By LIONEL TIPTON
TOWANDA, Kansas – Abilene’s boys basketball team had an advantage over Circle on Friday night.
In basketball, that advantage usually is one of height.
But that wasn’t what the Cowboys had.
Their advantage was more one of experience and inside bulk.
The younger Thunderbirds had difficulty dealing with that, and Abilene eventually pulled away for a 79-56 victory in both teams’ season-opener.
“That’s a very good team … a very physical team,” Circle coach Jordan Crawford said afterward. “They play fundamental basketball. They out-toughed us.
“I didn’t have our guys ready, and I take full responsibility. It’s a long season, and we’ve just got to keep working hard and get better every day.”
Crawford said the Thunderbirds’ effort wasn’t what it should have been, especially in defensive intensity.
“But you also have to mix that with some defensive IQ,” he said, “and just find what works for this group defensively.
“I’m willing to try multiple looks to see what we can do defensively, but I don’t know that (Friday night’s) defense was anything other than lack of effort (and) lack of toughness.”
Abilene’s wide bodies made a big difference, Crawford said.
“You look at them, and you look at us, and you can tell who the bigger guys are,” he said. “They’re big-body guys over there in Abilene, and we’re not necessarily built like that. Their physicality really showed, and we did not match their physicality.”
Circle has just three seniors – and only two with varsity experience. Plus, the Cowboys (1-0) had a good amount of wide bodies that clogged up the lane and denied Circle a number of offensive rebounds after T-Bird misses.
The Cowboys got off to a strong start, bolting to a 10-2 lead as Circle struggled to make shots.
The real damage was done in the second and third quarters. Abilene outscored the Thunderbirds (0-1) 46-29 in that stretch and took a commanding 59-37 advantage heading into the final period.
“Any time you give up almost 80 points (total), that’s not a good defensive game,” Crawford said. “That’s 100 percent on me – I didn’t have them ready.
“I’m a better coach that that, and we will get better. We’ll be better prepared, we’ll find our identity, and we’ll win ballgames.
“The second and third quarters, it just kind of got away from us.”
In the fourth quarter, Circle stayed pretty much even with Abilene, only being outscored 20-19 in that period. Six different T-Birds scored in the final quarter.
Abilene has five seniors on its roster, but four of them were in the starting lineup along with one junior. The T-Birds started all three of their freshmen, but only guards Landon Boldra and Keaton Koenigsman had significant varsity experience.
As the most experienced Thunderbirds, Crawford is going to rely a lot on Boldra and Koenigsman.
“And their roles are completely different than what they were the last couple of years,” he said. “That’s kind of how it goes, and they’ll get adjusted and have much better games in the future. I’m sure of it.”
Many of Circle’s young players – three freshman played significant minutes for the Thunderbirds – just didn’t possess the physical stature to hang with the wider Cowboys, and that was made painfully obvious in battles for second-chance points.
This might not be solved overnight, but it’s a slow, difficult process to replace five seniors from last year, including three starters.
For now, the plan is to make some adjustments and get ready for Tuesday’s game at Labette County (1-0) in Altamont.
The cold shooting start in the first quarter was created when a number of shots that usually fall rimmed out instead. Abilene was there to grab the rebound, and the Cowboys – who placed three seniors among their four in double figures – made sure they bulled inside to score.
The margin might have been even more lopsided had it not been for Circle’s 11 three-pointers. Koenigsman hit two, as did two players who are new to the team this year, junior Clayton Gilbertson and freshman Keenan Boldra. The 5-foot-5 Boldra managed to sink two despite his slight build for his only points of the game.
Older brother Landon Boldra had one of the threes and tied Gilbertson as high-point man for the T-Birds with 11.
Crawford said the three-pointers are nice but shouldn’t be the sole source of offense.
The cold shooting start had a profound effect on his team, he said.
“We don’t ever want to be a team that just lives by the three, but we do have guys who can put the ball in the basket,” Crawford said. “I think early in the game (if) we see a few of those shots go in, maybe our defensive intensity is a little better.
“We had some good looks early that just didn’t fall. Defensively, you can’t rely on making shots to be a good defensive team.”
With the next game just a few days away, building confidence is a key, Crawford said.
“Continue to coach them up,” he said. “Have great practices, be prepared – I told these guys this (loss is) 100 percent on me, we weren’t prepared – and it showed.
“I do like our youth. Our JV, which is full of freshmen and sophomores, got a big win in overtime against a really big JV Abilene team, and I do feel really good about the future of the program.
“But we all want to have a great year right now, for all these seniors and juniors … we’ve got to find a way.”
The third Circle senior is 6-foot-5 Hunter Cowman, whose older brother Trevor had a breakout season in his senior year two years ago. Hunter didn’t play last year, and Crawford said there are ways to get him reacclimated.
“The more reps he gets, the more confident he gets,” Crawford said. “We’re a very ‘green’ team as far as varsity experience. We told the guys in the locker room that this (game) is something we will look back upon and chuckle at it to see where we once were.
“At the end of the day, we have to get better every day and play our best basketball at the end of the year when it matters most.
“I think this team will get better. We’re going to practice hard, and we’re going to see good results come from that.”
Crawford said that although the Labette County game Tuesday is away from home, a game on the road is not worrisome.
“Playing on the road is not concerning; it’s playing the way we are right now that’s concerning,” he said. “The concerning part to me is we have a lack of practices between now and then. It’s a heavy week of games next week, but I think games will help us (and) practices will help us as well.”
The good news is that this remains a young team for the most part, Crawford said.
“The main positive is our youth,” he said. “Keenan Boldra is 80 pounds soaking wet, and he’s fearless. He probably is one of our best on-ball defenders in the varsity game. I (also) liked what I saw from those JV guys.
“Outmatched, outsized … when you go from playing eighth-grade basketball to a JV game, that speed picks up big-time.”
Last year’s seniors were a vital part of Circle’s success. Not just guard Conner Chadwell – who now is on the men’s roster at Butler – but also players like Ethan Koehn and Nick Ahles in the starting lineup as well as key reserves like Zak May and Gavin Kildow.
“That senior class was very special,” Crawford said. “That was a special group of guys, and they bought in to my philosophy and my culture. I love those guys, and I miss them.
“We took one on the chin (Friday night). We’ve got to clean ourselves up, dust ourselves off and come out Tuesday with a competitive desire to be great. We’re going to miss shots – everyone misses shots – but when the relentless effort isn’t there, that’s when we have a problem. I didn’t feel that (Friday night), and I hope we figure out that part quickly.
“That’s how this team is going to see success is by their effort.”
Abilene 79, Circle boys 56
Abilene 13 20 26 20 – 79
Circle 8 12 17 19 – 56
ABILENE – Rock 6(1) 4-4 17, Crump 6(1) 5-7 18, Holloway 7 4-5 18, Evans 3(2) 3-4 11, Funston 2 0-0 4, Green 1(1) 1-2 4, Keener 2 0-0 4, Becker 1 0-0 2, Cuba 0 1-2 1. Totals 28 (5) 18-24 79.
CIRCLE – L. Boldra 5(1) 0-0 11, Gilbertson 4(2) 1-2 11, Koenigsman 2(2) 1-2 7, K. Boldra 2(2) 0-0 6, Cowman 2(1) 0-4 5, Smith 1(1) 2-2 5, Jordan 2(1) 0-0 5, Hill 2(1) 0-0 5, Mead 0 1-2 1. Totals 20(11) 5-12 56.
