By TYLER HENRY
Salina Post contributor
Despite losing out on a number of games due to covid concerns, the Abilene Cowboys basketball team has made the most of the opportunities that they have been given, jumping out to a 6-2 start to their 2020-21 campaign.
Abilene has played just four games in the entire month of January but was able to win three of them, bolstering their win percentage heading into the final month of the regular season.
“Generally speaking I would say I’ve been satisfied with what I’ve seen this year,” head coach Erik Graefe said. “They play hard, and they’ve bought into what we’re trying to get them to do but we need more games. They need more opportunities to learn in the fire.”
While the opportunities haven’t been plentiful Abilene has looked great when they have been on the floor this season. Led by the senior-junior duo of Avery Bryson and Kaleb Becker who have combined to average just under 30 points per game, the Cowboys have been tough to stop offensively, especially with a great supporting cast.
“The fact that we have multiple ways to be effective is our greatest strength,” Graefe said. “We have five or six guys who can make plays and that makes it difficult on our opponent when we’re all dialed in and sharing the ball.”
For many teams this season, the missed games have led to low energy performances and excuses off the floor, but Abilene has done an excellent job of rolling with the punches.
“They’ve been disappointed to miss games for sure but nobody is hanging their heads or acting like we got a raw deal,” he said. “A lot of them missed out on games during football season and they’re handling it pretty well, probably even better than I am.”
The biggest improvement for the Cowboys will be in their ability to close out games, something the team has struggled to do even when up big against smaller opponents.
“One of the patterns that emerged early in the season was that we would get out to big leads and then those leads would evaporate,” Graefe said. “I want us to take every possession with the same amount of intensity as the last because every possession matters and I think we’re starting to buy into that.”
Down the stretch, Abilene will face a gauntlet of eight scheduled games, including meetings with 10-3 Minneapolis, 8-3 Marysville, 7-2 Garden Plain, and the #1 team in division 5A in 13-0 Hays.
These games should season the Cowboys for a sub-state tournament that Coach Graefe is confident his team can emerge from.
“I feel like we can advance to the state tournament,” he said. “If we get there anything can happen, all it takes is a team getting hot and they can make a run.”
Abilene will be back in action on Tuesday when they host the 10-2 Minneapolis Lions looking for their fourth consecutive victory.