Late 3-pointer sinks Wildcats’ hopes in loss to Spring Hill

Louisburg senior Brock Vohs gets fouled going up for a shot Friday against Spring Hill.

The meetings between the Louisburg and Spring Hill boys basketball teams has had their fair share of drama this season.

It started last month when the Wildcats went on to road to beat Spring Hill in overtime. During the Wildcats’ homecoming game last Friday, there were more late game heroics.

Unfortunately for the Wildcats, those heroics came from the Spring Hill side.

Spring Hill’s Chase Bond knocked down a 3-pointer with 10 seconds left in the game and the Broncos handed Louisburg a 44-42 loss.

The Wildcats had one final attempt to tie it up. Louisburg senior Nathan Parker put up a 3-point shot with three seconds left, and appeared to be fouled, but no call was made and the game was over.

“The end of the game was pretty upsetting, especially when Nate got clobbered and they didn’t call a foul,” Louisburg coach Ben Doll said. “But every coach knows, and I know, that there was a lot of stuff earlier in the game that we could have done a better job at, like taking care of the basketball. Turnovers are always something we come back to and say this is why we lost because we turn the ball over too much and at the wrong time.”

Before those two plays, the Wildcats found themselves down a point, but with a minute left Luke Hill passed the ball inside to Conlee Hovey who scored to give the Wildcats the lead.

Hovey had a big night for the Wildcats inside as he finished with a team-high 12 points to go along with 11 rebounds and three blocked shots.

“The guys executed that play perfectly,” Doll said. “Conlee was so good and he should have had more touches and we are trying to get him the ball more. Got the bucket, got them to miss and then we just didn’t take care of the ball after that. But if we take care of business earlier in the game, it should have never been that tight.”

Turnovers hurt the Wildcats at different times as they committed 16 for the game, but they did the job on the glass as they outrebounded Spring Hill by 11.

Louisburg got out to a good start as it took an 11-8 lead at the end of the first quarter, but the Broncos went on a 13-6 run in the second half to take four-point lead at halftime.

The Wildcats trailed 28-22 in the third quarter, but went on a mini 9-2 run. It started on a basket by Hovey and was followed up by a 3-pointer from Hickey.

Hickey added with a pair of free throws to make it a one point game and then another Hovey basket put Louisburg in front. Spring Hill eventually held the lead until a minute left in the fourth.

Hickey was second on the team with nine points and four rebounds. Junior Myles Vohs had eight points and a pair of steals.

The Wildcats will try and get back on the winning track tonight as they host Eudora. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m.

“We beat (Spring Hill) earlier in the year and I feel that we are a better team than we were before,” Doll said. “We are at that point now where we are looking at sub-state standings. We move on to Eudora and hopefully we can play well.”

LOU 11 6 15 10 — 42

SH 8 13 13 10 — 44

LOUISBURG (7-10): Conlee Hovey 6-7 0-0 12; Brady Hickey 2-7 3-4 9; Myles Vohs 3-5 2-2 8; Nathan Parker 2-6 0-0 6; Jaymes Melton 2-2 0-0 4; Luke Hill 0-5 1-2 1; Luke Schultz 0-3 1-2 1; Brock Vohs 0-0 0-0 1. Totals: 15-35 8-12 42. 3-point field goals: 4, (Parker 2, Hickey 2)

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