Falcons beat Hatchets, bounced by Stratford

The Abbotsford girls basketball team went 1-1 at home this past week, defeating Tomahawk but taking a loss against Stratford.

Tomahawk, 53-26

Ten Falcon athletes scored in a dominating performance Tuesday night against Tomahawk. Abbotsford handily defeated the Hatchets 53-26.

Despite what the lopsided final score may suggest, Tomahawk stuck around for a good portion of the first half. The Falcons held a small 11-9 lead after nine minutes of play with neither team conceding much on defense. A transition basket from Calley Ruesch forced a timeout from the Hatchets, but the stoppage did not seem to help Tomahawk. Coming out of the timeout, Abbotsford forced three consecutive turnovers and scored on four straight possessions, their lead ballooning to 10.

The visitors could not find any rhythm on offense, failing to score over the final ten minutes of the first period. The Falcons, meanwhile, continued to lay on the pressure, heading into halftime on a 16-0 run and now up 27-9.

The visitors managed to cut that deficit to 13 with two consecutive baskets in the second period, but a pair of field goals from Ruesch followed by quick baskets from Sommer Brodhagen and Sydney Falteisek undid the small Hatchet run and put the game out of reach.

Tomahawk had opportunities, pulling down 24 offensive rebounds, but could not make the most of them, scoring only 11 second-chance points. Abbotsford’s defensive pressure and dominance on the blocks were too much for the Hatchets to handle, as the Falcons forced 25 turnovers, 15 of which were steals, and had 36 points in the paint.

Brodhagen led Abbotsford in scoring, putting up 16 points and capturing a team high eight rebounds. Falteisek scored 11 points and had three blocks for the Falcons. Ruesch ended the game with eight points and five rebounds, Brissa Diaz and Briseida Escalera had four points apiece, and Neveah Treankler, Adriana Fuentes-Rivera, McKinley Klabon, Azul Diaz and Madison Bloch all had two points each.

48-40

The Falcons also had a game last Fri- day evening, where they hosted Marawood- South opponent Stratford. The Tigers dealt Abbotsford their third loss of the season, defeating the Falcons on their home court 48-40.

Both teams started off the game slowly on offense, neither able to put any points on the board for the first three minutes of play. Sydney Falteisek’s free throws broke the zero-zero tie and a layup from Sommer Brodhagen on the following Falcon possession gave Abbotsford a 4-0 lead.

It would be another six minutes before the home team would get another field goal. While Stratford had been held to zero points over the first four minutes of the game, the Tigers would take full advantage of the scoring drought from the Falcons. The visitors scored 18 points between Abbotsford baskets, putting their hosts in a 12 point deficit.

The Falcons started to dig themselves out of that hole and a corner three-point shot from Calley Ruesch with thirty seconds left in the half put Abbotsford back within striking distance at halftime. After being down 18-6, the Falcons went on a 15-7 run to enter the locker room down 25-21.

Early in the second half, Briseida Escalera fought her way through contact in the paint to tie the game at 25-25 and Abbotsford regained the lead following a big three from Escalera a few possessions later. Stratford continued to struggle on the offensive side of the ball early in the second period, finally scoring on a transition basket at the 12:30 mark.

A layup from Falteisek with 8:30 to play gave the Falcons a 36-33 lead, but things would start to unravel for the home team following the basket. Stratford scored 13 unanswered points as the game pushed towards its conclusion. The Tigers simultaneously shut down Abbotsford’s offensive efforts while scoring with relative ease on the opposite side of the court. This sequence was too much for the Falcons to overcome and Stratford walked away the victors, 48-40.

Stratford’s height proved to be an issue at times for the Falcons. The Tigers had 27 defensive rebounds compared to Abbotsford’s 17 and the visitors outscored the home team 36 to 18 in the paint. Shooting the ball from outside as an alternative did not really work for the Falcons Friday night, as they made only two of their 15 attempts from beyond the three-point line.

Brodhagen and Falteisek both scored 12 points to lead the team in scoring. Falteisek also had six rebounds and a team high three steals. Escalera ended the game with seven points, Ruesch had five, and Brissa Diaz and Adriana Fuentes-Rivera both contributed two. Diaz led the team in rebounds with nine.

With Chequamegon’s team no longer playing, the next game for the Falcons is scheduled for Monday, Jan. 16 at home against Thorp. The Cardinals are currently 2-12 this season and are on an eight game losing streak. The game is scheduled to begin at 7:15 p.m.