Lady Cats get back on winning track with victory at Paola

Louisburg junior Ashley Branine goes up for a shot in the lane Tuesday during the Lady Cats’ 53-37 win at Paola High School.

PAOLA — Nothing like a road win against your rival to help get things right again.

That is exactly what the Louisburg girls got Tuesday at Paola. After back-to-back losses to state-ranked teams, the Lady Cats put together a strong performance on the road as they knocked off the Panthers, 53-37.

Louisburg used its defense and timely shots to get back on the winning track.

“We played well overall.” Louisburg coach Adrianne Lane said. “We moved the ball well, which I really thought was key in this game. We needed to keep it moving, cut back door, get it inside and throw it back out if we needed to. The girls did a really good job.

“They were very excited for this game. We needed this one for sure and the girls played well. They played smart and it was good to see.”

Defensively, the Lady Cats turned the Panthers over 21 times, which included 18 steals. Senior Emma Lohse made things difficult on Paola with a team-high five steals and senior Delanie Tally added four.

Louisburg took a 30-19 lead at halftime and the Lady Cats held Paola to just five points in the third quarter to balloon their lead to 19.

“I thought we did well defensively,” Lane said. “Paola is a pretty big team and I think they outsized us at almost every position. We did a good job holding our own and boxing out on missed shots.”

Senior Adyson Ross hit several big shots throughout the night for Louisburg as she finished with a team-high 18 points and a team-best nine rebounds.

Senior Ava Baker added nine points, while senior Emma Prettyman had eight on the inside to go along with seven rebounds — six of those coming on the offensive end.

The Lady Cats will try to avenge a loss from earlier in the season as they host Ottawa on Friday for their homecoming game. Tipoff its set for 6 p.m.

“I am excited for Friday,” Lane said. “It is a long week with homecoming and everything going on. We get to play Ottawa again and we are going to have to be ready. We are going to have to play physical and we have to finish in the lane for sure. We are excited for the opportunity.”

LOU 14 16 13 10 — 53

PAO 11 8 5 13 — 37

LOUISBURG (9-5): Adyson Ross 7-16 2-5 18; Ava Baker 4-12 0-0 9; Emma Prettyman 2-8 4-4 8; Delanie Tally 3-10 0-0 7; Ashley Branine 2-8 0-0 4; Brianne Kuhlman 2-3 0-0 4; Mackenzie Rooney 1-1 0-0 3. Totals: 21-64 6-9 53. 3-point field goals: 5, (Ross 2, Tally, Baker, Rooney)