The Abilene High School Basketball teams swept two ranked Thomas More Prep teams Friday night in Abilene. The Cowgirls bounced back from a home loss Tuesday to Concordia with a 38-32 victory over the Lady Monarchs. TMP entered the game on a 12 game winning streak and ranked #5 in Class 3A. The Cowboys never trailed in their game in a 50-40 victory over the Monarchs, who are ranked #10 in 3A.
It looked early like the Lady Monarchs were going to beat the Cowgirls for a 9th straight time. TMP lead 17 to 11 at the end of the first quarter and built a nine point lead midway through the second quarter. Junior, Emily Schippers would score to put the Monarchs up 22-13 with 4:27 to play in the half. That’s when the game would turn. Abilene would go on a 19-5 run, which was capped by a Sydney Burton bucket with a :59 seconds left in the third quarter to make it 32-27. The Cowgirls outscored TMP 14-3 in the third quarter behind the play of Burton. The Senior scored eight of her game high 15 points in the the quarter. She was named the First National Bank of Hope Player of the Game along with Junior, Hannah Willey. Willey scored 12 points and connected on two free throws with 27 seconds left to ice the game for Abilene.
The Abilene Cowboys got a career night from Senior, Noah Wildman in their victory. Wildman poured in 25 points for the Cowboys, which included all seven of Abilene’s points in the third quarter. Abilene led 10-6 at the end of the first quarter and 26-18 at halftime. The Cowboys would take a 33-26 advantage in the fourth and led by as many as 15 in the final quarter. Wildman was named the First National Bank of Hope Player of the Game for his effort.
The Cowgirls are now 9-4 on the season and will face Wamego on Tuesday. The Lady Red Raiders improved to 5-7 with their 50-22 victory over Rock Creek. The Cowboys have won eight of their last nine games and are 9-4 on the season. They will face 4A Wamego Tuesday. The Red Raiders are ranked #4 in 4A Division I.  Wamego erased a nine point fourth quarter deficit in their 58-55 win over Rock Creek. It will be battle of first place teams Tuesday.  The Cowboys 5-0 and Wamego are 3-0 are atop the NCKL standings.