Piper uses quick start to hand Lady Cats their first loss
Louisburg junior Alyse Moore goes up for a basket Friday during the Lady Cats’ final game of 2019 against Piper at Louisburg High School.
It would have been easy for the
Louisburg girls basketball team to realize Friday was just not its night.
The Lady Cats found themselves
down 10 points in the first three minutes of the game against Piper, the No. 2
team in Class 4A and defending state runner-up. Trying to get back in the game
against one of the best teams in the state was going to be a tough task.
Louisburg was up for the challenge
as the Lady Cats rallied to keep the game close, before Piper used a big fourth
quarter to hand Louisburg its first loss of the season, 47-29, at Louisburg
High School.
Piper opened the game on a 10-0
run to put the Lady Cats on their heels, but they were able to respond and
trailed just 16-10 at the end of the first quarter. From there, Louisburg was
able to stay within striking distance, but would get no closer.
“Two things are going to happen in
that situation – you are either going to stand up for yourself or you are just
going to quit and lay down,” Louisburg coach Shawn Lowry said. “The character
of our team is they are going to fight. We really battled the entire game, but
it is just some things that we are doing to ourselves. If we can clean those
things up, I like what this team can be.”
The Lady Cats struggled on the
offensive end of the floor as they shot 27 percent from the field, but they
hurt themselves on the free-throw line as they went 10-for-24.
It was tough to get good looks at
the basket most of the night against a tough Piper defense that applied
full-court pressure for part of the contest.
“We are not that far away,” Lowry
said. “The things we have been talking to the girls about time after time is
finishing plays at the rim, free-throw shooting and we really hurt ourselves
with those two things. Piper is obviously an extremely talented team, with
extremely talented players.
“The message to our girls was when we got down big early, was to settle down and to compete and they did that. We have a lot of progress left to do, both individually and as a team, but I sure like our kids and I like what the rest of the season can look like for us.”
Junior Megan Foote paced the Lady
Cats with a team-high 12 points, while junior Madilyn Melton finished with
seven points and five rebounds. Junior Alyse Moore pulled down a team-high 11
rebounds and senior Haley Cain also had five boards.
Piper took an 11-point halftime
lead and the Pirates were able to build on it into the fourth quarter as they
used a 9-2 run to pull away from the Lady Cats.
Louisburg, which is 3-1 going into
the holiday break, saw a lot of positives to begin its season. The Lady Cats
also realize they will be competing in several difficult games in the Frontier
League when they resume play in early January.
“We wanted to be 4-0, but we like
where we are at,” Lowry said. “We would have liked to have that other game
before break with the Frontenac game being postponed, but we are going to take
some days off here, regroup and get back after it. This group has high
expectations for themselves and you have to love that.
“This league is fantastic and what a great league to compete in. When we come back from break we will face a very good Eudora team, Baldwin is tough, Paola is strong again this year, Spring Hill is good and I think the league is going to be a race this year. I don’t think that anyone is going to run away with it. Piper is out to a good lead, but I think it will be competitive till the end.”
The Lady Cats will continue their
season on Jan. 7 when they travel to Turner. Louisburg will then go to Eudora
on Jan. 10 to start up league play.
LOU 10 7 9 3 – 29
PIP 16 12 10 9 – 47
LOUISBURG (3-1): Megan Foote 5-7
0-0 12; Madilyn Melton 1-6 5-12 7; Haley Cain 1-7 1-2 4; Alyse Moore 0-3 3-7 3;
Delaney Wright 1-1 0-0 2; Brianne Kuhlman 0-0 1-2 1. Totals: 8-30 10-24 29.
3-point field goals: 3, (Foote 2, Cain 1)