FALCONS GET A STRONG START TO AAC PLAY
By Ty Bartell
AUSTINTOWN OH- After months of anticipation, the All American Conference (AAC) opened up conference
play for all of its teams this week, starting on Tuesday with the boys and following it up Wednesday with the girls. Two conference games occurred amongst the five teams in the AAC on Wednesday night, including The Austintown-Fitch Falcons hosting in The Warren G. Harding Raiders. Fitch is 7-3 in their last 10 matchups with The Raiders, with the last Harding victory against The Falcons coming on January 13th, 2021.
Always a fun matchup between the two schools, the first quarter looked like the game was in-store for a low-scoring, grind it out type of ball game. With the lid being on the bucket through the first eight minutes, Fitch was able to capture a small 5-4 lead after the first. The second quarter saw Austintown begin to separate themselves from The Raiders off the backs of a 12-2 second quarter to own a 17-6 halftime lead. Through the first 16 minutes, The Falcons dominated the rebounding department, especially on the offensive glass. However, a lower than average shooting percentage from the field for Fitch kept Harding within striking distance heading into the halftime locker room.
Out of the second half, The Falcons offense woke up big time! With a massive 23-6 third quarter, spearheaded by Kylie Folkwein and Rachel Spalding, Fitch blew the roof off this popsicle stand with a 40-12 lead going into the final quarter of play. The tempo did not change much in the fourth, with a running clock, Austintown put the finishing touches on a 51-16 win to open up AAC play.
Leading the way for Fitch was one of the Players of the Game in Kylie Folkwein! Finishing with 13 points, Folkwein looks to be returning to form after a minor setback with an injury earlier this season. The other Player of the Game was Rachel Spalding, who was also impactful for lighting the third quarter offensive spark when she scored the first two baskets in the second half to get The Falcons offensive tempo rolling, as Spalding finished with 8 points in the game. Interviews with both Kylie Folkwein and Rachel Spalding can be found below! Beyond that, Destanie McCullough had 7 points and Ayla Ray had 6 points for Fitch. Meanwhile, a total of 10 different Falcons scored in the ballgame, the definition of spreading the love around!
Fitch (9-3)(1-0) will get a few days rest before picking it back up in the conference when they host AAC rival Canfield (6-4)(0-1) on Saturday, January 6th with a 2:30 p.m. tip-off. Meanwhile, Harding (5-5)(0-2) will go back out of conference when they host The Ursuline Fighting Irish (6-5) also on Saturday with a 2:30 p.m. tip-off. YSN is your home for AAC basketball this season with live games, scores, stats, stories and more found on The Network!
