Falcons battle past Athens for fourth win of the year
By Nathaniel Underwood
The Abbotsford boys basketball team went 1-1 in their two Marawood-North games over the past week, falling on the road to Phillips but picking up their fourth win of the season over Athens on Monday night.
Athens, 63-60
The last time the Bluejays and the Falcons collided, Abbotsford came up just short after a second-period rally nearly earned them a victory in Athens. On Monday evening, however, their late-game comeback held, with the Falcons closing out the game on a 10-0 run to take down their Marawood-North rivals on Senior Night.
Down 60-53 with 2:20 left in the contest, Abbotsford was in a dire position. After briefly tying the game a Blake Bargender free throw, they had given up seven straight points to the Bluejays. Grayson Totzke finally answered with a layup and then after an empty possession for Athens, AJ Brodhagen pushed the ball up the court and scored on a transition basket, getting fouled in the process. After he made the following free throw, the Falcons suddenly only found themselves down by two.
Abbotsford turned up the defensive pressure and forced two turnovers in the backcourt, the second of which turned into free throw attempts for Brodhagen. He connected on the first and Bargender made a clutch play by putting back the second to give Abbotsford their first lead of the game with a minute to play.
Totzke came through with a key steal on Athens’ next possession, he and Bargender hit two more free throws to push the lead to three points, and the defense held the Bluejays scoreless on their last three possessions to pull out the victory.
While the Falcons found success from short range and the free throw line in their final rally, it was the three-point shot that kept them in contention for much of the evening. Abbotsford went 12-for-21 from beyond the arc, with Preston Bunkelman leading the way in the category by hitting three of his four three-point attempts.
The trio of three-pointers came during a key moment in Abbotsford’s second-half rally. Athens’ Kian Ellenbecker had just connected on a three to give the Bluejays their biggest lead of the game, a 52-42 advantage, but Bunkelman retorted with a deep three of his own on Abbotsford’s next possession. The basket was the start of a 10-0 run for the Falcons where Bunkelman hit two more threes, including the shot that tied the game at 52-52.
Totzke finished the evening with a double- double, putting up 13 points and 10
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rebounds in the victory. Bunkelman added 11 points and three steals, Bargender had 10 points and three assists and Irvin Aguilera put up nine points while connecting on two three-pointers.
Brodhagen came away with eight points and six rebounds, Noah Schraufnagel hit two threes to finish with six points and JV Castillo and Koren Decker both had three points.
Phillips, 86-63
The Phillips Loggers shooting proved to be too much for the Falcons in the two squads’ final meeting this season. Runs at the end of the first period and the beginning of the second allowed the hosting Phillips team to pull away from Abbotsford and seize the series sweep by dealing their guests an 86-63 defeat.
While the Falcons only briefly led during Friday night’s contest, they were able to keep pace with the Loggers through the first eight minutes of the game. Irvin Aguilera and JV Castillo traded threes with Phillips’ Lane Abraham and Brayden Revak over the first four possessions and two free throws from Blake Bargender a few minutes later gave Abbotsford a 10-9 lead. The Loggers were able to regain that lead the next time down the court, however, and would have the answer the next time the Falcons pushed as well. Grayson Totzke tied the game at 20-20 with a three-point shot, but Phillips’ Colin Kleinschmidt came up with the basket on the very next play to put the Loggers up once more.
The home team continued to have a similar level of offensive production over the second half of the period, but the Falcons began to fall behind. Kleinschmidt’s basket was the start of a 9-0 run for the Loggers and they went on to outscore the Falcons 19-4 over the final five minutes.
A similar 18-5 stretch to open the second period all but sank any hope Abbotsford had in rallying back against their conference opponents. After falling behind 66-38, the Falcons outscored Phillips 25-20 over the final 10 minutes of the contest, but the 28-point gap had given the Loggers full control over the contest.
Bargender led the team with 13 points, going a perfect 6-for-6 from the free throw line while pulling down five rebounds and recording three steals. Aguilera hit five of his eight shot attempts to put up 12 points and Totzke and AJ Brodhagen both finished with nine points. Brodhagen also had nine rebounds and Totzke recorded three assists.
Koren Decker had eight points, Castillo ended the game with five points and six assists and Carlos Lara put up four points. Jack Sheahan and Evan Reis rounded out the scoring, scoring two and one point respectively.
The Falcons will wrap up their regular season with their final conference challenge as they travel to Chequamegon on Thursday, Feb. 22 to take on the Screaming Eagles. Earlier in the season, Abbotsford edged out their Marawood-North rivals 62-60 at home. Game time is scheduled for 7:15 p.m.
After earning a 12-seed in the Division 4 WIAA playoffs, the Falcons will then begin their postseason with a trip to Washburn on Tuesday, Feb. 27. The fifth-seeded Castle Guards are 19-3 this season, taking second-place in the Northern Lights conference. They are currently on a five game winning streak with one game left in their regular season. Tipoff between the two squads is set for 7 p.m.
