Wildcats get first win over Eudora in nearly a decade

Louisburg senior Brayden Gage glides to the basket for two points Tuesday during the Wildcats’ home win Tuesday over Eudora.

For the better part of a decade,
the Louisburg boys basketball team has found zero success against Eudora.

Wins have been impossible to come
by against the Cardinals and that included Louisburg’s 28-point loss to Eudora
earlier in the season.

Mission impossible became possible for the Wildcats.

Louisburg held Eudora to just four
points in the third quarter and put together an consistent offensive effort in
its 49-39 victory Tuesday at Louisburg High School. The win improved the
Wildcats’ record to 8-9 on the season and left for a happy locker room when it
was all over.

“For us to lose the way we did
against them the first time, we got it put on us pretty good, so it was a great
win for sure,” Louisburg coach Ty Pfannenstiel said. “Obviously they are
missing their key guy, but they are still a really good team. Their bigs are
tough inside and they get really good position and are well-coached. It was important
for us to get a win and it was a signature win that our program needed. Our
kids are excited, for sure. That was a good basketball game.”

It was a back and forth first half
that ended with a three-point Louisburg lead at halftime after senior Kohl
Vogel knocked down a 3-pointer and freshman Julian Margrave made two free
throws.

Louisburg’s defense stepped it up in the third quarter as it held the Cardinals’ offense in check and Vogel stepped up on the offensive end. Vogel scored five straight points and sophomore Ben Guetterman knocked down a 3-pointer to give Louisburg a nine-point lead.

Senior Brayden Gage made a runner
in the lane late in the period, and Margrave knocked down a 3-pointer to put
Louisburg up 12 going into the fourth quarter.

Vogel was a spark offensively for the Wildcats as he finished with a game-high 18 points and seven rebounds, while Margrave was next with eight points. Senior Dylan DeShazer and Gage each added seven points.

Junior Madden Rutherford also
finished with seven rebounds and a team-high four assists.

“Kohl is our consistent offensive
threat, for sure,” Pfannenstiel said. “He just finds ways to slash and score. I
thought he was really good. We need him to score 16 to 20 points a game for us
to be successful. The guys did a good job of getting the ball to him. We went
back to wanting to push the ball a little bit more and I think that helps us
out. I think that is Kohl’s game is getting out in transition.”

Eudora made things interesting in the
fourth quarter as it cut the Wildcat lead to six and Louisburg had to call a
couple different timeouts during that stretch. Louisburg would knock down its
free throws in the final minutes as Gage converted a 3-point play and sophomore
Weston Guetterman also hit a bucket to seal the win.

“It is almost like we got a little
lead and then we started to relax a little bit,” Pfannenstiel said. “We have to
learn play with a lead and the reason we got that lead to begin with was
because we are disciplined fundamentally. I was proud of the way we responded
because there have been times where things have gone downhill and they have
continued to go downhill.”

Louisburg returns to action tonight
when it host Bonner Springs in what is its first of three straight games at
home to end the season. The game was moved from Friday due to weather concerns.
Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m.

LOU               10           14           13           12 – 49

EUD               11           10           4             14 – 39

LOUISBURG (8-9): Kohl Vogel 7-11
1-1 18; Julian Margrave 2-2 2-2 8; Brayden Gage 3-4 1-1 7; Dylan DeShazer 2-5
2-2 7; Ben Guetterman 1-5 0-0 3; Weston Guetterman 1-3 0-2 2; Noah Hill 1-2 0-0
2; Madden Rutherford 0-3 2-4 2. Totals: 17-37 8-12 49. 3-point field goals: 7,
(Vogel 3, Margrave 2, DeShazer, B. Guetterman)