Paola spoils senior night for Louisburg
It played against the same players and the same scheme, but the Louisburg boys basketball team played like different squads in each half.
Unfortunately for the Wildcats, the first version put them in a big hole against Paola and they weren’t able to recover in the second half. Louisburg outscored Paola in the final two quarters, but still fell 60-43 on Friday in Louisburg, which was also senior night.
“Paola really didn’t let up or change it up in the second half, but for some reason we didn’t play as well in the first half,” Louisburg coach Jason Nelson said. “The second half was just so different. Our intensity was up, our cuts were crisper and we were playing hard. The first half we didn’t have that intensity, we didn’t play with confidence and we ended up spotting them a lot of points and we can’t do that against a team like Paola.”
Before the game, Louisburg honored its three seniors: Corbin Wertz, Nathan Moore and Brady Lambeth as each played their final game on their home floor.
Louisburg senior Corbin Wertz escorts his parents Kristin and Todd Wertz onto the floor during senior night Friday.
Louisburg senior Brady Lambeth brings his parents Karen and Mark Lambeth onto the floor for senior night.
Senior Nathan Moore was honored along with his sister Natalie Moore and parents Lynne and Doug Moore on Friday during senior night activities.
Wertz provided the Wildcats a spark as he finished with a team-high 14 points, while Lambeth added eight points in the loss. Moore led the Wildcats with a team-high seven rebounds.
“We are constantly talking about building something and those three guys are our foundation,” Nelson said. “Two years ago I came in as a new coach, with a new system and those guys did everything we asked of them and they didn’t complain. They are the heart and soul of this team and have done a great job of leading those six sophomores that we have on the bench.”
The Wildcats (6-14) had a tough time staying with Paola in the first half. Louisburg committed 13 turnovers against a Paola full-court press in the first half, which led to several transition baskets for the Panthers.
Louisburg had a tough time scoring in the second quarter as the Panthers outscored the Wildcats 19-6 and built a 20-point halftime lead. Paola ended the first half on a 9-2 run.
“The effort was there, we just couldn’t execute and we didn’t play well against their press,” Nelson said. “In the second half though, we came out with a different mentality and cut down those 13 turnovers to just five in the second half. They were still pressuring us and they had the same players out there, we just played better. I just wish we could have started the same way.”
The Wildcats got a good performance from sophomore forward T.J. Dover as he finished with 11 points to go along with five rebounds against a tall Paola front line.
It is a new season for Louisburg as it begins substate action Thursday. The Wildcats are No. 4 seed and will play No. 1 Fort Scott (14-6) at 6 p.m. on Thursday at Paola High School.
If the Wildcats advance, they will play for the championship at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday.
LOUISBURG 11 6 16 10 – 43
PAOLA 18 19 14 9 – 60
LOUISBURG (6-14): Corbin Wertz 4-7 6-8 14; T.J. Dover 5-8 1-3 11; Brady Lambeth 3-6 2-2 8; Grant Harding 2-5 0-0 5; Nathan Moore 1-5 2-4 4; Jake Hill 1-1 0-0 2. Totals: 16-37 11-18 43. 3-point field goals: 1, (Harding)