ABILENE, Kan.—
The North Central Kansas League claimed its latest state championship this past week as the Lady Red Raider basketball team won the Class 4A girl’s basketball championship.The Lady Raiders were one of two NCKL teams to qualify for this year’s state basketball tournaments as the Abilene Cowboys placed fourth in the boy’s Class 4A state basketball tournament.
The 2013 NCKL spring season is scheduled to begin in a little more than a week, on Tuesday, March 19 when Clay Center’s baseball and softball teams step outside of NCKL foes and take on Beloit High School.
Concordia
Concordia High School’s basketball teams finished the 2012-2013 season with a combined 18-25 record with the Panther boys finishing tied for second with Abilene in the NCKL with a 15-7, 7-3 record while the Lady Panthers were 3-18, 1-9 and finished tied for sixth with Chapman in the NCKL.
Abilene
The Cowboy basketball team opened the Class 4A state tournament with a 51-45 victory over Independence, but the Cowboys could not find that winning feeling the rest of the tournament as they fell 68-32 to Topeka Highland Park in the semifinals and then 54-41 to Andale in the consolation finals. The Cowboys ended their season with a 20-6, 7-3 record and tied with Concordia for second place in the NCKL. The Cowgirls finished the season with a 12-10, 4-6 and in fourth place in the NCKL.
Clay Center
Clay Center High School’s basketball teams finished in second and sixth place in the NCKL this year as the Lady Tigers finished 18-4, 8-2 and were second in the NCKL while the Tiger boys were 3-18, 1-9 in the NCKL to finish in sixth place.
Marysville
Marysville High School is the lone Class 3A team in the NCKL, the other five schools are Class 4A, but the Bulldogs and Lady Bulldogs represented themselves well in the upper classification league in basketball this season as the Marysville boys finished fourth in the NCKL with a 10-12, 3-7 record while the Lady Bulldogs were finished in third with a 14-8, 7-3 record.
Wamego
The Lady Raiders laid claim to the only state championship team that the NCKL earned in the 2012-2013 winter campaign. The Lady Raiders opened their state tournament run with a 54-36 win over Pratt in the opening round of the Class 4A state tournament, they topped For Scott 63-46 in the semifinals and defeated McPherson 60-53 in the state championship game. The Lady Raiders ended their season with a 25-1, 10-0 record and winning the NCKL, sub-state and state championships. The Red Raider boys ended their season with an 18-5, 9-1 record and are the 2013 NCKL boys’ champions.
Chapman
The Lady Irish and Fighting Irish finished the 2012-2013 basketball season in the lower half of the NCKL, both teams finishing in fifth place in the six-team league. The Lady Irish finished 3-18, 1-9 and tied with Concordia for fifth in the NCKL while the Irish boys were 6-15, 3-7 and tied with Marysville for fourth in the NCKL.
