Cowboys are State Bound after holding off Concordia 38-34 to win Sub-State

Mar. 8—The Abilene High School Cowboys punched their ticket to the Class 4A State Basketball Tournament with a 38-34 victory over the Concordia Panthers Friday night in Abilene.

The Cowboys will be making their first trip to the finals under first year head Erik Graefe since former head coach Terry Taylor took the 2017 team to Salina where they finished third place with a 56-41 win over Andover Central. That was Abilene's third trip to State under Taylor. They lost in the opening round of the 2012 tournament and placed fourth in 2013.

Friday, Abilene jumped out quick to take a 15-6 first quarter lead and then added 10 second quarter points to lead by 14 points at the break 25-11. The Cowboys stole the first two Concordia possessions with a pressure defense.

Concordia came out in the second half with a nothing to lose attitude and put all the pressure right on the Cowboys. Avery Bryson scored two quick Abilene baskets to open the third quarter but then Concordia outscored the Cowboys to end the third period.

"Defensively, we kind of picked up where we left off against Chapman," Graefe said about the intensity level of the first half. "Jaylen (West) and Blaise (McVan) on the front of that defense is really troublesome for people and it turns out we needed it tonight. We kind of stunk it up in the fourth quarter. I didn't like how the thing finished but it was enough. Being able to cut the net down is awesome for the guys."

With the Cowboys leading by seven headed to the fourth, Cooper Wildey fought hard for a bucket and Jaylen West and Kaleb Becker made free throws as Abilene extended its lead to 10 at 35-25 with two and one half minutes to play.

Concordia senior Wyatt Trost went to work for Concordia scoring two baskets and getting the ball inside to Panther big man Chase Parker. Parker pulled Concordia within six with a nice bucket on a put back rebound. Freshman Joseph Henderson came off the bench to bank in a dagger from outside and all of a sudden the game was within four with 7.9 seconds left.

The Cowboys were held to one field goal in the fourth quarter and were shaky at the free throw line going 6 of 15 in the final eight minutes.

Abilene had a big defensive first half when they were scoring the ball but Concordia found cracks to outscore the Cowboys in the second half.

Senior Blaise McVan was high point for the Cowboys with nine points while Becker finished with eight points and Josh Stuber and West had seven each.

Parker had a game high 10 points to lead Concordia and Trost ended with eight.

Abilene will host McPherson on Monday in the State Quarterfinals. McPherson defeated top seed Buhler 57-54 in Buhler to advance to State. The winner will play a semifinal game Thursday evening in Salina at Tony's Pizza Events Center.

"Just watched the final seconds of the Buhler-McPherson game, which McPherson won and we are happy to be playing at home with these fans, cheer leaders and the band," Graefe said.

Contact Ron Preston at sports@abilene-rc.com.

Scoring Summary:

Abilene 38, Concordia 34

Concordia 6 5 12 11 — 34

Abilene 15 10 5 8 — 38

Concordia — Trost 8, Cav Carlgren 6, Henderson 3, Hobrock 7, Parker 10. Totals: 13 (1) 5-12 34.

Abilene (12-5) — Stuber 7, McVan 9, West 7, Bryson 5, Wildey 2, Becker 8. Totals: 11 (2) 10-21 38.