Falcons defeated on the road by Cards, 74-40

By Nathaniel Underwood

The Abbotsford boys basketball team traveled to Thorp for a non-conference matchup against the Cardinals last Thursday. The Falcons could not keep up with the highly efficient home squad in the second half and Thorp was able to pull away for a 74-40 victory.

Abbotsford had difficulties coming up with stops on the defensive side of the ball as the Cardinals shot 46.8 percent from the field and 62.1 percent from inside the three point line while only turning over the ball six times. While the Falcons were able to match them for much of the first half, a 15-3 run for Thorp to start the second period allowed them to establish a comfortable hold on the contest.

Consecutive baskets from Blake Bargender and Grayson Totzke gave Abbotsford an early 5-2 advantage but the Falcons only lead in the contest would be relatively short lived. The Cardinals responded with 10 straight points, a pair of threes from Thorp’s Brady Stewart capping off the run. A pick and roll connection between Bargender and Payton Schreiber ended the run for the home team and a similar play between Totzke and Schreiber brought them back within a possession.

The Falcons’ offensive output managed to keep them in striking distance for much of the first half, but the Cardinals always seemed to have an answer. Following Schreiber’s second basket, Stewart hit another three to push the lead back out to six. Later in the period, a three from Noah Schraufnagel once again cut Thorp’s advantage to just three at 21-18, but a made free throw by Logan Hanson and a drive to the basket by Stewart allowed the Cardinals to once again push back Abbotsford’s advance. A deep three from Totzke in the period’s final seconds looked like it would allow the Falcons to only be down by five at halftime, but Thorp’s Dylan Mattson matched the shot with a buzzer-beating three of his own.

The opening minutes of the second period shifted the momentum of a onceclose contest. While the Cardinals managed to score on eight of their first 13 possessions, Abbotsford only put up points on two of their opening 13 possessions, five of which ended in turnovers. Mattson put up nine of the Cardinals’ 15 points over the stretch and Thorp pulled out to a 48-28 lead.

Points continued to be hard to come by for the Falcons, who were only able to connect on five field goal attempts over the final 18 minutes of the contest. A pair of threes from Preston Bunkelman late in the half were the Falcons biggest source of offense of the period. Seven makes from beyond the arc helped fuel a 41-point effort from the Cardinals in the same period.

Nine Falcons scored on Thursday, but none reached double digits in the loss. Totzke led the team with eight points and Blake Bargender added seven. Schreiber and Bunkelman had six points each, Evan Reis put up five and Noah Schraufnagel had three. AJ Brodhagen and Carlos Lara contributed two points each and Irvin Aguilera had one point. Brodhagen had a team-high six rebounds.

The loss dropped Abbotsford to 2-9 on the season. They will be looking to pick up their third win of the season when they travel to Stratford on Friday, Jan. 5. The Tigers are 7-3 this season, though they are 1-2 over their last three contests. They lost 77-42 to Auburndale two weeks ago and then fell to Wausau East 61-56 in their most recent game. Three Tigers average over 10 points per game, with Drew Bruesewitz, Henry Zaleski and Brady Schmitt all coming in with double-digits.

Tipoff for the Marawood-North and South crossover is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.

LOADING UP - Preston Bunkelman preps a one handed pass during the Falcons loss to Thorp.

STAFF PHOTO/NATHANIEL UNDERWOOD