Wildcats honored at postseason banquet

Louisburg seniors (from left) Nathan Moore, Corbin Wertz and Brady Lambeth were honored, along with the rest of their teammates, during the Wildcats’ postseason basketball banquet Thursday at Louisburg High School.

It wasn’t an easy time for the Louisburg boys basketball team this season, but that didn’t mean the Wildcats didn’t have their successes and good memories.

Those were all shared Thursday during the team’s annual postseason banquet at Louisburg High School. Louisburg finished with a 6-15 record on the season, but head coach Jason Nelson knew his team was better than its overall mark.

“I think there was probably six games or so this year where we were leading in the fourth quarter and we ended up losing,” Nelson said. “Whether it was injuries or whatever, we just couldn’t win those games. As the year went on, we kept getting better and we won a couple of those games late in the year.”

Nelson pointed to the fact that his team had to play with a lot of youth on his side as the varsity roster featured up to seven sophomores and only three seniors. Corbin Wertz, Brady Lambeth and Nathan Moore provided that senior leadership throughout the season, while Wertz, the team’s leading scorer, was out a few weeks with an injury and others had to pick up the slack.

However, Nelson knows his three seniors are key for his program, even though their Wildcat playing days are over.

“They displayed to this group of underclassmen what it takes to lead and the kind of character you need to have,” Nelson said. “This senior group is so special to me and was one of the reasons I took the job a couple years ago. They did everything we asked of them and more. I will definitely miss them.”

Two Wildcats were recognized for their postseason accolades on the all-Frontier League team

Wertz earned second team all-league honors while sophomore Grant Harding found his way on the team for the first time as he was awarded an honorable mention spot.

Wertz averaged 17.2 points a game to go along with 6.3 rebounds and four assists. Harding averaged 11.1 points a game to go along with nine rebounds. He also averaged one block.

Nelson also announced his varsity letterwinners for the season. The winners are:

Seniors: Corbin Wertz, Nathan Moore and Brady Lambeth

Juniors: Mitchell McLellan and Jacob Welsh

Sophomores: T.J. Dover, Jayce Geiman, Sam Guetterman, Korbin Hankinson, Grant Harding and Jake Hill