By TYLER HENRY
Salina Post contributor
The Abilene boys basketball team will begin their sub-state tournament run with a home rematch against Augusta on Wednesday night.
The Cowboys enter bracket play as the 4-seed at 14-6 while the Orioles limp into the postseason at 7-13.
The two teams met back on December 10th where Abilene dominated with defense in a 63-46 victory.
“We were without one of our biggest players that night and so we relied pretty heavily on our press and that was very effective,” Cowboy head coach Erik Graefe said. “We’re going to have to do some different things this time around and we know Augusta is going to be ready to go.”
While Augusta has fallen in six of their last eight games, the Orioles are still much improved from the rendition of their team that took on Abilene before Christmas break thanks in large part to a gauntlet of a schedule.
“They’ve figured a lot of things out and they’ve played a tougher schedule than we have,” Graefe said. “Their record isn’t as good as ours but when you watch them they’re getting a lot better.”
The Cowboys have had their own struggles down the stretch, falling in two of their final four games to ranked Hays and Wamego and losing their spot in the Class 4A rankings.
“You never want to be content,” he said. “We won some difficult games on the road but we didn’t play as well as we could have down the stretch. We’ve had a good week to work on things and hopefully we’ve figured things out especially offensively.”
For Abilene to advance to the sub-state final on Saturday, the Cowboys will need to be more aggressive on the glass, especially against an Augusta team that boasts two very good post players.
“We’ve got to help each other tonight,” Graefe said. “There are kids we can help off of on the perimeter and there are kids that we can’t and so we have to be disciplined with that. We got beat up against Concordia down low and we’ll have to battle better in this game.”
With two more wins, Abilene could find themselves in the state tournament, something that has been on the minds of the Cowboys all season long.
“I think anything short of a trip to state would feel like a disappointment honestly,” he said. “This is a good group of kids and if they reach their potential they should make the tournament.”
Tip-off between the Cowboys and Orioles is set for 6 pm at Abilene High School with the winner advancing to the sub-state final to take on 14-6 Concordia or 8-12 Rock Creek.
For continuing coverage of Abilene throughout the sub-state tournament, stay tuned to the Salina Post.