Hays 41 Abilene Cowgirls 25

Hays – The Hays Lady Indians pulled away in the 4th quarter for the victory over Abilene Tuesday night.  The Cowgirls put a scare into the #10 ranked team in Class 5A.  Abilene fell behind 9-3 at the end of the 1st quarter but responded with a 16-point second quarter.  The Cowgirls put together a 9-0 run, late in the first half, that was capped by a Jenna Hayes basket to give her team a 19-17 lead with 40 seconds left.  The Lady Indians went on to tie the game up at 19, as they two teams entered the locker-room.

In the second half, Abilene, managed only 6 points in the but the Cowgirls still only trailed 28-24 after a Claira Dannefer bucket with 6:31 to play in the game.  Hays would then respond with a 10-0 run to put Abilene away.

The Cowgirls were led by Dannefer, who finished with a game-high 11 points.  She was the Nex-Tech Wireless Player of the Game.  Hays improved to 11-6, while Abilene fell to 3-15.

Hays 70 Abilene Cowboys 46

Hays – Abilene faced their toughest opponent of the season Tuesday night in the Hays Indians.  Hays with the victory is now 16-1, they are ranked #3 in Class 5A and their only loss is to #1 6A Lawrence Free State in overtime.  They brought back two starters from a team that went 22-1 a season ago.  Those two players led them in scoring in the win over Abilene.  6’6” Senior, Jace Linenberger finished with a team-high 20 points and Senior, Carson Kiefer totaled 13.

The Cowboys were able to keep the game close for a while because of the play of Senior, Kaleb Becker.  He was coming off a season low 8 points in the loss to Wamego last Friday.  Becker quickly put last Friday behind him, as he tied his career-high with 27 points.

Abilene fell to 12-6 with the loss and the Cowboys will travel to Clay Center Friday night.  The Clay Center girls upset Wamego on the road 42-36 Tuesday night, while the boys fell to the Red Raiders 64-46.  Abilene split with Clay Center on January 14, with the Cowgirls losing and Cowboys winning.