Lady Cats can’t keep up with Noel, Braves on road

Louisburg senior Emma Prettyman goes up for one of her team-high nine rebounds Friday at Bonner Springs.

BONNER SPRINGS — For almost the entire 32 minutes, the Louisburg girls found themselves within striking distance of Bonner Springs.

Bonner Springs senior Mariyah Noel made sure the Lady Cats never got too close.

Noel, a University of Mississippi commit, finished the game with 26 points and pulled down 17 rebounds as she led Bonner Springs to a 52-45 win over the Lady Cats.

“Mariyah is a great player and she always had an answer for our runs,” Louisburg coach Adrianne Lane said. “Anytime she rebounded she would go full court and make a shot. She is super talented.”

Bonner Springs led by just three points after the first quarter and the game stayed that way as the Braves led the Lady Cats 22-19 at halftime. 

Louisburg’s Ava Baker knocked down a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give the Lady Cats a little momentum going into the locker room.

The Lady Cats (8-5) got out to a little run to begin the second half as senior Delanie Tally hit back-to-back 3-pointers to put Louisburg up 25-22 just a couple minutes into the third quarter.

Bonner Springs then went on a mini 6-0 run to put the Braves back up by three and they never relinquished the lead. The Braves extended their lead by as many 12 points in fourth quarter to seal the win.

Seniors Emma Prettyman and Baker did their best to keep the Lady Cats in the contest. Baker finished with a team-high 18 points to go along with eight rebounds. As for Prettyman, she tallied 10 points and nine rebounds in the loss.

“Ava and Emma both played well against Bonner,” Lane said. “They both played very smart on the inside and did a great job being a threat when they got the basketball. They hit some big shots to keep us in the game and did a great job rebounding.”

Senior point guard Brianne Kuhlman tallied a team-high five assists and five rebounds, while senior Emma Lohse added four assists.

Louisburg will try and bounce back tonight as it travels to rival Paola. The Lady Cats will also host Ottawa this Friday as they try for a revenge win on homecoming.

“This is a huge week for us and we for sure are looking for some wins this week,” Lane said. “We are very excited to play our rival Paola, and get a second chance at Ottawa. This week will continue to be hard for the team with it being homecoming, but I think we will be able to hold our own and play some great basketball.”

LOU 7 12 14 12 — 45

BON 10 12 14 16 — 52

LOUISBURG (8-5): Ava Baker 6-13 4-4 18; Emma Prettyman 5-9 0-2 10; Delanie Tally 2-9 0-0 6; Adyson Ross 2-14 0-0 5; Emma Lohse 1-4 0-0 3; Brianne Kuhlman 1-7 0-0 3. Totals: 17-58 4-6 45. 3-point field goals: 7, (Baker 2, Tally 2, Lohse, Kuhlman, Ross)