The Abilene High School basketball teams wrapped up the regular season with a pair of wins at Chapman Tuesday night. The Cowgirls defeated the Lady Irish for a 17th straight time with a 42-23 victory, while the Cowboy’s won 63-57 in the second game of the night.
In the first game,the Abilene Cowgirls dominated from start to finish in their 19 point win. Abilene was propelled by a fast start as they used an 11-0 run to close the first quarter to lead 16-6 after one. Abilene would increase their lead each quarter as they led 27-14 at halftime and 36-18 after three quarters. The Cowgirls used a balanced attack as nine different players scored led by Senior McKenzie Funston who finished with 10. Abilene finished the regular season with a 14-6 record, which earns them the number one seed in the Abilene sub-state, which includes, El Dorado, Ottawa and Wamego. With the loss Chapman fell to 5-15 and 0-10 in league play.
In the boy’s game Abilene Senior Ryan Wilson matched a career high with 23 points in Abilene’s 63-57 victory. Wilson was a game time decision because of an injury, but showed no effects as he knocked down six three pointers for his first 18 points.
Abilene fell behind early 11-6 but the Cowboys would use a 9-0 run to grab the lead 15-11 on the first basket of the second quarter. The Cowboys would never trail again the rest of the way. Wilson scored 15 of his points in the first half to help Abilene build a 33-24 lead at the half. Abilene would then take a 49-40 advantage in the fourth as they ended that quarter on a 7-0 run after the Irish had pulled within two points. The Cowboys would get up by as much as 12 points early in the fourth quarter on a Noah Wildman three pointer which made the score 54-42 with 6:10 to play. Abilene had a hard time putting away the Irish as they would pull to within four with 0:58 seconds left on a pair of Brennen Harris free throws to make it 58-54. Abilene would hold on for the victory making free throws down the stretch to earn the six point win.
The biggest news for Abilene happened away from Chapman though as the Clay Center girls won 46-36 at Concordia and the Marysville boys won at Wamego 54-47, both which helped both Abilene teams capture a share of the NCKL title. Concordia’s win results in a three way tie atop the girls standings with Abilene, Clay Center and Concordia all having 8-2 records. Marysville’s win results in Abilene and Wamego tied atop the standings with an 8-2 record. Even bigger for the Cowboys is that they are now the number one seed in their sub-state with a 17-3 record. The Abilene boys sub-state features three top ten teams with #4 Ottawa, #7 Abilene and #8 Wamego.
