Lady Cats roll Eudora for back-to-back wins

Louisburg senior Madisen Simpson puts up a shot in the lane during Tuesday’s home opener against Eudora. The Lady Cats scored 19 unanswered points to open the game and ran away for 43-23 win. 

It was a rough fourth quarter Tuesday as the Louisburg girls basketball team failed to score in the game’s final eight minutes.

For most teams that would spell doom and gloom, but not Louisburg. Even after that rough patch, the Lady Cats still won – and they did it comfortably.

That should tell you about all you need to know as Louisburg dominated Eudora 43-23 in its home opener at Louisburg High School. The Lady Cats scored 19 unanswered points to jump out to a big lead to start the game and captured their second consecutive win in the process.

“Defense really set the tone for the game and our offense kind of fed off that, especially early,” Louisburg coach Shawn Lowry said. “The girls have challenged each other hard at practice and we played well.

“It was just a great effort. We were on the floor getting all the loose balls and I think that is our identity. We found that out early on and we are going to have to be a team that fights for every loose ball. We are going to have to be disciplined about how we rebound the ball and how we defend.”

Defensively, the Lady Cats (2-3) smothered the Eudora offense as they held the Cardinals scoreless for more than eight minutes and Eudora didn’t score its first field goal until 47 seconds left in the first half.

Louisburg was active defensively most of the night and tallied 12 steals as a team. Five of those steals came from guard Isabelle Holtzen as the Lady Cat junior was one of several players to turn up the pressure on the perimeter.

“They really responded,” Lowry said of his team “After the tournament last week, they responded about some of the things I talked to them about defensively. I think they saw some sparks of that in some of the games that we played in before, and our practices since then have been preparing to do this kind of defensive work and they really embraced that. It is another step for us to become the team that we know we can be later this year.

“I thought Isabelle really sparked us defensively. “She is such a scrappy kid and she is one of the kids that you love to have around because she is going to battle for everything.”

Senior Tayler Lancaster opened the game with five consecutive points to help build a 7-0 lead and senior Madisen Simpson finished the first quarter with seven points to put Louisburg up 19-0.

Free throws from senior Chloe Renner and a basket from senior Paige Buffington gave Louisburg a 20-point advantage to start the second quarter. Holtzen had a steal and a score and Simpson followed with five straight points to put the Lady Cats up 29-2 right before halftime.

Louisburg put together a 43-12 lead going into the fourth quarter and eventually forced a running clock. The Lady Cats also performed well from the free-throw line as they converted 15 of 20 opportunities.

Simpson led the Lady Cats in scoring with 14 points and Holtzen was next on the team with seven points to go along with her five steals. Buffington, Renner and Lancaster all finished with six points.

Sophomore Carson Buffington led Louisburg with seven rebounds and freshman Haley Cain added five.

“We have kids that are growing up and doing more,” Lowry said. “Chloe is starting to feel more comfortable and more confident. You can see that in her play and defensively is where it started for her. Haley is a freshman, and she is still trying to figure out the high school game, but she is getting things as well.”

Louisburg will try for its third consecutive win today when it travels to Ottawa for its final game before the holiday break. Tipoff is set for approximately 6 p.m.

LOU               19           10           14           0 – 43

EUD               0             5             7             11 – 23

LOUISBURG (2-3): Madisen Simpson 14, Isabelle Holtzen 7, Tayler Lancaster 6, Paige Buffington 6, Chloe Renner 6, Carson Buffington 4. Totals: 12-33 15-20 43. 3-point field goals: 4, (Simpson 2, Holtzen, Lancaster)