Wildcat offense comes to life in win over Baldwin

Louisburg senior Maverick Rockers scored 21 points and knocked down four 3-pointers in the Wildcats’ 75-64 win over Baldwin on Friday in Louisburg.

Just hours before Louisburg and Baldwin were scheduled to tipoff Friday, the Wildcats found out they would be without their head coach, Ty Pfannenstiel, who had to sit out with an illness.

It wasn’t exactly the most welcome news as the Wildcats were aiming for a revenge win over Bulldogs after losing to them back in December.

Despite the adversity, Louisburg responded with its best offensive performance of the season. 

Senior Michael Seuferling scored a game-high 29 points, while fellow senior Maverick Rockers had 21 in Louisburg’s 75-64 victory over Baldwin to give the Wildcats their first win since Dec. 10.

“I thought we played well,” Louisburg assistant coach Drew Harding said. “Offensively our ball movement was good and we moved well without the ball. That’s something we have focused on in practice so it was nice to see it happening during the game.  It was good to beat Baldwin after they beat us pretty good the last time we played them. Coach Pfannenstiel did a great job preparing the team and the boys executed well.”

Harding took over the head coaching reins for one night but didn’t have much notice as he found out mid-afternoon that Pfannenstiel wouldn’t be available. 

“I found out that I would be coaching around 2 o’clock that day,” Harding said. “I had a few nerves in between the JV game and the start of the varsity game but I knew Coach Pfannenstiel prepared them well and the team was ready to go.  Coach (Pete) Skakal was also a big time help on the bench throughout the game.”

Those nerves quickly went away for Harding as he watched the Wildcats score at will against Baldwin. Louisburg shot 60 percent from the floor, led by a pair of seniors.

Seuferling had a career-best 29 points to go along with four rebounds and four assists, while Rockers knocked in four 3-pointers to aid his 21-point performance and he also finished with four assists.

Junior forward Mack Newell also provided an inside presence for the Wildcats as he was a perfect 7-for-7 from the field to finish with 14 points and had a team-high seven rebounds.

“Sci Fi (Seuferling) and Mav were great,” Harding said. “Sci Fi has been playing under control more lately and utilizing his pull up jumper more. Mav really controlled the game well and shot the ball really well when the opportunity was there.  

“Mack had a big game coming off the bench. He played to his strengths and was a big time help on the boards when he was in there.”

The match-up was a one possession game for much of the night, that was until the fourth quarter. Louisburg, which led just 39-37 at halftime, put together a 23-point final frame got enough from its defense to seal the win.

Rockers provided the spark in that final quarter with 11 of his 21 points, including three 3-pointers. The Wildcats also held Baldwin’s leading scorer Cole Mahaffey to 14 points on the night.

“I think we played much better defensively in the second half,” Harding said. “First half I think we gave up 37, which is far more than we would like. We knew we had to slow Mahaffey down and try to keep him out of the paint because he is tough when he gets in there. Second half, we really focused on a few keys and slowed him down compared to the first half.”

Louisburg will try and build on its momentum tonight as the Wildcats travel to Basehor to take part in the Bobcat Invitational. The Wildcats will face off with the host school, Basehor-Linwood, at 7:30 p.m.

LOU 16 23 13 23 — 75

BAL 14 23 12 15 — 64

LOUISBURG (3-4): Michael Seuferling 12-18 3-5 29; Maverick Rockers 8-13 1-1 21; Mack Newell 7-7 0-0 14; Isaac Guetterman 3-6 0-0 7; Luke Hill 0-0 2-2 2; Hunter Rogers 0-0 2-2 2. Totals: 30-50 8-13 75. 3-point field goals: 7, (Rockers 4, Seuferling 2, Guetterman)

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