Eudora hands Wildcats a loss on homecoming

By Andy Brown
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Updated: February 6, 2018

Andy Brown / Louisburg Sports Zone

Louisburg sophomore Madden Rutherford goes up for a shot and gets fouled Friday during the Wildcats’ game with Eudora in Louisburg. Eudora downed Louisburg 60-43.

Even though it was homecoming, there wasn’t a whole lot to celebrate for the Louisburg boys basketball team Friday against Eudora.

Despite a competitive first quarter in which the Wildcats stayed within striking distance, they couldn’t keep pace with Eudora in a 60-43 loss in Louisburg. It was also Louisburg’s third consecutive loss.

The Wildcats had a hard time getting in a rhythm offensively against the No. 4 team in Class 4A-Division I, as they shot just 32 percent from the field and were 1 for 12 from behind the 3-point line.

“We didn’t shoot the ball well,” Louisburg coach Ty Pfannenstiel said. “That is not one of our strengths anyway, but it is going to take a night of knocking down our shots to stay with a team like that. Eudora is a really good team. They are very well-coached, disciplined, they play hard and play team basketball. They just do a lot of little things right. It is going to take great game on our end to stay with them and we just didn’t have it. We have to get better, play harder, we have to execute at a higher level and we didn’t do that.”

Louisburg (2-13) stayed with the Cardinals in the first quarter and trailed just 16-12 going into the second period. Unfortunately, the Wildcats managed just eight points in each of the second and third quarters, allowing the Cardinals to build on their lead.

Louisburg’s Scott Murphy and Isabelle Holtzen were crowned winter homecoming king and queen Friday during halftime of the boys game against Eudora.

Eudora outscored Louisburg 16-8 right before halftime, which turned out to be a pivotal moment in the game, as the Cardinals built a double-digit lead that they wouldn’t relinquish.

“I was proud of the way we competed in the second half,” Pfannenstiel said. “I think in the second quarter we got kind of mopey. It is like we were defeated already and that has been part of our problems in games is having a bad quarter. We have to continue to keep fighting. I thought in the second half that we had better leadership and guys were being vocal in a positive way.”

Senior Dalton Ribordy and junior Dylan DeShazer led Louisburg in scoring with nine points each and senior Justin Sievert added eight in the loss. Ribordy also added a team-high seven rebounds and DeShazer finished with six.

Louisburg will have some extra time off to practice before the Wildcats return to action Friday when they travel to Ottawa, which is ranked No. 10 in Class 4A-Division I.

“We are down to six guaranteed games from here on out,” Pfannenstiel said. “We have to take advantage of it. It is fun to play the game of basketball when you play it at a high level. We have to get back at having fun on the court and try to find that spark.”

LOU 12 8 8 15 – 43

EUD 16 16 10 18 – 60

LOUISBURG (2-13): Dalton Ribordy 9, Dylan DeShazer 9, Justin Sievert 8, Brayden Gage 7, Madden Rutherford 5, Kohl Vogel 3, Noah Hill 2. Totals: 15-47 12-24 43. 3-point field goals: 1, (Sievert)