Lady Cats fall in overtime to Anderson County

Louisburg junior Megan Foote puts up a floater in the lane Tuesday during the Lady Cats’ game with Anderson County at Wellsville High School.

WELLSVILLE – Louisburg didn’t have
much left in the tank. The same could also be said for Anderson County.

The two teams beat each other up for 32 minutes, then the game went into overtime as both squads played physical in the first round of the Top Gun Tournament on Tuesday in Wellsville.

Whether it was diving for loose balls,
tough defense or fighting for rebounds, Louisburg and Anderson County left it
all on the court. Unfortunately for the Lady Cats, Anderson County made just
one more play.

The Bulldogs made a free throw with
8 seconds left to break the tie and Louisburg’s last second shot fell short as
the Lady Cats fell 70-69. The loss sends Louisburg to the consolations
semifinals where it will face off with Spring Hill at 5 p.m. today in
Wellsville.

It was a revenge win of sorts for
Anderson County after they Lady Cats defeated them in Louisburg back in
December.

Louisburg (6-4) appeared well on
their way to a victory early on as the Lady Cats jumped out to an 8-0 lead, but
Anderson County battled back and eventually took a 33-29 lead at halftime.

“Anderson County was tough and
physical like that the first time,” Louisburg coach Shawn Lowry said. “They
have improved and their record shows they have been playing well. I think maybe
when we got out to that early lead, we had some mentality stuff set in that probably
shouldn’t set in. The next thing you know we are in a game again and it was
back and forth the whole way. We had opportunities to win and had shots at the
rim that didn’t go in, but that is the way it goes sometimes.”

The Bulldogs built an eight-point
lead midway through the third quarter, but the Lady Cats were able to rally and
eventually take the lead. Junior Megan Foote connected on four free throws and
knocked down a 3-pointer with 15 seconds left in the third to bring the Lady
Cats within one.

Right before the end of the
quarter, Foote recorded a steal and passed it down the floor to Madilyn Melton
and she laid it in for a 48-47 lead.

Anderson County took the lead back
again, but Foote put together another run as she scored seven points late in
the fourth quarter, including a 3-pointer to tie the game at 62 with 1 minute
and 45 seconds left in the game. Foote then had a layup on the team’s next
possession and the Lady Cats went up 64-62 with 52 seconds remaining.

The Bulldogs eventually tied the game on a basket with 26 seconds left and the two teams went into overtime.

In the extra period, Melton and junior
Alyse Moore both scored to give Louisburg an early lead. However, with the game
tied with 8 seconds left, Louisburg was called for a foul after both teams dove
for a loose ball.

That sent Anderson County’s Cali
Foltz to the line as she made 1 of 2 free throws to give the Bulldogs the lead
for good.

“I thought we started out good,
but here is what we have to get away from,” Lowry said. “It can’t be me
challenging the kids and then they get tough. They are going to have to
collectively get together on that. In the second half, the girls just played
their tails off. Every single one of them played their tails off. Both teams
had zero gas left and it was just about taking shots. It was a fun overtime
high school game, but obviously wish we could have gotten the win there.”

Melton led the Lady Cats in
scoring with 22 points and had eight rebounds and five steals. Moore came close
to a triple-double as she tallied 21 points, 13 rebounds and she had seven
steals. She had 16 of those 21 points in the first half.

Foote finished the game with 15
points and five steals, while Brooklyn Diederich and Melton both led the team
with 10 deflections.

Louisburg had a hard time slowing
down Anderson County’s inside-outside combo of Rayna Jasper and Foltz. Jasper
had a game-high 28 points and was 9-for-10 from the free-throw line, while
Foltz finished with 23 points.

Sophomore Delaney Wright found herself on Jasper at the top of the Lady Cats’ zone defense and pressured her all night as Wright played the entire four quarters and overtime.

“I told Delaney if that girl doesn’t
come off the floor then you are not coming off the floor,” Lowry said. “If you
are tired, then she is going to be tired too and I think she stayed on the
floor the entire time. I thought we played with toughness and pride out there,
but it just didn’t come down to one shot, it came down to a lot of little
things.”

Louisburg will try and bounce back
today against Spring Hill and then will play for either fifth or seventh-place
Saturday against Topeka-Hayden or Lansing.

LOU               14           15           19           7             4 – 69

AC                  10           23           14           18           5 – 70

LOUISBURG (6-4): Madilyn Melton
8-17 5-9 22; Alyse Moore 8-16 5-7 21; Megan Foote 4-9 5-6 15; Delaney Wright
2-12 2-2 6; Brooklyn Diederich 2-5 0-0 5. Totals: 24-65 17-26 69. 3-point field
goals: 4, (Foote 2, Diederich 1, Melton 1)