South upends Cowboys in SIT

By RON PRESTON

Reflector � Chronicle

SALINA � The seventh seed Salina South Cougars upset number two seed Abilene Cowboys 63 � 54 in the first round of the SIT, Tuesday night.

Salina senior guard Justin Stonebraker took control of the game in the fourth quarter, scoring 14 of his 20 total points, leading the cougars to victory.

Abilene had no answer for Stonebraker or his teammates in the final four minutes of he game.

After trading baskets in the first half and Abilene leading by one at half, 24 � 23, the Cougars out shot and out rebounded the Cowboys for most of the second half.

�We had one of those nights where everything we tried to do, we just couldn�t get it done,� commented Cowboy Coach Terry Taylor.

�We just shot the ball poorly, even with a one - point lead at the half and trailing by one at the end of the third quarter, I thought we still had a chance in the ballgame,� he said.

�We all know we played poorly. We just have to learn from this and come out Thursday night against Smokey Valley and try to improve our performance,� coach Taylor added.

�Give South credit. This is by far one of their best performances so far this season,� coach Taylor said following the game.

Abilene was lead in scoring by Andy Wilson and Jacob Harms each with 16 points and Matthew Barlow added 10.

The Cowboys� next action in the SIT will be Thursday at 4:45 p.m. against Smoky Valley in the consolation bracket. The game will be played at the Bi-Centennial Center in Salina.

Abilene wasn�t the only team to lose to lower seads as top seeded Concordia fell to Clay Center 68-64 in overtime.

Other first round scores:

Salina Central 46, Sacred Heart 35

Clay Center 68, Concordia 64 (ot)

Andover 66, Smokey Valley 39

Salina Salina South 63, Abilene 54

Abilene 9 15 17 13 - 54

Salina South 9 14 19 21 - 63

Abilene (8-2)

Barlow 10, Wilson 16, Kelly 5, Patrick 7, Harris 16

Salina South (3-7)

Nachbar 4, Ryan 13, Stonebraker 20, Kroeker 10, Smith 8, Renk 5, Fox 3.