Wildcats upset Bonner Springs to snap losing skid

Louisburg’s Brock Vohs slaps hands with head coach Ben Doll after the Wildcats’ 53-45 victory over Bonner Springs on Friday at home.

Throughout the first half of the season, the Louisburg and Bonner Springs boys basketball teams have gone in two different directions.

Going into Friday’s game at Louisburg, the Wildcats had lost four in a row and were in the midst of a slump. As for Bonner Springs, the Braves had won nine of their first 12 games to start the year and were toward atop the Frontier League standings.

At least for a night anyway, those roles were reversed.

The Wildcats put together one of their better performances of the season and upset the Braves in a 53-45 victory. The win snapped a losing streak that saw a pair of overtime setbacks and a road loss at Wamego.

“That is a really big win because that is a really good team,” Louisburg coach Ben Doll said. “They are a 5A team and are toward the top of their sub-state right now. It was a win that we absolutely needed and it couldn’t have come at a better time after losing four in a row.”

In what was an intense, back-and-forth contest — the Wildcats and Braves were all tied at halftime. Louisburg used a big third quarter to go up five and increased its lead to as much as nine.

However, Bonner Springs battled back to cut the Wildcat lead to just two with two minutes left in the contest. The Braves missed a layup just seconds later that would have tied the game.

Instead the Wildcats took advantage as Conlee Hovey scored to make it a four-point lead, and then after a defensive stop, senior Nathan Parker was fouled on a 3-point attempt.

Parker converted on all three, and would hit two more with under a minute left to help ice the game.

Louisburg also turned the tide by dominating the rebounding department. The Wildcats out-rebounded the Braves 51-21 and pulled down 22 offensive boards that led to 13 second chance points.

“We had a lot of really big rebounds from a lot of guys,” Doll said. “Jaymes (Melton), Conlee, Gavin (Lohse) and Luke (Schultz) had some big rebounds for us. Down the stretch, when the game got tight, we hit some big free throws as well. Nate is not the guy to foul if you are the other team and he was big in the fourth quarter there from the line.”

Parker once again led the Wildcats in scoring with with 17 points, including three 3-pointers. Hovey was also big underneath the basket for Louisburg as he posted a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds. He also had a team-high three assists with Parker.

Senior Brady Hickey also hit some big shots down the stretch with eight points to go along with seven rebounds. Gavin Lohse added nine rebounds in the win, while senior Brock Vohs had five points and five rebounds. 

“Our guys were ready to go,” Doll said. “Our players, from things they thought and heard, was that Bonner didn’t respect us and was planning to just notch a win and get out of here. I think that had an impact on the game. It was nice to see that enthusiasm and effort from our guys.”

Louisburg will try for back-to-back wins tonight as the Wildcats host rival Paola. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m.

LOU 13 11 13 16 — 53

BON 11 13 8 13 — 45

LOUISBURG (5-7): Nathan Parker 4-10 6-7 17; Conlee Hovey 5-10 1-3 11; Brady Hickey 2-8 3-6 8; Brock Vohs 2-4 1-2 5; Luke Hill 1-3 2-4 4; Myles Vohs 2-3 0-0 4; Luke Schultz 1-3 1-3 3; Gavin Lohse 0-7 1-2 1. Totals: 17-50 15-27 53. 3-point field goals: 4, (Parker 3, Hickey)

Wildcats fall on road to Wamego

WAMEGO — After what was a close first half, one bad quarter doomed Louisburg on the road last Tuesday at Wamego.

The Red Raiders outscored Louisburg by 11 points in the third quarter and it turned out to be the different in a 56-45 loss.

Louisburg also didn’t help themselves in the turnover department with 19, which led to 19 points for Wamego.

“It was a long ways to go for a game on a Tuesday, but I felt that we could have definitely won the game,” Doll said. “We ended the game with 19 turnovers and I told the guys that no matter who you play, you aren’t going to win many games with that many mistakes.”

Nathan Parker led the Wildcats in scoring with 11 points on the night, while senior Luke Hill also scored in double figures with 10. Brady Hickey added nine points, four rebounds and three assists in the loss.

LOU 5 13 9 18 — 45

WAM 12 5 20 19 — 56

LOUISBURG: Nathan Parker 4-17 2-2 11; Luke Hill 4-12 0-0 10; Brady Hickey 4-7 0-0 9; Brock Vohs 2-5 2-4 6; Luke Schultz 0-1 3-4 3; Conlee Hovey 1-1 0-0 2; Myles Vohs 1-2 0-0 2; Jaymes Melton 1-3 0-0 2. Totals: 17-48 7-10 45. 3-point field goals: 4, (Hill 2, Parker, Hickey)