Wildcats’ rally falls short in homecoming loss to Ottawa

Louisburg sophomore Gavin Lohse goes up for a shot and gets fouled Friday during the Wildcats’ homecoming game against Ottawa.

It was a night and day difference for the Louisburg boys basketball team Friday against Ottawa.

The last time the Wildcats faced off with the Cyclones, they fell on the road by 16. It was a lot closer this time around.

Louisburg had a four-point halftime lead on Ottawa, and had a chance to tie in the game’s final seconds, but the Wildcats came up short in a 50-46 loss.

As disappointing as the setback was for Louisburg, Wildcat coach Ty Pfannenstiel saw several good things from this team.

“The three keys going into the game for us was energy, energy and energy,” Pfannenstiel said. “I just wanted to emphasize how important it was for us to come out and play with energy. We started off pressing and wanted to play more up-tempo. We started off really well. We played with energy all night, but when they switched to their zone, we struggled against it a little bit.”

The Wildcats (7-8) got out to a strong start as it scored the first six points of the game and took a 12-9 lead after one quarter. 

Ottawa made a run late in the first half to take a one-point lead, but Wildcat freshman Luke Schultz answered with a 3-pointer. Senior Colyer Wingfield ended the half with a steal and a breakaway dunk to put Louisburg up 27-23 at halftime.

In the second half, Ottawa turned the tables as the Cyclones went zone to slow down the Wildcats and they heated up on offense. Ottawa hit four 3-pointers in the frame to take the lead midway through the third and wouldn’t relinquish it.

The Wildcats trailed by four late in the fourth when junior Nathan Parker knocked down a 3-pointer to cut it to one. Ottawa went on to hit two free throws to stretch its lead to three.

Louisburg had one final chance to tie it, but a 3-pointer from the corner wouldn’t go down and the Cyclones left win a win.

“We just had bad stretches,” Pfannenstiel said. “That third quarter was a really bad stretch. There was a moment in the fourth that was a bad stretch. We need to find ways to eliminate those, and if we don’t have those, we would have been in a lot better position at the end.

“We had the play drawn up that we beat them on last year at the buzzer. They saw that coming, so we had to change what we wanted to do. They had some fouls to give too, so they were trying to foul and makes it tougher to run a play. We still got a good look on the inbounds play, but we just couldn’t get it to fall.”

Wingfield led the Wildcats in scoring on the night with 15 points and four assists, while Parker connected on four 3-pointers and finished with 12. Senior Mason Dobbins had a team-high nine rebounds

The Wildcats will try and end its 3-game losing skid tonight as they host Tonganoxie. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m.

LOU 12 15 9 10 — 46

OTT 9 14 16 11 — 50

LOUISBURG (7-8): Colyer Wingfield 6-16 2-2 15; Nathan Parker 4-6 0-0 12; Conlee Hovey 2-3 0-0 4; Mason Dobbins 2-4 0-2 4; Luke Schultz 1-1 0-0 3; Cade Gassman 1-3 0-0 2; Myles Vohs 1-1 0-0 2; Gavin Lohse 1-3 0-2 2; Isaiah Whitley 1-2 0-0 2. Totals: 19-40 2-6 46. 3-point field goals: 6, (Parker 4, Wingfield, Schultz)

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