Falcon boys go 1-2 in opening week of 2022

The Falcons opened their 2022-23 season with a 1-2 record, defeating the Greenwood Indians in a non-conference matchup after falling to Auburndale and Chequamegon at home.

Greenwood, 62-50

Abbotsford got their first win of the season on the road when they took on Greenwood on Monday evening. The Falcons cruised to a 62-50 victory over the Indians. SENIOR LEADERSHIP - Brandon Diedrich, left, led the team in points scored against Chequamegon while Esteban Gomez added six of his own against the Screaming Eagles.

Both teams were looking for their first win after starting their seasons 0-2, with neither team being within 20 points of their opponents in the combined four games. While Greenwood’s top scorer Ryver Glenn would narrowly outduel the Falcon’s top offensive threat in Brandon Diedrich, scoring 22 points to Diedrich’s 21, the latter’s team would walk away victorious.

Abbotsford was slightly more diverse in their scoring, with AJ Brodhagen bringing in 14 for the Falcons and Adam Diedrich adding 13 of his own for the visitors. Meanwhile, Greenwood’s offense was largely a two-man show from a scoring perspective, with Glenn and Rogan Travis accounting for 37 of the home team’s 50 points.

Also scoring for Abbotsford in the victory were Blake Bargender, who ended the game with six points, Evan Reis who had four and Esteban Gomez and Preston Bunkelman each had two.

Auburndale, 79-28

It was a long night for the home team in Abbotsford’s second game of the 2022-23 season. The Falcons hosted the Auburndale Eagles last Friday evening and struggled to get much going against the sixth-ranked team in Division 4, falling 79-28.

The visitors, with high preseason expectations, were looking to get back on track after taking a loss to their conference rival Marathon the game before. Abbotsford was unfortunately on the receiving end of that bounce back effort. From the onset, Auburndale looked to be firing on all cylinders. After scoring just 53 points total in their game against Marathon, they had put up 50 by halftime against the Falcons. Abbotsford, meanwhile, found scoring opportunities few and hard to come by, managing just 11 in the first period.

The second half was marginally better for the home team, but they still found themselves largely outmatched. While the Falcons improved on their 11 first half points to score 17 in the second, that was not nearly enough to make up even the earlier differential.

Abbotsford was led by Adam Diedrich’s 13 points, who was 6-11 on field goal attempts over the course of the game. Outside of Diedrich, Abbotsford did not have anyone score over five points. Meanwhile, the Eagles had four players score in the double digits.

Chequamegon, 77-40

A slow start in their season opener against Chequamegon put Abbotsford into a hole that they couldn’t quite climb out of. The Screaming Eagles cruised to a 77-40 victory over the Falcons.

Down by over 20 points in the early portions of the game, the Falcons found it difficult to find any sort of rhythm on the offensive end of the court. Brandon Diedrich changed the course by creating space and converting on tough attempts as the clock ebbed closer to halftime, but the damage had largely been done by that point.

Diedrich ended the game leading the team with 10 points and was 2-5 from beyond the arc. Preston Bunkleman added two three’s of his own and had eight points total. Blake Bargender had nine points and Adam Diedrich led the team with four rebounds.

The Falcons will continue to push through the gauntlet of six games in seven weekdays when they take on Cadott on Thursday evening at home. The Hornets have started their season 2-0 and will be coming off a 62-44 win over Cornell. Abbotsford will have to try to stop senior guard Tegan Ritter, who has averaged 19.0 points over his first two games with the Hornets this season. Game time is set for 6:00 p.m.