Guetterman cousins light up Spring Hill to help Wildcats in road win

Louisburg senior Weston Guetterman drives to the basket for two of his game-high 24 points in the Wildcats’ win Thursday over Spring Hill at Spring Hill High School.

SPRING HILL — For the first half anyway, Thursday’s game against Spring Hill became the Guetterman show.

Weston and Ben Guetterman, who are cousins, took it upon themselves to help get Louisburg off to a good start against the Broncos in hopes of getting a revenge win after a loss earlier this season.

The Louisburg senior guards certainly did their part as the two combined for 34 of the team’s 42 first half points and helped Wildcats to a 60-49 win over the Broncos at Spring Hill High School. It was also the third straight victory for Louisburg.

“Spring Hill started off in a Diamond and 1 look to try and take Julian (Margrave) away,” Louisburg coach Ty Pfannenstiel said. “That left their defense vulnerable to some penetration and open looks for the other guys. Weston and Ben really took advantage of that. We needed those guys to step up and they did. 

“When a team tries to do that, I think they kind of think that you are limited offensively in other areas. I think our guys took it personal and made them pay. Even though Spring Hill got out of it pretty quickly, I think it really jump started Ben and Weston for the rest of the game.”

The Wildcats (11-5) could seem to do no wrong in the first half as they scored 21 points in each of the first two quarters, while they held Spring Hill to just 20 points for the entire half. 

Weston and Ben accounted for all of the scoring in the first quarter as Louisburg jumped out to a 21-11 lead and the Wildcats’ confidence seemed to build.

“Obviously, we played well in the first half, actually the first three quarters,” Pfannenstiel said. “Defensively, we were making things tough on Spring Hill and we were efficient on offense. That’s a good combination.”

Weston finished with a game-high 24 points for the Wildcats to go along with four rebounds, two assists and two steals.

Ben also scored in double figures with 15 points, but was also big on the boards with seven rebounds and also led the Wildcats with four steals.

Junior Julian Margrave was big in the second half for the Wildcats as he finished with a double-double. Margrave scored 13 points and had 12 rebounds to help the Wildcats win the battle on the glass.

It was a big difference all-around from the Wildcats’ last meeting with the Broncos, in which the Wildcats lost by five at home. Louisburg shot 47 percent from the field and committed just nine turnovers.

“Well for one, we shot it better, so that’s the obvious stat that makes a big difference,” Pfannenstiel said. “But we shot it better because we were smarter offensively. We didn’t settle for as many outside shots. We took nine less threes in this game. I think we learned that in order for us to have a big offensive night, it doesn’t have to come from shooting the ball from behind the arc. We were much more efficient offensively. We cut down on turnovers this game as well. When you take care of the ball, you get more opportunities to score.”

The Wildcats were up by as much as 17 in the fourth quarter, but the Broncos made one last rally to cut it to eight on a couple different occasions, but could get no closer.

Louisburg will try continue its winning ways Thursday when it travels to Fort Scott for a makeup game. The Wildcats, who were scheduled to play Eudora tonight, will play the Cardinals at 11:30 a.m. at home Saturday in another makeup contest.

“Overall, I like where we are right now,” Pfannenstiel said. “I just hope this break due to the weather doesn’t halt our momentum. Our boys will be excited for the opportunity to get back out on the court.”

LOU 21 21 11 7 — 60

SH 11 9 13 16 — 49

LOUISBURG (11-5): Weston Guetterman 9-21 6-7 24; Ben Guetterman 6-9 0-0 15; Julian Margrave 6-11 0-0 13; Michael Seuferling 2-4 2-4 6; Maverick Rockers 1-3 0-0 2. Totals: 24-51 8-13 60. 3-point field goals: 4, (B. Guetterman 3, Margrave)

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