Lady Cats hold on against Frontenac to go 5-0 on season

Louisburg senior Emma Prettyman battles for a rebound Thursday during the Lady Cats’ game with Frontenac.

Two days after hitting 10 3-pointers and racking up 72 points, those points didn’t come quite as easy Thursday for the Louisburg girls basketball team.

The Lady Cats hosted Frontenac in their final game before the holidays and had to work for every basket. In the end, it was free throws that saved the day for Louisburg. 

Frontenac trimmed the Louisburg lead to one on couple different occasions in the final three minutes, but free throws from Adyson Ross and Emma Prettyman helped secure the 42-39 win.

For the game, the Lady Cats knocked down 11 of 15 free throw attempts.

“We were able to hit our free throws when we needed to,” Louisburg coach Adrianne Lane said. “One of the big things that we work on is hitting our free throws, and if we can do that, we are going to win games. They were super huge free throws to keep us ahead. I know they are so tired right now mentally and physically, so it was good to see the girls come through in some big moments.”

Down the stretch, both Ross and Prettyman made key plays. Prettyman knocked down a jumper with under two minutes left to extend the Louisburg lead to three and hit a pair of free throws.

Ross hit four straight free throws, including two with under a minute left to once again extend Louisburg’s lead to three points.

Frontenac had a chance to tie in the final seconds, but missed three straight shots and the Lady Cats were able to hold on for the win.

“They found a way to win and that was the most important thing,” Lane said. “It was a very different game than our last one, but I really thought we ran good offense though even though our shots weren’t going in.

“Emma (Prettyman) did a great job scoring for us and also rebounding as well. I thought it was one of her best games of the season so far.”

Prettyman led the Lady Cats in scoring with 12 points to go along with nine rebounds. Ross also scored in double figures with 11 points and five rebounds.

Emma Lohse, one of Louisburg’s smallest players, was active around the basket as she was second on the team with eight rebounds and also had three assists. Junior Ashley Branine led the Lady Cats with three steals on defense.

Senior Brianne Kuhlman provided the Lady Cats with strong play throughout the game with eight points and two assists. Kuhlman connected on a pair of 3-pointers — one in each half — to give her team a little boost offensively.

“Brianne is awesome and is the vocal captain for this team,” Lane said. “She really holds us together and does all the little things right that we need her to do. She hit a couple big 3s for us in this one and has in some other games as well. Super proud of her for looking to score and she is great rebounder too.”

The Lady Cats had a difficult challenge of trying to slow down Frontenac’s Hattie Pyle — the team’s leading scorer. Pyle, who finished with 16 points and 10 rebounds, was a factor for the Raiders all night.

“Pyle is very good player and probably one of the better players I have seen since I started coaching in Louisburg,” Lane said. “She is going to get her points and she was tough to guard. She posted us up some too and we lacked in some help defense, but did a good job overall.”

Now the Lady Cats head into the holidays with a 5-0 record and have a lot of momentum when they resume play again on Jan. 3 agains Eudora.

“We are very excited about that,” Lane said. “Our entire program is 15-0 as freshman and junior varsity haven’t lost yet either, so that is all very exciting. These girls have earned every win we have gotten. They have worked hard in practice and haven’t gotten better everyday. It is a huge start for our program and it is super exciting going into Christmas break.”

LOU 10 8 13 11 — 42

FRON 5 4 13 17 — 39

LOUISBURG (5-0): Emma Prettyman 5-7 2-3 12; Adyson Ross 3-10 5-6 11; Brianne Kuhlman 3-4 0-0 8; Ava Baker 2-8 1-2 5; Delanie Tally 1-8 0-0 3; Ashley Branine 0-4 2-2 2; Emma Lohse 0-3 1-2 1. Totals: 14-44 11-15 42. 3-point field goals: 3, (Kuhlman 2, Tally)

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