Offense comes alive for Lady Cats in win at Bonner Springs
Louisburg sophomore Madilyn Melton fights past two Bonner Springs defenders to get to the basket Tuesday at Bonner Springs High School.
BONNER SPRINGS – Coming off a road
loss to Eudora where the Louisburg girls basketball team managed just 28
points, the Lady Cats knew they were going to have to pick things up
offensively.
Louisburg did just that as the
Lady Cats nearly eclipsed their previous point total in the first quarter alone
Tuesday in Bonner Springs. The Lady Cats opened with a 24-point first quarter
and never looked back in a 56-44 win over the Braves.
It was a big victory for the Lady
Cats as they are in the middle of a three-game road swing to open 2019 and head
coach Shawn Lowry was pleased with the way his team responded in all phases of
the game.
“I am never proud or disappointed
after a win or a loss, I am just proud of how our kids respond to all different
kinds of things, whether that is in practice or a game,” Lowry said. “I am
proud of our character, our toughness and our togetherness. Ever since I have
been here, I have talked about togetherness and this group embraces it as good
as any that I have had here. That is what I am most proud of.”
The Lady Cats got offensive
production from several different players and also found success from the
outside. Louisburg hit nine 3-pointers on the night and was able to score both
inside and out.
It started with sophomore Madilyn
Melton as she had a team-high 14 points, seven rebounds and three assists to
lead Louisburg. Junior Haley Cain also stepped up inside with 11 points and
five rebounds.
Sophomore guard Megan Foote, who
got her first start of the season, also finished in double figures with 10
points, four rebounds and three assists. Sophomore Brooklyn Diederich came off the
bench to score eight points and senior Carson Buffington also had a team-high
seven rebounds.
“After the last game we talked
about having to find someone who can score the ball and it is just kids
stepping up and saying that they get it and I will look to be more aggressive
and be a scorer,” Lowry said. “I thought we did a good job of that. Haley,
Megan, Diederich and (Kennia) Hankinson all did a good job of looking for
opportunities. Teams are going to play Madilyn a little tougher inside and will
start to pack it in a little bit, and that means we have to look to be scorers
from the outside when we need to.”
Louisburg (5-3) took a 30-22 halftime lead after slowing down a little offensively in the second quarter. Bonner Springs chipped away at the Lady Cat lead in the third as Braves’ forward Kim Whetstone scored eight straight points to cut the Louisburg lead to three. Whetstone led Bonner Springs with 15 points and 11 rebounds.
“She is a nice player and is very
athletic and very tough,” Lowry said. “We tried to do some different things
against her, and when we tried some of those things she really started to
score. She is a nice player and we will have to play them again at our place.
Melton, Foote and Cain scored the
next 12 points for Louisburg to help build the lead back to double digits and
the Lady Cats were able to keep it there.
Louisburg will try and make it two
wins in a row tonight when it travels to Baldwin. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m.
“They have a great program and
they are obviously the state champions from last year,” Lowry said. “They have
so many great players back from last year, but our girls won’t back down from
the challenge and we are going to work our butts off and get ready for them.
LOU 24 6 15 11 – 56
BON 13 9 13 9 – 44
LOUISBURG (5-3): Madilyn Melton
6-14 1-4 14; Haley Cain 5-15 0-1 11; Megan Foote 2-3 4-7 10; Brooklyn Diederich
3-5 0-0 8; Carson Buffington 2-7 0-0 6; Kennia Hankinson 1-5 0-0 3; Alyse Moore
0-1 3-4 3; Erin Lemke 0-0 1-3 1. Totals: 19-50 9-18 56. 3-point field goals: 9,
(Buffington 2, Diederich 2, Foote 2, Hankinson, Cain, Melton)