pictured is Tessa Herrman, image courtesy of Brad Anderson
Abilene Cowgirls 48 Holton Lady Wildats 41
HOLTON: The Abilene Cowgirls won a season opener for the first time since 2019 Tuesday. It was the first game of the Ryan Perkins era, who took over a Cowgirl program that had won 3 games over the last two seasons. Abilene entered the night with high expectations as they brought back nearly the entire roster. It was the first meeting between the two schools since 2011.
Tuesday night, Abilene fell behind early 10-3 with 2:41 to play in the opening quarter. The Cowgirls would then go on a 16-1 run to grab control of the game. Abilene’s Tessa Herrman gave the Cowgirls a 19-11 lead with 2:09 to play in the first half to cap the run. The Cowgirls would not trail the rest of the night and led by as many as 17 points in the third quarter.
The Cowgirls got a huge night from Tessa Herrman. The Sophomore finished with 18 points. Herrman is coming off an impressive Freshman campaign in which she led the team with 13.9 points, 5.1 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.9 steals. She was named All-NCKL last season.
𝗖𝗼𝘄𝗴𝗶𝗿𝗹𝘀 7 24 40 48
𝗛𝗼𝗹𝘁𝗼𝗻 10 13 24 41
𝗔𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗲: Tessa Herrman 18, Timber Taylor 7, Kit Barbierri 7, Klovis Stover 6, Makenna Stover 4, Kailee Crane 4, Aleena Watson 2
𝗛𝗼𝗹𝘁𝗼𝗻: Lili Tanking 14, Beka Lassey 10, Hannah Watkins 6, Stephanie Crawford 4, Kinsley Ingals 4, Taylor Segenhagen 3
Abilene Cowboys 69 Holton 48
HOLTON: The Abilene Cowboys got a career-high 29 points from Sophomore Kolt Becker and cruised to a 21 point victory. It was the first meeting between the two schools since 2012. That season the Cowboys defeated Holton 42-36 on the Wildcats home floor to punch Abilene’s ticket to State for the first time since 1997.
Tuesday, Abilene entered the night with question marks. The Cowboys brought back only three players, who played significant minutes last season in Taygen Funston, Levi Evans and Kolt Becker. Those questions were answered at least for one night as the Cowboys looked impressive as they led by as many as 23 points in the fourth quarter. Funston, a Senior, is the only returning starter. He finished with a career-high 15 points in the victory.
Abilene will return home on Friday for their home opener. They will face Towanda-Circle. Circle defeated the Cowgirls last season 40-25, while the Cowboys won 79-56.
𝗖𝗼𝘄𝗯𝗼𝘆𝘀 20 32 49 69
𝗛𝗼𝗹𝘁𝗼𝗻 11 23 34 48
𝗔𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗲: Kolt Becker 29, Taygen Funston 15, Nolin Hartman 8, Bennett Altwegg 7, Levi Evans 6, Wyatt Bathurst 4
𝗛𝗼𝗹𝘁𝗼𝗻: Devon Terwilliger 22, Korben Fox 7, Grant Warner 6, Kerrick DeDonder 5, Daniel Cannon 2
