By RON PRESTON
Reflector-Chronicle
SALINA – The lure of the SIT tournament is twofold for a Class 4A team like the Abilene Cowboys.
First, it gives the opportunity to play against teams that may be in different classes and that normally it doesn’t play in your regular season. The second is the ability to play on the “big floor”.
The “big floor” is the Bi-Centennial Center, which is the site of the 4A State Tournament. Abilene qualified for the state tournament last season.
The Cowboys didn’t let the anger and disappointments from their Tuesday night performance against Salina South affect their determination and intensity against the Smoky Valley Vikings.
The Cowboys jumped on them early and often for a 71 – 39 victory.
Junior Keil Kelly led the Cowboy offense in the first quarter with eight of the team’s 16 points. The Cowboys led 16 -13 at the end of the first period.
The second quarter saw Abilene Coach Terry Taylor put in his second team for a number of minutes and the Cowboys held the Vikings to just 3 points in the quarter, and Abilene led at half 26 – 16.
“We have a much better feeling tonight with a win than we did after Tuesday’s night performance obviously,” Abilene coach Taylor said following the game.
“We didn’t play great but we played all right. I was especially pleased with the play of the bench. We had several people play significant minutes, Kelly played well and Trevor Witt and Zach Barbieri were both in double digit scoring,” coach Taylor added.
Kelly led the Abilene attack with 17 points. Andy Wilson added 14 while Witt and Barbieri scored 10 each.
The Cowboys broke the game open in the third quarter by outscoring the Vikings 24 to 7.
Once again the starters split playing time with the bench depth.
The Vikings had no answer for the Cowboy attach and determination in the second half.
“The intensity in the game was much better tonight. It’s a treat for our kids to play at the Bi-Centennial Center. There are only a select few 4A teams who get to do that possibly twice in the same year,” coach Taylor added.
The next action for the 9 -2 Cowboys will be Saturday afternoon against Salina Sacred Heart who defeated Concordia in the earlier match Wednesday 66-59.
Tipoff is scheduled for 3:45 p.m.
Thursday SIT Scores:
Sacred Heart 66, Concordia 59
Salina Central 57, Clay Center 32
Andover 54, Salina South 39
Abilene 71, Smoky Valley 39
Abilene 71, Smoky Valley 39
Abilene (9-2) 16 10 24 21 - 71
Smoky Valley (2-9) 13 7 16 - 39
Abilene: Wilson 14, Anderson 3, Hoekman 2, Kelly 17, Patrick 6, Goodwin 2, Barbieri 10, Harms 7, Witt 10.
Smoky Valley: Norberg 9, Osner 8, Watson 11, Hendricks 4, Schneider 5, Gonzales 2.
