Falcon girls see early playoff exit after 54-21 loss to Cadott

By Nathaniel Underwood

The Abbotsford girls basketball team saw their season come to a close last Tuesday evening after falling to the Cadott Hornets in the first round of the Division 4 WIAA playoffs. A tough first half for the 11th-seeded Falcons put them at a significant disadvantage, one that they could not climb out of as they fell 54-21.

Finding holes in a swarming Hornet defense was a struggle for Abbotsford early. The Falcons fell behind 8-0 before a layup from Riley Podevels got them on the board. Unfortunately for the visitors, Podevels’ field goal would be their last of the half, as they would be held to just two free throws courtesy of Nevaeh Treankler and Campbell Brodhagen over the final 14 minutes of the period.

A hot streak from Cadott allowed them to quickly pull out to a 19-2 lead and while the pair of free throws got Abbotsford back on the board, the Hornets went on to score the last 15 points of the half. This gave them a 34-4 lead at halftime and complete control over the contest.

Cadott continued to expand their lead in the second period, scoring seven more unanswered points to begin the half. Brodhagen came through for the Falcons over the next few minutes, hitting a pair of three-point shots to nearly cancel out the damage done by the Hornets in the opening sequence of the second period.

A 7-2 run for the Hornets followed, however, and Cadott went up 50-12. The Falcons had their most efficient spurt on offense at the end of the game, scoring nine points in the last four minutes of the game. Treankler scored over half of those, including notching the final four points of the game for the Falcons.

“Ironically, we began our season by scrimmaging at Cadott back in November, so the familiarity of both the team and venue offered hope that we might be more competitive than we were tonight,” head coach Larry Lecheler said. “We had a game plan and good practices leading up to the game, along with improved confidence seeing as we had won our previous two games. Our girls had been making strides in their overall improvement as individuals and a team, but with that being said, when tip-off time came, Cadott did the things they needed to do to advance, and we didn’t.”

Treankler finished as the Falcons leading scorer, the senior putting together an eightpoint performance on Tuesday night. Brodhagen added seven points and Podevels, Azul Diaz and Jackie Soto all had two points each.

With the first round exit, the Falcons will finish their season with a 6-18 record. They took fourth in the Marawood-North conference, going 5-11 in conference play to finish ahead of Athens and Chequamegon.

“Going into the season, our coaching staff knew that the lack of experience on the varsity level would be a challenge, and it showed throughout most of the season, especially against the stronger teams,” Lecheler added. “But our young ladies hung in there and made improvements in their skill sets as the season progressed, and at various times it showed in the games, resulting in six hardfought wins for us. But, that being said, we unfortunately played a last game where our opponent put it all together on the court, while for us it turned out to be just one of those nights where our shots were not finding the bottom of the net.”

“The coaching staff would like to take this opportunity to say ‘thank you’ to all the players, managers, game day workers, and parents and guardians who attended our games and did what they could to support our girls’ basketball program,” he continued. “It was very much appreciated.”