Offensive woes doom Falcons upset bid

There would be no early Christmas present for the Abbotsford Falcons on Tuesday, Dec. 22, not with the Phillips Loggers playing lights out in Abby.

The Loggers are one of the favorites to win the Marawood - North title, and they looked every inch the part, gashing the Falcons inside and outside. The Loggers’ balanced offense was the reverse of Abbotsford, who is still searching for some steady scorers.

The Falcons got some of that in the second half, with Hunter Soyk knocking down five triples to lead Abby with 15 points, but three of those long balls came in the second half, and by then the game was out of reach.

That’s because Phillips wasted no time in establishing dominance in the first half, with the Loggers taking a 40-18 lead into the second half off of big shots from Nate Belan and Taber Hawley.

Belan and Hawley combined for nearly fifty of the Loggers 86 points. Two more Loggers were in double digits, and their shots kept falling in the second half.

The Falcons were able to find a bit of a groove of their own on offense by moving the ball around and finding open shooters in the second half. Brandon and Adam Diedrich both hit nifty mid-range jumpers, and JV Castillo was able to splash from three as the Falcons scored 28 points in the second half.

Castillo would finish with four points on the night. Brandon Diedrich scored six and Adam Diedrich recorded five points. Senior Bryce Draper added three points, while Mason Carpenter continued to remain under quarantine.

“Having some key guys out doesn’t help, and obviously we’re really young right now, but the guys are stepping up,” assistant head coach Brent Faber said. “It’s a learning experience.”

Those 28 points weren’t nearly enough to stop Phillips from picking up an 86-46 victory, their fourth straight. The Falcons on the other hand, drop to 0-7. The riddle the Falcons will attempt to crack in 2021 is how to play a complete game over two full halves of basketball.

Abbotsford has come close, and the Falcons feel it’s just around the corner.

“We seem to be able to play one half of really good basketball, but we haven’t been able to do it for two,” Faber said. “We’re getting closer, and eventually we’re going to have a nice game where we will be able to do that.”