Lady Cats show positives in loss to Spring Hill

Louisburg senior Megan Lemke drives around a Spring Hill player Wednesday during the Lady Cats’ game in Spring Hill. Louisburg fell 58-44, but the Lady Cats outscored Spring Hill in the second half.

SPRING HILL – The Louisburg High School girls basketball team made its way to Spring Hill on Wednesday for a league matchup and left with some positives to take away from it.

Although the Lady Cats fell to Spring Hill 58-44, they put together a strong second half performance on both ends of the floor. Louisburg outscored the Broncos in the second half and improved on the defensive end.

“We weren’t as disciplined on defense as we needed to be in the first half,” Louisburg coach Shawn Lowry said. “However, the girls responded by playing much better in the second half. Despite a big size disparity these last couple of games, this group continues to play with great toughness and effort.”

Spring Hill used a late first quarter spurt to help pull away from Louisburg. The Broncos went on a 12-1 run to end the frame and go up 19-7 to start the second quarter.

It turned out to be the difference in the game as the Lady Cats played Spring Hill even for the remaining three quarters. Louisburg (1-9) trailed 29-13 at halftime, but came back out inspired and came alive offensively – especially in the fourth quarter.

Louisburg scored 23 points in the fourth, with a lot of those coming from the free-throw line thanks to its rebounding efforts and aggressive play. For the game, the Lady Cats were 16 of 21 from the free-throw line.

“I really like that our offensive rebounding and free throw shooting was much improved,” Lowry said. “That speaks to their hustle in crashing boards and the shooting work they have all put in.”

Juniors Madisen Simpson and Paige Buffington each led the Lady Cats in scoring with 10 points each and senior Megan Lemke added eight, despite dealing with foul problems for most of the game.

Freshman Carson Buffington continues to lead the Lady Cats in the rebounding department. Buffington pulled down a team-high 12 rebounds to go along with seven points and also added two steals.

It will be a busy week for the Lady Cats as they take part in the Top Gun Tournament in Wellsville, beginning Tuesday. Louisburg, the No. 8 seed, will face No. 1 seed Piper at 5:15.

Win or lose, the Lady Cats will play again Thursday and Saturday. Teams in the tournament include Lansing, Baldwin, Wellsville, Veritas Christian, Anderson County and Spring Hill.

2016 Top Gun Tournament

LOUISBURG                7             6             8             23 – 44

SPRING HILL               19           10           10           19 – 58

LOUISBURG (1-9): Madisen Simpson 3-10 2-2 10; Paige Buffington 2-8 5-7 10; Megan Lemke 2-8 3-4 8; Carson Buffington 2-7 3-4 7; Emalee Overbay 2-4 1-2 5; Julianne Finley 1-1 0-0 2; Bailey Kern 0-1 2-2 2. Totals: 12-47 16-21 44. 3-point field goals: 4, (Simpson 2, P. Buffington 1, Lemke 1)