Abby defeats Cardinals for first victory of season
By Nathaniel Underwood
The Abbotsford girls basketball team picked up their first win of the season last Friday, going on the road to defeat the Newman Catholic Cardinals 48-45. They also hosted the Columbus Catholic Dons on Monday evening, falling 57-17. They are now 1-7 this season.
Columbus Catholic, 57-17
Abbotsford could not keep pace with the Dons in a non-conference game at home as they struggled to find consistency on the offensive side of the ball. Numerous turnovers by the Falcons resulted in empty possessions and allowed the visitors to build out a comfortable lead. Azalea Atkinson scored the first three points for the Falcons, but they were the only three points the home team managed over the first 13 minutes of the contest. This lack of offense allowed the Dons to hold an 18-3 advantage heading into the end of the first period.
A layup from Nevaeh Treankler got Abbotsford back on the board and Marilyn Hammock followed with a basket of her own on the Falcons next possession, but the home team still found themselves down by 20 at halftime.
A putback basket by Jackie Soto a few minutes into the second period cut that lead down to 19 at 30-11, but Abbotsford would be held scoreless for the next five and a half minutes following Soto’s field goal. A 12-0 run for the Dons was halted by a basket from Atkinson, but Columbus Catholic dominated the rest of the way, outscoring Abbotsford 15-4.
“The girls played hard, but unfortunately, we had way too many turnovers, which meant fewer opportunities to score, which resulted in only 17 points,” head coach Lary Lecheler said following the game. “But we as a coaching staff stress the fact that the things we are struggling with in the games are things that we can try and fix in practice. The coaches will continue to push the team to get better at the fundamentals which will result in more competitive scores.”
Atkinson led the way with seven points, Treankler and Hammock had three points each and Soto and Asia Atkinson both finished with two apiece.
Newman Catholic, 48-45
Friday evening’s matchup against the Cardinals went right down to the wire, but Abbotsford managed to survive a late rally from the hosting squad to notch their first victory of the 2024-25 campaign. Three Falcons scored in double digits in the winning effort.
“This was truly a team effort on the court, and it felt great to be able to get this first win of the season,” Lecheler said. “ In evaluating what we needed to work on the most, we emphasized and invested extra time in practice to do those things this past week, and it paid off for this game. The girls did a better job of boxing out as we were holding Newman to one shot for most of their possessions, while we were crashing the boards and getting a few extra shots of our own.”
A strong push from the Falcons at the end of the contest helped them secure the victory. A 12-3 run for Newman Catholic had allowed them to take a 39-38 lead with under five minutes to play. The Cardinals’ lead was short lived, however, as Nevaeh Treankler was able to draw a foul and get to the free throw line on Abbotsford's next possession. The senior sank both free throws to put the Falcons ahead once more.
After a defensive stop, Jackie Soto was able to expand Abbotsford’s advantage with a put back basket after she grabbed an offensive rebound. A fast break basket for Celia Schindler and two more free throws courtesy of Treankler rounded out the important 8-0 run for the Falcons. Newman finally broke the streak with a three-point shot, but Riley Podevels kept them at bay with a basket with one minute left.
The Cardinals were able to make it a one possession game with another three-point shot with just seconds left and had a shot at the end of the game to tie it, but the final shot came up short. Treankler was able to secure the rebound to end the threat.
Another run towards the end of the first half gave Abbotsford the lead that they needed to survive the second half push from the Cardinals. Down 16-13 with five minutes in the period, the Falcons scored nine unanswered points to take the largest lead either team had held at that point in the game.
Podevels scored four straight points to retake the lead and Treankler and Asia Atkinson netted five points on the next two Falcons’ possessions to give the Falcons a 22-16 advantage. They were able to hold onto this margin heading into the break, with Soto knocking down two free throws at the end of the half to go into the locker rooms up 26-21.
“Jackie Soto was a standout in this game by being especially strong on the boards and securing the ball,” Lecheler said. “We also finally started hitting our free throws, with Nevaeh Treankler coming through with some big ones in the second half.”
Soto led the team with 12 points, putting up six each half, and Treankler added another 11. Podevels also reached double-digits, finishing with 10 points. Azalea Atkinson had six points, Schindler picked up five points, and Asia Atkinson finished with four.
