Tally’s big second half helps Lady Cats to win over No. 8 Baldwin

Louisburg senior Delanie Tally scored 18 of her game-high 20 points in the second half Tuesday and led the Lady Cats to a 72-44 win over No. 8-ranked Baldwin.

It may have been just its fourth game of the season, but the Louisburg girls basketball team looked like its was in midseason form.

The Lady Cats picked a good opponent to do it against Tuesday.

Louisburg hosted No. 8 Baldwin and put together a 72-44 victory thanks to its best shooting performance of the season. The Lady Cats knocked down 10 3-pointers and shot better than 50 percent for the game.

It was the second half where the Lady Cats shined the most as they scored 45 points in the final two quarters. Louisburg took its eight-point halftime lead and ran with it.

“I was so proud of them,” Louisburg coach Adrianne Lane said. “At halftime, I told them that we cannot come out and let them get back in the ballgame. They definitely put on a show. Everyone was making shots and we weren’t just settling either. We were passing the ball around and getting layups or wide open looks. They were working together and was great to see.”

The instigator of that second half for Louisburg was Delanie Tally. She entered the locker room with just two points and found herself a little frustrated.

The Lady Cat senior guard was a different person in the second half as Tally scored 18 of her game-high 20 points in the final two quarters and knocked down four of the team’s 10 3-pointers. She also finished with a team-high in steals (3) and assists (3).

“Delanie was very upset at halftime,” Lane said. “I told her that we don’t need her to score a lot, but that she needed to keep playing like she was and that it would eventually come. Then she went off and it was great to see. She plays more confident when she make some shots. It was awesome.”

Tally was one of three Wildcats to score in double figures and one of those players made her season debut.

Senior Ava Baker played in her first game back from injury and certainly left her mark. Baker finished with 11 points and knocked down three 3-pointers in what was a memorable opening game for her.

“It was very nice to have Ava back,” Lane said. “She is so excited when she gets out on the court and she brings a spark out there. The girls just love her and they are happy to see her back out there playing. She made a basket right away, hit a couple 3s and it was fun to watch her have success.”

Another senior, Adyson Ross, was a focus of the Bulldog defense, but that didn’t stop her from getting on the scoreboard. Ross was second on the team with 15 points and had team-highs in rebounds (7), assists (3) and steals (3).

Senior point guard Brianne Kuhlman also had a good outing with eight points and also tallied three assists to go along with six rebounds.

“When all the girls contribute like that, we are going to be really hard to guard,” Lane said. “They were all making baskets, making good back door cuts and were all driving to the basket. It is very hard for teams to pick who they want to guard. They started to face guard Adyson, but I thought she did a good job getting easy baskets as well, and posting her defender up. She learned and scored a lot too.”

Defensively, the Lady Cats held Baldwin to 40 percent shooting and wanted to try to take away the team leading scorer — Karly Neufeld. Although she scored 14 points, the Washburn signee had most of her points from the free-throw line. 

Louisburg senior Emma Lohse was given the job of shadowing Neufeld and helped limit her to only six shots.

“We wanted to face guard Karly as much as possible and Emma Lohse did a great job on her,” Lane said. “Eight of those points she got were from the free-throw line so Emma did a good job on her and Tally did great as well when she was guarding her.”

The Lady Cats took a 27-19 lead into halftime before exploding for 23 third quarter points. Louisburg put the game away as it outscored Baldwin 22-10 in the final period.

Lane was able to empty her bench and sophomore Ally Brown put the icing on the cake as she knocked down a 3-pointer late in the fourth to score her first varsity basket.

Louisburg will try and stay undefeated as it hosts Frontenac tonight in its final game before the holiday break. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m.

LOU 17 10 23 22 — 72

BAL 11 8 15 10 — 44

LOUISBURG (4-0): Delanie Tally 6-13 4-6 20; Adyson Ross 6-9 3-7 15; Ava Baker 4-5 0-1 11; Brianne Kuhlman 3-6 1-3 8; Ashley Branine 3-4 0-0 6; Emma Lohse 2-9 0-0 5; Emma Prettyman 0-1 3-3 3; Ally Brown 1-2 0-0 3; Mackenzie Rooney 0-0 1-2 1. Totals: 25-49 12-22 72. 3-point field goals: 10, (Tally 4, Baker 3, Lohse, Kuhlman, Brown)