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.
