Rough first quarter sinks Wildcats at Tonganoxie

Louisburg junior Colyer Wingfield goes up for a basket and gets fouled Friday in the Wildcats’ season opener at Tonganoxie High School.

TONGANOXIE — Outside of the first quarter, the Louisburg boys basketball team played even with Tonganoxie on Friday in its season opener.

However, that first quarter was something the Wildcats weren’t able to recover from.

Tonganoxie outscored the Wildcats by 16 in the opening frame and handed Louisburg a 61-48 loss at Tonganoxie High School. 

“Tongie came out in a zone defense, which is what we were expecting,” Louisburg coach Ty Pfannenstiel said. “We talked about the importance of attacking the zone, but we struggled to get into any kind of offensive rhythm. I thought we did a pretty good job of being aggressive, but we didn’t get very many clean looks once we got the ball inside. We had some good looks from the perimeter, but we didn’t get any of them to fall.”

Louisburg trailed 22-6 after the first quarter, but a team with just one returning starter, the Wildcats didn’t back down. They trailed 35-17 at halftime, but the Wildcats went on a run to cut into Tonganoxie’s lead.

The Wildcats trimmed the lead to 10 after a pair of baskets from Michael Seuferling, one from Colyer Wingfield and a 3-pointer from Maverick Rockers.

“Even when we got down early, I thought we’d be fine,” Pfannenstiel said. “We just needed to get going offensively and settle in on defense. We came out the second half with a lot of energy and did a nice job of cutting it to 10. But Tongie went on a run to close out the third quarter which put us right back where we started.”

Rockers had a big game scoring the ball for Louisburg with a team-high 15 points, while Wingfield finished with 11. Seuferling also finished in double figures with 10 points. 

Tonganoxie also had three players in double figures, led by Andrew Wilson’s 19 points. Culyer Kietzmann scored 13 points and Zane Novotney had 12. 

“They’ve got two really good guards that can really put stress on a defense,” Pfannenstiel said. “Our on ball defense wasn’t as good as I hoped. I really thought we’d have more success keeping our man in front of us, but when they were able to drive the ball like they were, they were getting to the rim and then started kicking it out to shooters. 

“They hit some big shots on the perimeter which helped them stretch out their lead early. We have to do a better job of closing down those driving lanes.”

Louisburg will try for its first win of the season tonight when the Wildcats travel to Burlington for a 7:30 p.m. tipoff.

“It’s the first game, so we are so grateful for the opportunity to get back on the court,” Pfannenstiel said. “Our effort was great against Tongie, but obviously we have areas where we need to get better. We will get back to work and look forward to our next game.”

LOU 6 11 11 20 — 48

TONG 22 13 11 15 — 61

LOUISBURG (0-1): Maverick Rockers 15, Colyer Wingfield 11, Michael Seuferling 10, Mack Newell 7, Hunter Rogers 3, Isaac Guetterman 2. Totals 20 3-7 48. 3-point field goals: 5, (Rockers 3, Wingfield, Rogers)

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