Lady Cats’ rally falls short at Spring Hill

By Andy Brown
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Updated: February 11, 2019

Andy Brown / Louisburg Sports Zone

Louisburg senior Kennia Hankinson drives on Spring Hill’s Lauren Delker on Friday in Spring Hill.

SPRING HILL – The Louisburg girls basketball team did exactly what head coach Shawn Lowry wanted them to do after halftime.

Lowry implored his team to come out focused, play aggressive and perform well offensively. The Lady Cats did all those things as they scored 19 third quarter points to take a slim lead over Spring Hill on the road Friday.

Louisburg just couldn’t sustain it.

Spring Hill went on a big run to start the fourth quarter and the Lady Cats couldn’t recover in a 53-44 loss to the Broncos at Spring Hill High School.

“We talk about the first few minutes of that third quarter being some of the most important of the game,” Lowry said. “It kinda sets the tone and I thought the girls really took that to heart. I thought our leadership was really good and they were talking to each other out there and flying around. Once we get to that position, we need to find a way to take it to the next level.”

Louisburg (7-9) held a 36-35 lead late in the third quarter, but Spring Hill went on a 15-3 run in the fourth thanks to five Wildcat turnovers that turned into baskets on the other end. For the game, Spring Hill scored 20 points off the Louisburg mistakes.

Neither team shot well from the field, as Louisburg shot 26 percent for the game and Spring Hill made 32 percent of its shots. At the free-throw line, the Lady Cats were just 12 of 23.

“I sure like our group of kids and I really enjoy coaching them,” Lowry said. “They give so much and they play together and are so unselfish. For them, I am not sure they realize the team that they can be if we can have that mentality that we can finish at the rim and be disciplined about making our free throws. It is those two things that is the gap for us right now and those are two of the easier parts of the game. The kids are playing hard, the defensive effort is really good and they are rebounding the ball for the most part, so we need to get some of those other things cleaned up.”

Sophomore Madilyn Melton gave the Lady Cats a big boost inside as she finished with a team-high 18 points and nine rebounds. Fellow sophomore Alyse Moore also chipped in nine points and eight boards.

Senior Carson Buffington also had a big night on the glass with a team-high 14 rebounds and finished with seven points.

After a back-and-forth first quarter, Spring Hill started to pull away and actually led by 11 points late in the first half. That is when the Lady Cats made their move as they outscored Spring Hill 19-9 in the third quarter and took the lead on two different occasions thanks to baskets from Melton and Moore.

Louisburg had its chances in the fourth, but were just 3 for 11 in the final period from the free-throw line and the Lady Cats weren’t able to catch back up.

Lauren Delker led Spring Hill in scoring with 14 points and Alli Frank finished with 10. Bella Todd was also big for Spring Hill with eight points and 13 rebounds.

The Lady Cats return home for the final four games of the season starting Tuesday when they host Eudora. Louisburg will then face off with Bonner Springs at home Friday.

“Eudora is going to be a really good basketball team that we see on Tuesday, and Bonner has some really good players on Friday and it will be tough,” Lowry said. “But I think this group is going to respond in these last four games and I am excited to get back on the court with them.”

LOU 10 7 19 8 – 44

SH 12 16 9 16 – 53

LOUISBURG (7-9): Madilyn Melton 7-14 4-6 18; Alyse Moore 3-7 2-2 9; Carson Buffington 1-7 4-6 7; Kennia Hankinson 2-15 1-5 6; Haley Cain 1-2 0-0 3; Megan Foote 0-3 1-4 1. Totals: 14-55 12-23 44. 3-point field goals: 4, (Buffington, Hankinson, Cain, Moore)