Tabor continued its struggles at home, dropping two games last week.
In Tuesday?s game against Friends, the Bluejays hung with KCAC undefeated Friends but eventually fell 86-75.
Sterling led from start to finish, beating Tabor 90-78 on Saturday.
Sterling?Cody Arnold?s second consecutive 20-point performance wasn?t enough as Sterling controlled Tabor, 90-78 on Saturday night in Hillsboro.
Sterling led from the opening tap, jumping out to an early 7-0 advantage. Tabor came within five points at 23-18 with 9:42 to play in the first half but fell behind double digits before the conclusion of the half. The first stanza ended 46-33, Sterling.
The Bluejays fell behind by as much as 27 points before cutting the Sterling?s lead to 12 late in the ball game. Three pointers by Arnold and Lawson Kingsley were key in the 15-point turnaround.
Arnold led all scorers with 22 points, seven rebounds. Damon Dechant added 16 points, five rebounds. Daniel Hann scored 10 points and snatched eight rebounds and Lawson Kingsley finished with nine points, seven rebounds.
Five players finished in double figures for Sterling, including Trenton Stutzman (17), Zach Poole and Zach Goodrich (16), Randy July (14), and Chad Friess (10).
Tabor finished the season 1-1 against Sterling, beating the Warriors on Dec. 3 at Sterling, 92-80.
Sterling improves to a 4-6 KCAC record and 7-13 overall, Tabor falls to 3-7, 6-13 overall.
Friends?In a game that encountered seven ties and lead changes, Friends took a lead and extended it late to hold Tabor, 86-75 in Hillsboro on Thursday night.
Tabor hung with the KCAC leading Friend?s Falcons (14-5, 9-0) well into the second half, trailing by four with 2:58 left to play. From that point on, Tabor never came to within five points.
The backbreaker for the Bluejays was a two-basket flare up from Friend?s Romar Jones. After knocking down a three to stretch the Falcons? lead to seven with 2:28 left to play, Jones scored on a lay up to put Friends up 79-70 and the game out of reach.
Clay Shewey pulled Tabor back to within six on a deep three with 57 seconds remaining. However, the Falcons hit 5-of-6 free throws to finish the game.
?We got to have people that can put the ball in the hole and we know Clay Shewey can shoot the ball,? said Tabor coach Micah Ratzlaff. ?He?s come in with a lot of confidence and shot the ball really well for us.?
Ratzlaff attributed the inability to get stop out of the 2-3 zone as the difference maker in the ballgame. He said they were tough to guard in any defense.
?They really were aggressive no matter what defense we played,? said Tabor coach Micah Ratzlaff. ?We had a hard time stopping them.?
Jones had a game high 25 points along with nine rebounds. Tabor?s Cody Arnold led the Bluejays with 24 points on 7-for-18 shooting. Friend?s Chris Heard had 23 points. Bluejay Damon Dechant had 14 points and nine rebounds shooting 70 percent from the field.
Daniel Hann, Clay Shewey and Ryan Chippeaux finshed with nine each. Shewey scored all his points beyond the arc, shooting 3-for-4. Lawson Kingsley and Michael Janzen had four and Rob Moore rounded out the scoring with 2.
Tabor is back on the road this week with games at Bethel on Thursday and McPherson on Saturday
