Marysville Lady Bulldogs 43 Abilene Cowgirls 27

Marysville – The Lady Bulldogs beat the Cowgirls for a 5th straight time Friday night behind the play of 6’ Senior, Madison Ronnebaum.  She finished with a game-high 23 points in the victory.  Abilene was able to keep the game close in the first half despite early foul trouble for Claira Dannefer.  She was coming off an 18 point, 15 rebound performance in a double-overtime loss at Chapman.  Dannefer picked up her second foul with 5:11 to play in the first quarter and didn’t play the rest of the half.  She stayed out of foul trouble in the second half and finished with 5 points.

Marysville led 8-5 at the end of the first quarter and 17-10 at halftime. The Lady Bulldogs pulled away in the second half.  They led 33-17 at the end of the third quarter and got up by as many as 18 points in the 4th quarter.

Abilene was led by Senior, Alice Bathurst, who finished with a team-high 11 points.  She was named the Nex-Tech Wireless Player of the Game. The Cowgirls are now 1-6, 0-3 on the season after the loss.  Marysville improved to 4-3, 3-1 with the victory.

Abilene Cowboys 74 Marysville Bulldogs 42

Marysville – Abilene won their second straight game and won at Marysville for a 5th straight time.  The Cowboys used a 14-0 run in the second quarter to take control of the game.  Abilene led 19-12 at the end of the first quarter and 41-23 at halftime.

The Cowboys continued to pull away in the second half.  They scored 29 third quarter points and led 70-38 as the two teams entered the 4th quarter.  Abilene got 8 points from Junior, Tristin Cottone in the 3rd quarter.  Cottone was held to 5 points in the Cowboy’s two losses to Southeast of Saline and Concordia in December.  He has got back on track during their two-game winning streak.  Cottone scored 11 points in the victory over Chapman on December 21 and a career-high 22 points Friday night in the win over Marysville.  Cottone did most of his damage from the perimeter with 6 three-pointers.  He was the Nex-Tech Wireless Player of the Game.

Abilene improved to 6-2, 2-1 with the victory and will travel to Wamego Tuesday.  Marysville fell to 1-5, 0-3 with the loss.  The Bulldogs were 18-4 last season but graduated their starting five from a season ago.