Wildcats fall to Piper in second straight loss

Louisburg senior Andy Hupp puts up a shot over a Piper defender Monday in Louisburg.

The Louisburg boys basketball team had one of its most difficult challenges to date as the Wildcats hosted Piper on Monday in Louisburg.

It was easy to see why early on.

Piper used its athleticism and shooting from the outside to get out to a good start and the Wildcats weren’t able to recover in a 65-47 home loss to the Class 5A school. It is the second straight loss for Louisburg.

“Piper played really well,” Louisburg coach Ty Pfannenstiel said. “Their athleticism made it tough for us on the offensive end. We got some good looks, but we didn’t string enough good possessions together to ever get comfortable. 

“They really are good at attacking off the dribble, so our plan was to work hard to keep them out of the paint and make them settle for perimeter shots. Unfortunately, it came on a night where they shot it well from the outside. We got into a little foul trouble in the first half so we went zone against them in hopes of slowing them down. They had success against both of our defensive looks.”

The Pirates, who connected on nine 3-pointers on the night, jumped out to a quick 19–9 lead at the end of the first quarter.

Early in the second quarter, Ben Guetterman and Julian Margrave hit back-to-back 3-pointers to cut the Piper lead to seven, but it was as close as the Wildcats could get.

Piper took a 12-point lead into halftime, but the Wildcats cut it to seven again early in the third quarter on five straight points from Michael Seuferling. The Pirates responded again with a 10-4 run to end the quarter and put the game out of reach.

Margrave led the Wildcats with 17 points, six rebounds and two blocks, while Guetterman added 13 points. Seuferling also scored in double figures with 12.

Louisburg (8-4) will try and get back on track tonight when it hosts Spring Hill as the Wildcats try to break their two-game losing streak. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m.

“Basketball is like that sometimes,” Pfannenstiel said. “You’re going to have some off nights. When you have one of those nights, you hope that you can play well defensively. Unfortunately, Piper was clicking on both ends. 

“We’re going to be just fine. We’re going to get a few things squared away in practice and look forward to getting back out there tonight.”

LOU 9 14 11 13 – 47

PIP 19 16 12 18 – 65

LOUISBURG (8-4): Julian Margrave 5-10 5-6 17; Ben Guetterman 5-15 1-2 13; Michael Seuferling 3-8 6-7 12; Konnor Vohs 1-3 1-2 3; Weston Guetterman 0-8 2-2 2. Totals: 14-50 15-20 47. 3-point field goals: 4, (B. Guetterman 2, Margrave 2)