Four seniors to guide Lady Cats basketball

Alyse Moore is one of four Louisburg seniors to guide the Lady Cats this season.

The season hasn’t quite started for the Louisburg girls basketball team, but COVID-19 is already making its presence known in the program.

In its close to three weeks of practice, the Lady Cats have yet to be able to practice as a full group. It is just one of the many challenges for first-year head coach Adrianne Lane, as Louisburg preps for its season opener this Friday.

“We have had a rough start with COVID, as we have had to quarantine two different groups at different times so far this season,” Lane said. “It is hard to prepare for quarantines, but we are conditioning and trying to be in good shape so if we only have a few girls for games we will be able to still compete. We also have had a couple walk through practices to help the girls learn the plays and we will continue to do this throughout the season. I feel them being mentally strong is as important as physically strong.”

Louisburg is coming off an 8-13 season, which included a close first round loss to Baldwin in the playoffs. It was one of the better games the Lady Cats had played all season and they are hoping to use that and get off to a good start this season.

Even with all the quarantine problems, Louisburg has a good base on which to build off of, starting with four seniors.

Megan Foote, Alyse Moore, Madilyn Melton and Brooklyn Diederich all started last season for Louisburg and three of them were all-Frontier League players a year ago. All four figure to play big roles for the Lady Cats this season.

Melton was the team’s leading scorer from a season ago and earned second team all-league honors. She averaged 13 points and seven rebounds a year ago from the forward spot.

Moore and Diederich both earned honorable mention all-league honors and Diederich was the team’s best 3-pointer shooter, along with being strong defensively with six deflections and two steals a contest.

Moore, one of the team’s post players, led Louisburg with eight rebounds a game a season ago to go along with nine points and three steals.

Foote served as the team’s point guard last season and looks to guide the Lady Cat offense. The players have made Lane’s first year as seamless as possible

“This has been an easy transition for me and that is because of the girls and how they have made me feel welcome,” Lane said “The girls have great attitudes and are willing to put in the work to learn and get better daily. Having four returning seniors has been a blessing. These four girls are great leaders and they have set the tone for this year’s team.”

Louisburg also returns several underclassmen that are prepared to play vital roles as well, starting with Delaney Wright. The Louisburg junior guard started several games a season ago, while junior Jordan Mynsted will see a lot of time under the basket. Sophomore guards Brianne Kuhlman and Adyson Ross will see varsity time as well.

Although the Lady Cats return experience from a season ago, they are not resting on their laurels and are looking forward to having a winning season.

With all the absences from practice, Lane is currently putting together her varsity players that are available, with the junior varsity to help create as strong of a lineup as possible early in the season.

The Lady Cats open the year Friday at home against Tonganoxie.

“This team has many strengths, but I feel our greatest strength is our work ethic,” Lane said. “The girls work very hard and practice hard every day and they are not afraid to battle against each other. They make each other better every day.