Lady Cats fall to Eudora in home contest

By Andy Brown
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Updated: February 14, 2019

Andy Brown / Louisburg Sports Zone

Louisburg’s (from left) Brooklyn Diederich, Haley Cain and Madilyn Melton try and trap a Eudora player for a steal Tuesday in Louisburg.

The last time the Louisburg girls basketball team squared off with Eudora, the Lady Cats walked off the court after a 23-point loss.

It was a different game Tuesday when Louisburg hosted Eudora in its first of four straight home contests. The Lady Cats trailed by just six points early in the fourth quarter and were within striking distance of the No. 9-ranked team in the state.

Instead, foul trouble and turnovers hampered the Lady Cats in their comeback effort as they fell 49-39 and are now 7-10 on the season.

“We have to find ways to finish plays,” Louisburg coach Shawn Lowry said. “Defensively we are doing a good job, but we are killing ourselves right now with turnovers, not finishing and those are things that are on us. No one is doing that stuff to us, we are doing it to ourselves.

“The good things is, those are things we can fix, but it just about the focus and discipline to be able to do it. This group wants to do the right thing, but it is just understanding and getting execution part right.”

Louisburg trailed just 13-12 after a back-and-forth first quarter and was down 24-19 despite seniors Carson Buffington and Kennia Hankinson picking up three fouls. Buffington would go on to pick up her fourth in the third quarter and the Lady Cats managed just five points in the third.

The Lady Cats committed 24 turnovers against the Eudora zone defense and also sent the Cardinals to the free-throw line 30 times as they converted 19 of them. Louisburg made it to the line just seven times.

Eudora’s Riley Hiebert caused Louisburg problems all night as she finished with a game-high 22 points. Harper Schreiner added 13 and Reagan Hiebert added 11 in the win. The three Eudora players combined for 46 of the team’s 49 points.

“We did a fairly good job at times against the zone,” Lowry said. “Eudora has some nice players that present some issues, in particular with their outside shooting. We didn’t contain on the drive very well and that is some things we need to clean up on. Part of it was we did some different defensive stuff with a 3-2, but we just got together (Tuesday) after having no practices or school for a while, but we have to be ready either way.”

Louisburg sophomore Madilyn Melton led Louisburg in scoring with 14 points and also had a team-high eight rebounds in the loss. Hankinson also finished in double figures with 11 and junior Haley Cain added seven.

Sophomore Alyse Moore and Buffington each ended the game with six rebounds and Buffington also had a team-high six assists.

The Lady Cats will try and get back on track tonight when it hosts Bonner Springs. The game was originally scheduled for Friday, but was moved up to due inclement weather. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m.

“It is not necessarily about wins or losses, but we need to have three good games going into postseason play,” Lowry said. “We are going to hammer on that. It is all about how we want to finish. How do the seniors want to finish this journey? How do their teammates want to finish this ride together? It has to be the work we do in practice and having a high intensity level in games.”

LOU 12 7 5 15 – 39

EUD 13 11 9 16 – 49

LOUISBURG (7-10): Madilyn Melton 6-13 2-2 14; Kennia Hankinson 3-11 2-2 11; Haley Cain 3-4 0-0 7; Alyse Moore 1-3 1-2 4; Brooklyn Diederich 1-7 0-0 3. Totals: 14-42 5-7 39. 3-point field goals: 6, (Hankinson 3, Cain, Diederich, Moore).