Louisburg girls fall to Girard to finish home tourney 1-2

Louisburg junior Shylar Whiting splits two defenders Friday during the Lady Cats’ tournament game against Girard.

Coming into the Louisburg Invitational winless on the season, the Lady Cats had a chance to finish their home tournament with a pair of wins Friday against Girard.

After winning the tournament opener, and falling to Chanute on Thursday, the Lady Cats played a tight game against Girard and had their chances, Unfortunately, Louisburg came up short in a 42-34 setback to the Trojans.

The Lady Cats had a four-point lead midway through the third quarter, but the Trojans were able to pull away with a 10-0 run.

“The first night was good, Friday was good, but the Chanute game was not the greatest,” Louisburg coach Adrianne Lane said. “I thought we grew as a team throughout the tournament, and even though we lost, I thought the girls got better. Everyone was in it and were playing hard. We are headed in the right direction for sure.”

It was a rough start for the Lady Cats early as Girard jumped out to a 10-1 advantage, but were eventually able to battle back. Louisburg went on a 12-0 run of its own midway through the second quarter.

Ashlyn Kuhlman and Sami Lane had baskets, then Shylar Whiting hit a 3-pointer to put the Lady Cats up 11-10. Kuhlman added another bucket with 4 minutes and 30 seconds left in the second quarter to increase the lead to three.

Girard went on mini 6-1 run to end the first half and took a 16-14 lead into the locker room.

The Lady Cats built another lead midway through the third quarter as junior Ally Brown scored five straight points to put Louisburg up 23-19 with three minutes left in the third.

Girard, once again had another answer, and it was a big one as it went on a 15-2 run to build its lead back up to 11 midway through the fourth quarter.

Brown, who scored a game-high eight points, knocked in a 3-pointer to cut the lead to eight. About 15 seconds later, sophomore Zyleigh Melton then knocked in a pair of free throws to make it a 36-30 game with 2:49 left, but it would be as close as the Lady Cats would get.

“They did great,” Lane said. “We got down nine and then we fought our way back and played good. I thought the girls valued the ball a lot better and we have been talking about that a lot in practice. They played as a team and thought it was much better.

“It makes us more confident as a team when we can come back like that. I know the girls have fight in them. It was good to see them not quit and no one out there gave up. Very proud of them to battle like they did.”

Defensively, the Lady Cats played well as it held Girard to just 23 percent from the field, but the Trojans won the game at the free-throw line.

Girard went to the line 36 times and made 23 of those attempts, compared to a 7-for-12 performance from Louisburg. The Lady Cats also battled some foul trouble.

“I was kind of surprised we got in that much foul trouble,” Lane said. “Girard didn’t get called for as many, but the girls had to battle through that and I thought they did a good job. Even ones that got in foul trouble like Shylar, Ally and Sami, they all still played hard despite having a lot of fouls on them.”

Kuhlman finished second in the team in scoring with six points and also had four blocked shots. Kuhlman, along with Sami Lane, led the Lady Cats with five rebounds each. 

Junior Jillian Asher had a team-high three assists, while Brown led the team with two steals.

Louisburg will have a big challenge in its next game Tuesday as the Lady Cats travel to No. 2 team in the state — Wamego. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m.

LOU 4 10 11 9 — 34

GIR 10 6 15 11 — 42

LOUISBURG (1-10): Ally Brown 3-7 0-0 8; Ashlyn Kuhlman 2-6 2-4 6; Jillian Asher 2-9 1-2 5; Shylar Whiting 1-2 2-2 5; Morgan Latham 2-4 0-2 4; Sami Lane 2-3 0-0 4; Zyleigh Melton 0-2 2-2 2. Totals: 12-35 7-12 34. 3-point field goals: 3, (Brown 2, Whiting)

Lady Cats lose tourney game to Chanute

For three quarters, Louisburg and Chanute found themselves in a tight contest.

It was the fourth quarter that one really separated from the other. 

Chanute went on a big run late to pull away from Louisburg and handed the Lady Cats a 53-36 loss.

Louisburg was down 34-33 late in the third quarter, but Chanute went on a 17-0 run to take an 18-point lead to pull away.

Sophomore Morgan Latham had a good game on the inside for Louisburg as she scored a team-high nine points. Juniors Ashlyn Kuhlman and Ally Brown had eight and six points, respectively.

Sophomore McKenna Lohse had a team-high seven rebounds, while sophomore Zyleigh Melton had a team-high three assists.

LOU 12 7 14 3 — 36

CHA 15 8 15 15 — 53

LOUISBURG: Morgan Latham 4-7 1-4 9; Ashlyn Kuhlman 3-5 0-0 8; Ally Brown 2-4 1-2 6; Shylar Whiting 1-6 2-2 5; Sami Lane 2-10 0-0 4; Jillian Asher 1-5 0-0 2; McKenna Lohse 0-3 2-4 2. Totals: 13-40 6-12 36. 3-poin