Spring Hill ends Louisburg’s winning streak

By Andy Brown
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Updated: January 31, 2017

Andy Brown / Louisburg Sports Zone

Louisburg senior Jayce Geiman tries to dribble past a Spring Hill defender Friday during the Wildcats’ homecoming game at Louisburg High School. Spring Hill used a big second half to beat Louisburg, 61-48.

In the first half, everything seemed right in the world of the Louisburg boys basketball team.

Shots were going in, the Wildcat defense forced some difficult shots and they were doing a good job on the glass. The second half proved to be more unlucky for the Wildcats.

The same shots that went in, didn’t go in the final two quarters and Spring Hill caught fire at the right time. That half turned into a 61-48 win for Spring Hill at Louisburg High School and the Wildcats saw their three-game winning streak come to an end.

“I think we just got a little cold,” Louisburg coach Jason Nelson said. “Defensively, we did what we needed to do. Offensively we got the looks we wanted, but they just weren’t falling. You are going to have a night or two like this during the season and that’s all it was — a night. We just weren’t quite as in sync as we usually are.”

Louisburg (6-7) had its way on the inside, especially in the first half. Junior Dalton Ribordy dominated the paint as he scored 12 of his 14 points in the first two quarters. Ribordy also pulled down a team-high 13 rebounds to record a double-double.

Spring Hill made it more difficult to get the ball inside in the second half and the Wildcats struggled to score from all over the floor.

“Dalton did a great job in there and he was difficult to stop in there at times,” Nelson said. “Even in the second half, he was still getting looks but they just didn’t go down. It is the way it went for everyone I think.”

The lead changed hands a few times in the first quarter, but Louisburg went on 8-2 run that ended on a steal and a dunk from Grant Harding to give Louisburg a 14-9 lead.

Louisburg senior Grant Harding rises up for a dunk Friday during the Wildcats’ game with Spring Hill.

Louisburg continued its run into the second quarter as it took a 20-13 advantage on a pair of baskets from Ribordy and another from senior T.J. Dover.

Spring Hill got right back in it as the Broncos put together a 10-2 spurt that gave them a quick 23-22 lead. Dover and Ribordy answered with back-to-back baskets to give Louisburg a three-point lead going into halftime.

The game remained close through much of the third quarter. Harding scored five consecutive points for Louisburg to give the Wildcats a 31-29 lead, and after Spring Hill took the lead back, Sam Guetterman answered with a 3-pointer to put Louisburg in front.

The Broncos, however, used another 10-2 run to end the third quarter to put them up 42-36 thanks to a pair of 3-pointers. Spring Hill ballooned its lead to 13 midway through the fourth quarter, and despite two 3-pointers from Jayce Geiman, the Wildcats could get no closer than seven the rest of the way.

“We knew it was going to be a grind,” Nelson said. “At that time, we were hitting the shots we needed to hit and we were confident. I think we tightened up a little bit in the second half when they hit those threes, but they have great shooters. Then we started hitting threes to get it closer, but we just couldn’t get closer. We were 13 for 20 in first half, but we just couldn’t keep in going in the second half.”

Louisburg will try and get back on the winning track tonight when it travels to Paola for another Frontier League contest. The two teams are scheduled to tip at approximately 7:30 p.m.

“Paola is Paola,” Nelson said. “I think the guys are going to be excited for the challenge. I think more than who we are playing, they are going to be excited to hopefully get this taste out of our mouth. This one loss doesn’t take away from the strides we have been making and hopefully we can keep getting better.”

LOU 14 12 10 12 – 48

SH 10 13 19 19 – 61

LOUISBURG (6-7): Grant Harding 15, Dalton Ribordy 14, Sam Guetterman 7, Jayce Geiman 6, T.J. Dover 6. Totals: 22-51 1-6 48. 3-point field goals: 3, (Geiman 2, Guetterman)