Loggers keep Abby boys winless in Marawood-North
By Nathaniel Underwood
The Abbotsford Falcons boys basketball team made the trip to Phillips for a Marawood-North matchup last Thursday and could not keep pace with the Loggers early. A 19-1 run for the home team in the first half allowed Phillips to keep Abbotsford at a distance for most of the evening, eventually defeating the visiting Falcons 73-59.
Four Abbotsford players finished with double-digit points, but a sluggish six minute stretch during which the Falcons were held without a field goal quickly shifted the game in the Loggers favor. While Abbotsford made three more shots from beyond the arc, Phillips shot better from two-point range, making just under half their two-point field goal attempts. The Loggers also capitalized on their free throw opportunities, sinking 13 of their 18 shots from the charity stripe. Meanwhile, Abbotsford made just four of their 13 free throws.
A three-pointer from Koren Decker and a layup from AJ Brodhagen put the Falcons ahead 5-4, but Abbotsford would only lead for eight seconds as Phillips responded almost instantly with a layup of their own.
The Loggers took control over the next few minutes, shooting over 50 percent from the field and drastically increasing their lead. Meanwhile, Abbotsford missed all eight of their shot attempts from the field over this stretch, their sole point coming from Grayson Totzke’s made free throw.
A layup courtesy of Christian Fuentes finally broke through the Falcons’ shooting woes, but they found themselves down 23-8 even after the make. The deficit grew to 16 before Abbotsford really found their footing.
Fuentes and Brodhagen were able to turn a pair of steals into back-to-back fast break baskets, triggering the start of a 13-4 rally before the end of the half. Jack Sheahan and Totzke hit three-point shots on consecutive possessions to bring the lead back down to single digits at 31-22, but that was all the closer the Falcons would get all evening. They went into the locker rooms down 41-24 and could not make it up in the second half after neither team really managed any of the big swings that were seen in the first period.
A pair of threes from Irvin Aguilera to start the second period scoring for Abbotsford kept the Loggers from pushing too far ahead and a 9-0 stretch to close out the contest allowed the Falcons to outscore Phillips 35-32 in the second half, but they were never truly able to challenge their conference rivals hold over the game in the second period.
Totzke was Abbotsford’s top scorer, putting together a double-double performance with 14 points and 13 rebounds against the Loggers. The senior also had three assists.
Brodhagen added 13 points of his own while bringing down seven rebounds, Aguilera led the team with four assists while scoring 10 points and Sheahan went 4-for-5 shooting from the field, picking up 10 points of his own. Decker made two threes for six points, Fuentes finished with four points and Payton Schreiber had two points.
Brodhagen led the team in steals with four while Sheahan and Decker had three each.
The loss dropped the Falcons to 3-4. After a 3-1 start, three straight losses to conference opponents have dropped them below .500 for the first time this season.
Abbotsford will look to get back in the win column when they host Stratford this Friday, Jan. 10. The Tigers are currently 91 this season and are ranked as the number five team in Division 4 in Wissports.net’s basketball coaches’ poll. They are currently on a five game winning streak, coming off a 57-35 victory over Stanley-Boyd. Senior guard Drew Bruesewitz leads the team in scoring and rebounds, averaging 18.2 points and 4.7 rebounds per game.
Tipoff is set for 7:15 p.m.
