ABILENE, Kan.—
The North Central Kansas League was selected to have one of its six schools host a sub-state tournament in 2013 and the NCKL responded by having one team from each division, boys and girls, represent it at this week’s Class 4A state tournament.Those two state qualifiers, however, came from different sub-state tournaments as the Abilene Cowboys, who were the NCKL school hosting a sub-state tournament, will represent the NCKL on the boys side while the Wamego Lady Raiders, who competed in the Topeka Hayden sub-state, will represent the NCKL in the girls’ portion of the Class 4A sub-state tournament.
The Lady Raiders are the NCKL champions while the Cowboys finished the NCKL season in a two-way tie for second place with Concordia, two games behind Concordia, which was beat out of the Abilene sub-state tournament in the semifinals.
The Red Raider boys also played in the sub-state championship girls in Topeka Hayden while the Lady Raiders were the only NCKL girls team to advance to the sub-state championship round.
Concordia
The Concordia teams saw their seasons come to an end at the Abilene sub-state tournament with the Lady Panthers falling to Clay Center 49-37 in the opening round to end their season with a 3-18 record. The Panther boys, meanwhile, won their opening round game 54-44 over Chapman but lost to Hesston 61-51 in the semifinals to end their season with a 15-7 record.
Abilene
The Cowboys are one of the two NCKL teams to represent the NCKL in the state basketball tournament in 2013 as the Cowboys hosted a sub-state, topped Buhler 67-41 in the opening round, came from behind to defeat McPherson 59-55 in the semifinals and rolled over Hesston 70-33 in the championship game. The Cowboys will face Independence Wednesday in the Class 4A state tournament on Wednesday. The Cowgirls, meanwhile, also defeated Buhler 54-48 in the opening round but fell 54-31 to Hesston in the semifinals to end their season with a 12-10 record.
Clay Center
The Tigers and Lady Tigers saw their seasons come to an end this past week in the Abilene sub-state tournament. The Tigers fell 71-45 to Hesston in the opening round and ended the 2012-2013 campaign with a 3-18 record. The Lady Tigers, meanwhile, won their opening round game 49-37 over Concordia but lost in the semifinals 34-19 to McPherson. The Lady Tigers ended the season with an 18-4 record.
Marysville
The Marysville basketball teams had their seasons come to an end this last week in the Class 3A Riley County sub-state tournament. The Bulldog boys won their opener 69-57 over Riley County but lost 50-38 to Silver Lake in the semifinal round. Marysville ended its season with a 10-12 record. The Lady Bulldogs, meanwhile, topped St. Marys 58-48 in the opening round, but also fell to Silver Lake in the semifinals, 56-53. The Lady Bulldogs ended their season with a 14-8 record.
Wamego
Both Wamego teams won NCKL titles in 2012 and also played their way into the sub-state championship round. The Red Raider boys, however, lost their sub-state championship game but the Lady Raiders won a sub-state championship and will represent Wamego High School and the NCKL in the Class 4A state tournament this week in Salina. The Raider boys opened their sub-state tournament with a 70-35 win over Jefferson West before topping Royal Valley 51-35 in the semifinals. The Raiders lost their championship game 60-37 to Highland Park. The Lady Raiders began their championship journey with a 69-29 win over Highland Park in the opening round, topped Topeka Hayden 56-42 in the semifinals and defeated Holton 53-38 in the championship game. The Lady Raiders will take on Pratt on Thursday in the opening round of the 4A state tournament in Salina.
Chapman
Both Chapman teams lost in the opening round of the Abilene sub-state tournament. The Fighting Irish boys lost 54-44 to Concordia to end the 2012-2013 season with a 6-15 record while the Lady Irish fell 69-14 to McPherson, the eventual sub-state champion, to end their season with a 3-18 record.
