Wildcats fall to Harrisonville in regular season finale

Louisburg sophomore Gavin Lohse fights for a rebound Thursday at Harrisonville High School. In a battle of Wildcats, Louisburg fell 51-43.

HARRISONVILLE, Mo. — It wasn’t the best of shooting nights Thursday when Louisburg ventured outside of league play to take on Harrisonville..

The Wildcats shot just 25 percent from the floor and were 43 percent from the free-throw line. However, there they were, down just two points midway through the final quarter.

Unfortunately for Louisburg, Harrisonville scored the final six points of the game and handed the Wildcats a 51-43 defeat in their regular season finale.

“It’s amazing we were still in the game with the way we shot the ball,” Louisburg coach Ty Pfannenstiel said. “We were getting decent looks, we just couldn’t get them to fall. Our guys actually had really good composure and kept grinding.”

Harrisonville jumped out to a quick 13-6 lead after the first quarter and then scored the first seven points of the second to go up 14 points. The Wildcats clawed back to make it a nine point contest at halftime.

Louisburg (8-12) played strong defense at times as it forced 18 Harrisonville turnovers. The Wildcats were also active on the glass with 15 offensive rebounds in the game and that led to 14 second chance points.

The Wildcats got some of those in the second half as it trimmed the lead to seven going into the final quarter.

A free throw from Colyer Wingfield made it four point game with two minutes remaining, and after a Harrisonville free throw, junior Nathan Parker hit a 3-pointer with 1:25 left to make it a 2-point contest.

The Wildcats got the ball back after a blocked shot from Mason Dobbins, but a 3-pointer from Parker rimmed out that would have given Louisburg the lead. Instead, Harrisonville went to the free-throw line and put the game away.

“Our guys always keep battling,” Pfannenstiel said. “When shots aren’t falling, you just have to keep getting stops and getting more opportunities on the offensive end. We were much better in the second half. We gave ourselves a chance in the end. Credit to the boys for continuing to fight.”

Wingfield led the Wildcats in scoring with 13 points and also had seven rebounds. Dobbins added a team-high 11 rebounds to go along with nine points, two blocks and two steals.

Parker came off the bench to hit a pair of 3-pointers and finished with eight points.

The loss put the Wildcats as a No. 13 seed in the sub-state tournament and will travel to No. 4 Bishop Miege for a 7 p.m. tipoff tomorrow at Bishop Miege High School.

Louisburg knows going up against the defending state champions will be a tough challenge.

“We are excited to play in the postseason,” Pfannenstiel said. “Not everyone gets a chance to play this week, so we are going to make the most of it. Like we do each game, I expect our guys to play hard and represent our school the right way. Our kids have worked really hard, so I know they will make our community proud.”

LOU 6 11 11 15 — 43

HAR 13 13 9 16 — 51

LOUISBURG (8-12): Colyer Wingfield 5-21 2-4 13; Mason Dobbins 4-7 1-6 9; Nathan Parker 2-7 2-2 8; Trey Myers 2-9 0-1 5; Conlee Hovey 1-3 1-2 3; Gavin Lohse 1-2 0-0 2; Brady Hickey 0-5 1-2 1; Myles Vohs 0-0 1-2 1; Brock Vohs 0-0 1-2 1. Totals: 15-60 9-21 43. 3-point field goals: 4, (Parker 2, Myers, Wingfield)

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