Abilene Continues Dominance over Rival Chapman

The Abilene High School basketball teams continued their dominance of Chapman tonight with a pair of wins Tuesday night in Abilene.  The #6 Cowgirls improved to 5-0, 2-0 with a 50-29 victory.  The win was the 19th consecutive in the series for the Cowgirls.  The Cowboys pulled away late for the 71-52 victory.  The Cowboys improved to 4-1, 2-0 and handed #10 Chapman 5-1, 2-1 their first loss of the season.  The victory was the 10th consecutive for Abilene against their rival.

The girl’s game was never close, as Abilene jumped out to a 20-2 lead in the first quarter and they took a 23-5 advantage into the second.  Chapman lost their leading scorer Junior, Ashlynn Bledsoe in the opening quarter due to an injury.  Abilene led 29-11 at halftime and 48-17 by the end of the third quarter, ensuring that there would be a running clock in the final quarter.

Abilene was led by Seniors, Hannah Willey and Sydney Burton.  The pair each scored 10 points in the first quarter and 16 for the game.  Chapman was led by Junior, McKenna Kirkpatrick, who finished with 14 points.

The boy’s game was similar, Abilene got off to a fast start.  The Cowboys scored the first 11 points of the game and led 16-2 with 2:57 to go in the first on a bucket by Wyatt Davis.  Abilene would go on to lead 20-10 at the end of the first.  The Cowboys led 33-25 after 2 quarters and 50-43 as they entered the 4th.

Chapman got to within 6 with 7:42 to play in the game on a shot by Senior, Izek Jackson.  Jackson finished with a game high 21 points.  He entered the game averaging over 25 per game.  Abilene would respond with a 10-0 run capped by a bucket by Freshman, Kaleb Becker with 6:12 to play in the game with Abilene up 60-44.  Abilene, during the run, had a 6 point possession courtesy of a technical foul called against Chapman.  During that sequence Senior, James Mayden connected on 4 straight free-throws which preceded the shot by Becker.  Mayden finished with a career-high 14 points.

The Cowboys got a game-high 15 points from Senior, Tim Barbieri, Senior, Preston Boyd finished with 14 and Junior, Travis Beetch also had 14.  Abilene and Chapman return to action on January 4th.  Abilene will host Marysville and Chapman will host Clay Center.  Marysville did not play Tuesday night while Clay Center swept Concordia.