Wildcats fall in final two games before holiday break

Louisburg forward Colyer Wingfield puts a shot up over a pair of Piper defenders Thursday at Louisburg High School.

It was just a seven point game early in the fourth quarter and the Louisburg boys basketball team put itself in a position to try and knock off Piper in its final game before the holiday break.

Then in the final five minutes, the Wildcats could no longer keep up with the quicker and more athletic Piper team.

The Pirates used a suffocating press in the fourth quarter and scored 24 points in the final period to hand Louisburg a 65-42 loss Thursday in Louisburg.

“I thought we battled,” Louisburg coach Ty Pfannenstiel said. “We were right there for the first three quarters, but couldn’t quite capitalize when we had some chances. Our kids always play hard, but against a talented team like Piper, we have a very little margin for error.”

Louisburg (2-3) faced an uphill battle for much of the game as the Wildcats’ center — Mack Newell — had to sit with foul trouble. Piper was able to take advantage as it outscored Louisburg 30-12 in the paint. 

The Wildcats turned the ball over 21 times and the Pirates scored 15 points off those mistakes — much of which came in the fourth quarter.

“I thought we handled their pressure pretty well for the first three quarters, but it definitely wore on us in the fourth,” Pfannenstiel said. “When we got gassed, Piper took advantage with their depth. We really struggled to rebound, especially when Mack got in foul trouble. He and Colyer (Wingfield) are kind of our guys on the boards, but we have to do a better job with everyone else contributing as well.”

Three Wildcats accounted for all but five points of the team’s total.

Senior point guard Maverick Rockers tried to keep the Wildcats in the game with 17 points, including three 3-pointers. Fellow seniors Michael Seuferling and Carson Kern each finished with 10.

Wingfield led Louisburg with nine rebounds on the night and Seuferling finished with four assists.

Louisburg will be back in action in the new year as the Wildcats travel to Eudora on Jan. 7 to resume its season.

LOU 9 9 13 11 — 42

PIP 12 19 10 24 — 65

LOUISBURG (2-3): Maverick Rockers 6-11 2-2 17; Michael Seuferling 3-13 4-9 10; Carson Kern 3-5 2-2 10; Hunter Rogers 1-2 1-2 3; Colyer Wingfield 1-4 0-6 2. Totals: 14-38 9-21 42. 3-point field goals: 5, (Rockers 3, Kern 2)

Louisburg comes up short on the road at Baldwin

Louisburg was riding a two-game win streak heading into its Dec. 14 road matchup against Baldwin.

Unfortunately, the Wildcats didn’t have much of an answer for Baldwin’s Cole Mahaffey.

Mahaffey scored a game-high 25 points and pulled down eight boards to help hand Louisburg a 57-41 loss.

“Baldwin is really improved,” Pfannenstiel said. “They have a couple of players that have made big strides since last season. Once again, we were pretty cold from the field, so we really put a lot of pressure on our defense to get stops.  Mahaffey had a big night. He was too much for us.”

The Wildcats struggled from the field as they shot just 30 percent from the floor, while Baldwin shot almost 48 percent and knocked down seven 3-pointers.

Baldwin outscored Louisburg 16-8 in the second quarter and the Bulldogs took a 30-18 halftime lead. Baldwin also outrebounded Louisburg 40-26.

“I told the kids after the game that we are going to work hard to try and generate some more offense, because it’s going to be hard to win games in the 40s,” Pfannenstiel said. “We got more shot attempts up than Baldwin, now we just have to get them to fall. We are making improvements in areas, now we just have to find some consistency and confidence.”

Michael Seuferling led Louisburg in scoring with 15 points and was the lone Wildcat to score in double figures. He also finished with a team-high four steals.

Colyer Wingfield scored seven points and pulled down a team-high seven rebounds.

LOU 10 8 11 12 — 41

BAL 14 16 11 16 — 57

LOUISBURG: Michael Seuferling 7-15 0-0 15; Colyer Wingfield 2-7 3-8 7; Maverick Rockers 2-11 0-0 6; Isaac Guetterman 2-5 0-0 5; Carson Kern 1-4 1-2 3; Hunter Rogers 1-3 0-0 3; Mack Newell 1-8 0-0 2. Totals: 16-54 4-10 41. 3-point field goals: 5, (Rockers 2, Seuferling, Rogers, Guetterman)