Abby boys fall to Prentice, Rib Lake

The Abbotsford boys basketball team suffered two losses over the past week. After promising opening halves to both games, the Falcons could not quite hold on against conference foes Rib Lake or Prentice.

Rib Lake, 76-49

The Abbotsford Falcon boys’ basketball team dropped a Marawood Conference matchup against Rib Lake in the second half of a girls/boys doubleheader on Tuesday, Dec. 20.

The game was tightly contested throughout the first half as Adam Diedrich got some early buckets. Diedrich’s hot offensive start allowed Abbotsford to battle back from an early deficit to tie the game at 17. Soon after, the Falcons took the lead which kicked off a string of lead changes. The Falcon starters were in the game for most of the half and led late in the first half 26-21 before Rib Lake cut the lead to just one heading into halftime.

After the break, the teams took steps in two directions. Rib Lake’s hot shooting propelled them to a 49 point half and a large lead. Abbotsford could not keep up down the stretch as they scored 49 points for the entire game. The final score was 76-49 in favor of Rib Lake.

Brandon Diedrich led the Falcons with 17 points on 7-14 shooting from the field and 3-7 shooting from the three-point line. Diedrich added five rebounds, three assists, a steal and a block. AJ Brodhagen poured in 13 points while making six of his 17 shots from the field. Brodhagen added seven rebounds and four blocks to his stat line.

Adam Diedrich finished with seven points, eight rebounds, three assists, a steal and two blocks for the Falcons.

Esteban Gomez led the Falcons in assists with eight while adding four rebounds and four points. The loss drops Abbotsford to 0-5 in conference and 1-7 overall while Rib Lake sits in third place in the Marawood North at 3-3 in conference.

Prentice, 77-61

The Falcons hosted Marawood-North foe Prentice last Friday evening. Abbotsford showed flashes against the Buccaneers in a game full of big runs by both teams, but could not keep up in the middle portions of the game and ultimately fell 77-61.

Abbotsford had one of their best starts of the season, jumping out to a 10-0 lead in the opening minutes. The utilization of a 1-3-1 zone press by the home team forced many early turnovers by Prentice, which the Falcons were able to turn into points. The Buccaneers, needing to regroup, took two early timeouts, trying to find a good answer to the pressure from the Falcons.

Thevisitorsseemedtosettledowncoming out of the second timeout, maneuvering around the press defense with a bit more poise than they had previously displayed. This allowed Prentice to go on a 10-0 run of their own, tying the game and forcing a response from Abbotsford. The Falcons did just that, turning to Brandon Diedrich and Esteban Gomez for much of their early offensive production. Abbotsford scored 11 points over the next few possessions and had a 21-12 lead with nine minutes left in the half.

It was then that things started to unravel for the home team. Prentice’s offense, which had mostly been kept in check, finally found its stride. With a plethora of threes, the Buccaneers tied the game at 28-28 and then took their first lead 30-28. They’d continue to shoot well from range, stretching that lead out to 10 over the final four minutes of the period. Despite some solid play, the Falcons found themselves down 44-34 going into halftime.

Prentice continued to build on the momentum they built late in the first half during the early portions of the second period. Abbotsford’s offensive production dwindled at the same time, which turned into a 58-38 lead for the visitors.

Abbotsford managed to go on another run, with Diedrich receiving some scoring help from Evan Reis and AJ Brodhagen to bring their team back within nine points. With the score at 63-54 and five minutes left in the game, the Falcons had gotten themselves back into position to find their first conference win of the season.

Just as things seemed to have worked their way back into Abbotsford’s favor, another late flurry of points from Prentice held back the Falcon comeback. Prentice’s Layne Blomberg went on a scoring spree in the closing minutes for the Buccaneers and the visitors claimed the victory.

Diedrich led the Falcons with a season high 25 points. He also had a team-high four assists and six rebounds. Gomez had a 14 point game and led the team in steals with three. Brodhagen contributed eight points, Reis and Adam Diedrich each had six, and Blake Bargender had two.

Abbotsford will travel to Athens Thursday, Dec. 22 for their next Marawood- North game. The Bluejays sit at the top of the conference, with only one loss on the season. The game is set to tipoff at 7:15 p.m.