Bonner Springs rallies to beat Louisburg in final minute

Junior Alyse Moore puts up a runner in the lane Friday during the Lady Cats’ game with Bonner Springs at Bonner Springs High School.

BONNER SPRINGS – The Louisburg girls basketball team was within minutes of picking up a road win and snapping a mini losing streak.

Bonner Springs, however, had different ideas.

The Braves closed the game with 10 straight points and handed the Lady Cats a 43-39 loss Friday at Bonner Springs High School. It was the third straight loss for the Lady Cats as they head into the final week of the regular season.

“It was a tough loss for sure,” coach Leanna Willer said. “We were ahead the whole game, but just couldn’t finish it out as a team in those final minutes. We were all disappointed, especially because we knew that was a winnable game for us. However, we’ll give credit to Bonner Springs – they fought back hard to come out on top in the end.”

Louisburg (7-11) held the lead from early in the second quarter until late in the fourth. The Lady Cats built an eight-point lead on a couple different occasions, including early in the fourth quarter, but the Braves made one final push.

After Louisburg senior Haley Cain scored on an offensive rebound to put the Lady Cats up 38-31, Bonner Springs finished the game on a 12-1 run. The Braves tied the game with 58 seconds remaining and then took the lead a few moments later on a basket from Kim Whetstone.

It was Whetstone that caused the Lady Cats the most problems. She finished with a game-high 20 points, many of which came in the Braves’ 20-point fourth quarter, and also added 13 rebounds.

Louisburg had a couple different opportunities to either tie the game, or take the lead back, but either the shots wouldn’t fall or the Braves forced a turnover. The Lady Cats also struggled at the free-throw line as they were 3-for-13 for the contest.

The game was a back-and-forth affair early on as the lead changed hands eight times through the early part of the second quarter, but Louisburg junior Madilyn Melton helped build the Lady Cats’ lead. She scored 14 points from the second quarter to the early part of the fourth that helped give Louisburg a nine-point lead at the time.

Melton finished with a team-high 16 points to go along with eight rebounds and three blocked shots. Junior Alyse Moore was next on the team in scoring with seven points and six rebounds.

Junior Megan Foote led the Lady Cats with eight assists and had seven rebounds. Another junior, Brooklyn Diederich, had a team-high nine deflections and Foote added six. Sophomore Delaney Wright was second on the team with four assists and had a team-high two steals.

“I thought we did a much better job offensively being patient and moving the ball around to get the looks we wanted,” Willer said. “I think we also saw a glimpse of the potential that this team truly has to be great. We are so close to flipping that switch and being a really great team. At this point, we’re our own worst enemy. If we can figure out how to take care of things on our end and play as a team, we’ll be tough to beat.”

Louisburg will try and bounce back tonight when it hosts Metro Academy in its final home game. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m.

LOU               8             12           8             11 – 39

BON              10           6             7             20 – 43

LOUISBURG (7-11): Madilyn Melton 8-13 0-4 16; Alyse Moore 3-11 0-2 7; Brooklyn Diederich 2-8 0-0 6; Megan Foote 1-5 2-4 5; Haley Cain 1-3 0-0 2; Adyson Ross 1-1 0-0 2; Delaney Wright 0-5 1-3 1. Totals: 16-49 3-13 39. 3-point field goals: 4, (Diederich 2, Moore, Foote)

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