Clay Center Lady Tigers 42 Abilene Cowgirls 20
Abilene – Clay Center used a suffocating defense on their way to a 6th straight victory over Abilene. The Cowgirls led 4-1 with 7:07 to play in the 1st quarter but they wouldn’t score again until Claira Dannefer got a bucket with 2:07 to play in the 3rd quarter. Clay Center scored 26 unanswered points during the Cowgirls drought and led 27-4 before Dannefer’s basket.
Abilene came to life offensively in the 4th quarter and outscored the Lady Tigers 14-13. Senior, Jenna Hayes scored all 7 of her points in the final quarter. Hayes was co-player of the game along with Dannefer, who finished with 5 points.
The Cowgirls have now lost 6 straight games and are 1-8, 0-4 on the season. Clay Cetner was led in scoring by Senior, Shelby Siebold with 16 points. She is the only returning starter from last season’s 21-1, State tournament team. The Lady Tigers are now 6-3, 3-2 on the season.
Abilene will play Thursday at 6 pm at Salina Central against the Lady Mustangs. Central is the top girl’s seed in the tournament.
Abilene Cowboys 61 Clay Center Tigers 35
Abilene – It was a battle atop the NCKL Standings Friday night in Abilene. The Clay Center Tigers are competing this season for their first league title since 2010. It just so happened Abilene ended their season that year in sub-state and the Tigers haven’t beaten the Cowboys since then. Abilene has defeated Clay Center a remarkable 26 straight times.
Friday night, the Cowboys put the game away with a 13-0 run that bridged the 3rd and 4th quarters. Kaleb Becker capped the run to give Abilene a 51-31 lead with 4:11 to play. The Cowboys led by as many as 27 points late in the game. Becker had a huge night with a career and game-high 27 points. He was the co-Nex-Tech Wireless Player of the Game along with Grant Waite. Waite was a defensive force for the Cowboys and also poured in a career-high 13 points.
Abilene improved to 7-2, 4-1 with the victory, while Clay Center fell to 5-4, 3-2 with the loss. The Cowboys will play Thursday in the S.I.T. at Salina Central against the Mustangs at 7:30. Abilene is the #3 seed and Central is the #6 seed in the tournament.
