Wildcats get off to good start, but fall to state-ranked Bonner Springs

By Andy Brown
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Updated: February 19, 2019

Louisburg senior Kohl Vogel splits the Bonner Springs defense to put up a shot Thursday during the Wildcats’ game in Louisburg.

The Louisburg boys basketball team knew it was going to be a difficult task Thursday when the Wildcats hosted Bonner Springs, the No. 4-ranked team in Class 5A.

As it turned out, the Wildcats were up for the challenge and even took a lead into the second quarter. Unfortunately for Louisburg, Bonner Springs’ speed and athleticism won out in the long run.

The Braves scored 48 points in the second and third quarters as they downed Louisburg, 69-49, but the Wildcats showed a lot of fight down the stretch despite being down double-digits in the fourth quarter.

“I think we did some good things, especially in the first half, before they were able to stretch the lead out a little bit,” Louisburg coach Ty Pfannenstiel said. “We got out of our triangle-and-2 and tried to give them a little different look, but those kids just really know how to score. They play really well and move without the ball and find the weaknesses in your defense.

“I thought our kids executed really well and made it tough on them, especially early on. We were playing against some really quick guards and really good athletes, so there were a lot of good things we could take away from this.”

Louisburg (8-10) slowed the game down in the first quarter and eventually built a 12-10 lead going into the second period before the Braves outscored the Wildcats 48-22 in the next two quarters.

The Wildcats had a tough time containing the Braves’ trio of Alan Watson, Keyon Thomas and Rishaud Dockery. Watson led all scorers with 23 points, while Thomas and Dockery scored 14 and 12 points, respectively.

Bonner Springs scored 29 points off Wildcat turnovers and were able to score a lot of points in transition.

Louisburg senior Kohl Vogel led the Wildcats in scoring with 11 points and sophomore Ben Guetterman also scored in double figures with 10. Freshman Julian Margrave and junior Madden Rutherford added eight and seven points, respectively.

The Wildcats have two final games remaining before postseason basketball arrives. Louisburg will host Metro Academy at 6:30 p.m. tonight before ending the regular season at home against Paola for Senior Night.

Pfannenstiel believes this game, along with the Wildcats’ win over Eudora before that, will give his team some confidence heading into an important part of their season.

“We played a complete game against Eudora earlier in the week, but this was a different speed and style of game,” he said. “But we needed a game like this as a toughness factor because you have to be strong with the ball and be quick and look ahead. If we can play with that same fight and intensity in these next two games, I think we will be in good shape.”

LOU 12 14 8 15 – 49

BON 10 26 22 11 – 69

LOUISBURG (8-10): Kohl Vogel 5-10 0-0 11; Ben Guetterman 3-7 2-2 10; Julian Margrave 3-4 0-0 8; Madden Rutherford 3-4 0-1 7; Dylan DeShazer 2-4 1-4 5; Michael Waldron 1-5 1-3 3; Weston Guetterman 1-3 0-0 2; Noah Hill 0-1 2-4 2; Brayden Gage 0-3 1-2 1. Totals: 18-42 7-16 49. 3-point field goals: 6, (B. Guetterman 2, Margrave 2, Vogel, Rutherford)