Eighth-grade girls complete successful run

Louisburg’s Megan Foote drives to the basket for two points during the Lady Cats’ final home game against Wheatridge in December. The eighth-grade team finished the year with a 14-2 record.

For the last two seasons, a group of Louisburg Middle School girls basketball players have run roughshod over their Frontier League schedule.

As seventh-graders, they finished with an undefeated record and this past season – as eighth-graders – they continued that dominance. Despite a couple hiccups, the Lady Cats finished off their junior high careers with a 14-2 record this season.

In the two years, the group ended with a 30-2 mark and completed their middle school season at home with an impressive 45-7 win over Wheatridge in December.

“The girls put together a great season,” Louisburg eighth-grade coach John Ozier said. “They are a hard-working group of girls with a great knowledge of the game. I look for great success with the girls basketball program at the high school for years to come.”

In their 38-point win against Wheatridge, the Lady Cats got a big performance from Megan Foote as she scored a game-high 26 points in the win. Louisburg got big outputs from several different players throughout the season.

Madilyn Melton goes up for a basket during Louisburg’s final home game against Wheatridge in December.

Madilyn Melton, Brooklyn Diederich, Alyse Moore and Shea O’Hara also had strong offensive performances throughout the year. Melton scored 21 points in a home victory over Spring Hill and finished in double figures, along with Foote, for most of the season.

Louisburg’s lone nemesis was Pioneer Ridge as the Lady Cats could not find a way to top the Gardner school. After losing by 18 in their first game of the season, the Lady Cats responded with a better performance at home against Pioneer Ridge as the game was tied with five seconds left in the game before Pioneer Ridge hit a 3-pointer to steal the win.

Down 11 points in the third quarter, Louisburg used a 13-0 run to get back in the game that set up the dramatic finish. Melton led the Lady Cats with 20 points.

“It was our most exciting game of the year for sure,” Ozier said. “It was a tight score throughout the first half and then Pioneer Ridge jumped out to a big lead in the third. We called a timeout and talked about stepping up our game through our press and the girls responded. Even though we lost the game, the girls showed great resolve.”

Eighth-grader Brooklyn Diederich pulls down a rebound against Wheatridge.

The Lady Cats had several big wins throughout the year as they defeated rival Paola twice, along with two wins over Spring Hill, Baldwin, Eudora, Ottawa, Wheatridge and Trail Ridge.

Members of the LMS eighth-grade varsity team are Madilyn Melton, Megan Foote, Brooklyn Diederich, Shea O’Hara, Alyse Moore, Jenna Terry, Aly Traffis, Madi Quinn and Maggie Ming.

The junior varsity team, under coach Kyle Wright, finished the year with a 4-11 record.

“The JV group had a great attitude and approach to the game this season,” Wright said. “They brought a fun and spirited atmosphere to practices and games. One of the highlights was finishing the season with a 24-8 win against Wheatridge – a team that had previously beaten us earlier in the season. It was great to see the improvement in skills over the course of the year and a credit to the girls for all the hard work, which clearly paid off.

“It was my first year coaching middle school girls after coaching five years at the high school boys level and I was pleasantly surprised at the attitude and effort the girls brought each day to practice.”

Members of the eighth-grade junior varsity team are Kylee Leach, Callie O’Brien, Alexis French, Ema Hallas, Brenna Oshel, Shelby Keenan, Nora Van Asten, Madi Quinn, Jenna Terry and Maggie Ming.