Mynsted’s big fourth quarter lifts Louisburg past Tonganoxie

Louisburg junior Jordan Mynsted scored 12 of her game-high 22 points in the fourth quarter and helped the Lady Cats to a 49-37 victory.

For the first time all season, the entire Louisburg girls basketball team found themselves on the court at the same time.

The Lady Cats couldn’t have picked a better occasion for it.

Due to a couple different quarantines that affected several players on the Louisburg team, the Lady Cats have been unable to work as a group since practice started in the middle of November.

However, all of the players were finally cleared Friday and it led to a season opening win.

The Lady Cats used a 20-point fourth quarter that helped them to a 49-37 victory over Tonganoxie on Friday. In the process, Adrianne Lane earned her first win as the team’s head coach.

“Considering this is the first time that we have actually gotten a chance to play together, it is super exciting,” Lane said. “I think this win will definitely help the girls’ morale as we move forward. I am really excited for them because they have deserved it, especially after everything we have been through to get to this point.”

After a tough third quarter that helped Tonganoxie cut an 11-point halftime deficit to just four, junior Jordan Mynsted gave Louisburg the lift it need in the final period.

Mynsted scored a game-high 22 points, including 12 straight points in the fourth quarter as the Chieftains didn’t have an answer for the Lady Cat forward. Mynsted also pulled down seven rebounds.

“Jordan did awesome,” Lane said. “She really hadn’t gotten a chance to play many minutes because she was sitting with foul trouble, so that was huge that she came out and scored those 12 in a row. We really needed that spark to come in and get us going.

“At the same time, I think our defense was great. So between Jordan’s performance, and the defense, I think that really set us apart.”

The Lady Cat defense frustrated the Chieftains at times as they held Tonganoxie to just nine first half points and put together several crucial stops in the fourth quarter.

Louisburg turned Tonganoxie over 20 times thanks to its pressure defense and senior guard Megan Foote led the way with five steals. Foote also finished with seven points to go along with nine rebounds.

Senior forward Alyse Moore was big for Louisburg on the glass as she recorded a team-high 15 rebounds and also had two steals. Junior Delaney Wright had a team-high four deflections and three assists.

Senior Brooklyn Diederich also knocked in a pair of 3-pointers, while senior Madilyn Melton had five points and eight rebounds.

Louisburg got out to a good start and took a 20-9 halftime lead thanks to a Diederich 3-pointer at the buzzer. The players started to get more comfortable with each other as the game went along and it led to the big fourth quarter, including those 12 straight points from Mynsted.

“It was kind of iffy at times, but once we got into the game a little further, I feel that we read each other better,” Lane said. “This win really makes me excited for the future because the girls were starting to gel a little bit and we were getting better as we went. Once we got into the flow, it continued to get better and obviously it will get better once we can actually practice together with everyone.

“It was a super physical game. I felt that our fouls in the first half were more because of how excited we were and we just needed to calm down a little bit. We were reaching a lot when we didn’t need to and I feel like we were kind of bailing them out a little bit. The second half was very physical and I am glad that the girls played that way. I preach that to them all the time that we need to be physical.”

Louisburg will try for its second consecutive win Tuesday when it hosts Burlington. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m.

LOU               6             14           9             20 – 49

TON              3             6             16           12 – 37

LOUISBURG (1-0): Jordan Mynsted 9-15 4-4 22; Megan Foote 1-5 4-6 7; Brooklyn Diederich 2-8 0-0 6; Alyse Moore 1-8 3-5 5; Madilyn Melton 2-8 1-2 5; Brianne Kuhlman 0-1 2-2 2; Adyson Ross 0-1 2-2 2. Totals: 15-53 16-21 49. 3-point field goals: 3, (Diederich 2, Moore)