points in the contest. He also paced the Falcons in rebounds with seven and assists with two. Brodhagen’s four points were second on the team and his five rebounds were tied with Irvin Aguilera for second on the team.
Aguilera, Decker, Preston Bunkelman, Grayson Totzke had three points each and Evan Reis and Blake Bargender had two.
Owen-Withee, 56-29
Points were hard to come by for the Falcons on the road against the Owen-Withee Blackhawks last Thursday. The home team used huge openings in both halves to pull away from Abbotsford and take the 56-29 victory.
Thursday evening’s contest started out well for the visiting Falcons, as Evan Reis was able to put back a miss on their first possession of the evening to take a 2-0 lead, but the tides quickly turned on the Falcons. It would be another 11 minutes before they would score again and the Blackhawks made sure to take advantage of the scoring drought.
Grayson Totzke’s basket with just under seven minutes left in the half got Abbotsford back on track, but the damage had already been done. Owen-Withee had put up 23 straight points between the two Falcon scores, giving them full control over the contest. While Abbotsford managed to outscore the Blackhawks 15-13 over the final stretch of the first half, the home team still held a 35-17 lead at halftime.
The second half unfolded in a similar fashion as the first, with Abbotsford’s struggles to score once again plaguing them early. Owen-Withee expanded on their advantage, scoring 15 points before the Falcons’ second field goal of the half.
Once again, Abbotsford had a strong finish to the half. They went on a 10-7 run over the game’s closing minutes, but there the lack of offense earlier was too much to overcome.
While the two teams shot similarly, Owen-Withee making 34.5 percent of the field goals and Abbotsford connecting on 31.4 percent, the Falcons had about half the attempts, putting up 35 shots to the home team’s 58. Some of that discrepancy can be attributed to the Blackhawks bringing in 20 more rebounds and committing seven fewer turnovers.
Seven Falcons scored in the non-conference matchup. Irvin Aguilera and Blake Bargender both ended the day with six points, Totzke and AJ Brodhagen added five each and Evan Reis and Noah Schraufnagel both put up three. Reis also had a team high five rebounds and Aguilera led the team with three steals. Payton Schreiber contributed two points in the loss.
BATTLING DOWN LOW - Evan Reis scores against the Eagles last Friday.
STAFF PHOTO/NATHANIEL UNDERWOOD
TOP SCORER - Payton Schreiber drives down the baseline during his 10-point peformance in Auburndale.
STAFF PHOTO/NATHANIEL UNDERWOOD
