Louisburg girls fall to state-ranked Wamego at home

The Louisburg girls basketball team has a tough early schedule and the Wildcats played their second ranked team in as many games Friday when they hosted No. 6 Wamego.

Louisburg stayed within striking distance in the first half, but the Wildcats couldn’t keep up as Wamego used a big second half to pull away and hand Louisburg a 61-37 loss.

“Wamego was a great team,” Louisburg coach Adrianne Lane said. “They play super aggressive and they do a great job going and getting loose balls and rebounds. I thought this was the best we had played as a team. We did a great job playing our roles and executing the new defense.”

The Wildcats’ new defense was to slow down Wamego’s all-state point guard, Lexi Hecht. For much of the game, seniors Shylar Whiting and Jillian Asher were assigned to shadow her at all times.

Although Hecht scored 11 points, she was 4-for-19 from the field and the two Wildcat defenders did their best to not give her open looks. The Wildcats also held Wamego to 32 percent from the floor.

“Shylar and Jill did a great job slowing down their point guard and the entire team did a great job running a new defense and executing,” Lane said. “They all helped on (Hecht) when Shylar and Jill were getting screened as well. Overall great defensive performance for the girls.”

Turnovers haunted the Wildcats as they committed 32 for the game and Wamego turned those into 24 points, which turned out to be a big difference in the game.

Louisburg (0-3) stayed with Wamego in the first half as it trailed by just five in the first quarter and 25-16 at halftime.

The second half, the Red Raiders were able to pull away as they outscored Louisburg, 36-21, in the second half and left the Wildcats still looking for that first win.

Junior Morgan Latham paced the Wildcats on the inside with a strong performance as she had a team-high 14 points and nine rebounds, just missing a double-double. 

Senior Ashlyn Kuhlman was right behind her with eight points and eight rebounds, while senior Sami Lane and junior McKenna Lohse had four rebounds. Senior Ally Brown had a team-high three assists and two steals. 

Louisburg will try for that first win today as the Wildcats host Baldwin in a Frontier League matchup. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m.

LOU 6 10 10 11 — 37

WAM 11 14 16 20 — 61

LOUISBURG (0-3): Morgan Latham 4-6 6-10 14; Ashlyn Kuhlman 3-14 0-0 8; McKenna Lohse 2-2 0-0 4; Shylar Whiting 2-5 0-2 4; Jillian Asher 1-3 0-0 3; Sami Lane 0-3 2-2 2; Kinley Scott 0-2 2-2 2. Totals: 12-36 10-16 37. 3-point field goals: 3, (Kuhlman 2, Asher)