Abilene Cowboys 28  Chapman 20

The Abilene Cowboys defeated their Dickinson County rival for a 16th straight time but it was far from easy.  Chapman used a strategy to shorten the game in which they held on to the ball on the offensive end as long as possible.  The strategy nearly worked.

The Irish trailed 4-0 at the end of the first quarter and 10-6 at halftime.  Chapman outscored Abilene 8-4 in the third quarter and took a 14-13 lead with 1:32 to play in the quarter.  The Irish moved ahead on a bucket from Jon Jenkins.  Jenkins, A Senior, was the Nex-Tech Wireless Player of the Game, for Chapman, with 7 points.  Abilene would tie on a free-throw by Kaleb Becker and that would remain the score at the end of the third quarter.

The Cowboys started out the fourth quarter on a 5-0 run on bucket from Kaleb Becker and a three-pointer by Josh Stuber.  It was just the fourth three-pointer of the season for Stuber. Abilene moved ahead 19-14 with 6:35 to play in the game after the bucket by Stuber and the Cowboys would never trail again.

Abilene was led in scoring by Kaleb Becker with 9 points.  The Player of the Game for the Cowboys was Jaylen West with 5 points.  The Cowboys will host Concordia Friday at 7 PM in the Sub-State Championship.  The Panthers defeated Clay Center 79-63 Tuesday night.  Abilene is 2-0 against Concordia this season.  The Cowboys won at Concordia on February 8th, 59-57 and last Thursday at home 49-33.  The game will be broadcasted on AM 1560 KABI, with the pregame beginning at 6:45 PM on Friday.