By TYLER HENRY
Little Apple Post contributor
With the regular season winding to a close, both in league and overall the Wamego and Abilene girls’ basketball teams will meet for one of two final Friday games this year.
The Lady Raiders enter this contest at 15-1 overall, ranked as the #1 team in Class 4A while Abilene comes in at 2-13.
These two met back in early January in what would go down as a dominant 42-17 win for Wamego, but the Lady Raiders are well aware that Abilene has improved considerably since that contest.
We didn't shoot the ball very well in that game,” Raider head coach Brian McIntosh said. “We executed pretty well, but didn't finish. For a team that is 2-13, they are still playing hard and trying to get better. Dannefer is one of the best players in the league. We'll need to be assignment correct on her tomorrow night.”
Since that first meeting, Abilene is just 1-6 but has taken much better care of the basketball than they did during the first half of the season, closing the gap to their opponents on average.
“We’re still just trying to compete and get better every day,” Abilene head coach Shawn Herrman said.
To continue working towards their peak and to defend a top seed at sub-state, the Lady Raiders continue to put the focus on being the best version of themselves that they can be with every passing game.
“We have to continue being us and playing up to our standards,” McIntosh said. “We have players continuing to improve and strive to reach their full potential which in turn makes our team better. Our group feels good right now and has been playing with a lot of energy & confidence.”
Meanwhile, to pull out a season-defining upset, the Cowgirls will need to string together 32 minutes of nearly flawless basketball if they are to knock off #1 and snap a four-game losing streak.
“Wamego is really good in all aspects of the game,” Herrman said. “They apply defensive pressure non-stop, they can shoot it from the outside and are extremely quick at getting to the rim. We have to defend the perimeter and try to limit their ability to make a bunch of threes.”
Tip-off between the Lady Raiders and Cowgirls is scheduled for 6:00 at Wamego High School, with the boys’ game to follow at 7:30.
For continuing coverage of all four teams down the home stretch of the season stay tuned to the Salina and Little Apple Posts.