Rough second half sinks Wildcats against No. 6 Ottawa

Louisburg senior Garrett Rolofson battles for a rebound last Friday during the Wildcats’ game against Ottawa at Ottawa High School.

OTTAWA – The Louisburg boys basketball team knew it had a difficult challenge on its hands Friday when it had to travel to face off with No. 6 Ottawa.

The Cyclones are considered one of the top teams in Class 4A, but after the first half was over, the Wildcats were within just one point of the Cyclones when the third quarter began.

It was then the Cyclones took off.

Ottawa scored 39 second half points and the Wildcats couldn’t keep pace as they fell 60-38 at Ottawa High School. It was the second straight loss for Louisburg.

“Ottawa got off to a good start in the second half,” Louisburg coach Ty Pfannenstiel said. “They were able to get to the lane a lot easier and we weren’t as good on help-side defense and they have some kids who can really play. They were able to drive and kick it out and they hit more shots in the second half, obviously.

“We have to start better than we did. We got down seven and then I think that led to some unforced turnovers where we tried to do too much. Defensively we struggled in the second half and we aren’t going to be able to win many games giving up 40 points in a half.”

It was a back-and-forth first half as the two teams traded leads on a couple different occasions. Late in the first quarter, Louisburg took an 11-10 lead on a 3-pointer from Julian Margrave and a putback from Garrett Rolofson.

The Wildcats also took a 20-19 advantage late in the first half on a drive from Weston Guetterman, but trailed 21-20 at halftime. Louisburg was also able to slow down Ottawa big man Kobe Johnson to help keep the game close.

“Defensively we were really good in the first half,” Louisburg coach Ty Pfannenstiel said. “Our help-side defense was good and we knew we were going to need that against Johnson as he is a tough player to guard. He has a lot of varsity experience and he is as physical of kid as we are going to play against this year. We did a good job on him, but overall our intensity was good.

“We weren’t great by any means offensively in the first half, but we were able to hang in there. We were efficient, but we have to be able to put two halves together.”

Ottawa opened the second half on an 11-0 run and scored 24 points in the third quarter to distance itself from Louisburg.

Margrave led the Wildcats in scoring with 16 points, including a dunk, and had six rebounds, while Weston Guetterman finished with nine points on the night. Rolofson recorded a team-high 10 rebounds.

Louisburg will try and bounce back this Friday when it hosts Spring Hill for homecoming. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m.

LOU               11           9             9             9 – 38

OTT               13           8             24           15 – 60

LOUISBURG (6-9): Julian Margrave 6-17 16; Weston Guetterman 2-4 5-6 9; Garrett Rolofson 3-10 0-0 6; Ben Guetterman 1-8 0-0 3; Michael Waldron 1-3 0-0 2; Charlie Peters 1-1 0-0 2. Totals: 14-49 5-6 38. 3-point field goals: 5, (Margrave 4, B. Guetterman)

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