Wildcat girls fall short in season opener to Tonganoxie

The Louisburg girls basketball team found itself just minutes away from getting a win Friday in its season opener against Tonganoxie.

Louisburg had seven-point lead with just over three minutes left in the contest, but the Chieftains took advantage of some Wildcat turnovers and second-chance opportunities to hand Louisburg a 44-42 loss.

“That was a super tough loss,” Louisburg coach Adrianne Lane said. “The girls have been working so hard and they really wanted that win.”

The Chieftains went on an 13-4 run to end the game as it earned points at the free-throw line and on offensive rebounds to key the comeback.

A big part to that comeback to for Tonganoxie was its point guard, Alyssa Schoeneck. The Chieftain junior scored a game-high 16 points as she keyed the late game run.

“We needed to do a better job rebounding,” Lane said. “We allowed Tongie so many second chances and it really hurt us in the fourth quarter. Tongie’s point guard was super quick and she was hard for us to guard. The posts did a great job helping in the lane.”

It was a back and forth contest throughout as Tonganoxie took an early 12-6 after the first quarter, but the Wildcats responded in a big way as they outscored the Chieftains 12-4 in the second and took a 2-point halftime lead.

The Chieftains led by one after the third quarter, but the Wildcats went on a run to start the fourth. Ashlyn Kuhlman began by hitting a jumper, and then back-to-back layups by Jillian Asher put the Wildcats up five.

After a couple free throws by Tonganoxie, Louisburg senior Sami Lane knocked in a 3-pointer to put the Wildcats back up 37-31. McKenna Lohse knocked in a free throw to make it 38-31 with 3:29 left in the game.

Tonganoxie went on a 6-0 run to tie it and ended in a lay-in from Schoeneck. Louisburg senior Ally Brown gave the Wildcats the lead back on jumper with 1:30 left in the game, but Schoeneck responded with a 3-point play to put the Chieftains right back up and that is where they would stay.

Kuhlman led the Wildcats in scoring as she finished with 15 points to go along with eight rebounds and six blocked shots. Asher and senior Shylar Whiting each finished with six points for the Wildcats.

Lohse led Louisburg with nine rebounds to go along with a team-high four assists. Senior Sabra Brueggen finished with six rebounds.

It was a tough shooting night for the Wildcats as they were just 28 percent from the field and 6-for-14 from the free-throw line. However, the Wildcats were able to battle through that.

“Overall I felt like the girls played hard,” coach Lane said. “They did not quit and they fought back after getting behind in the first quarter. I also thought the girls did a great job playing together.”

Louisburg will try and bounce back tonight as the Wildcats travel to Ottawa for a Frontier League matchup. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m.

LOU 6 12 10 14 — 42

TONG 12 4 13 15 — 44

LOUISBURG (0-1): Ashlyn Kuhlman 6-19, 1-4 15; Jillian Asher 3-4 0-0 6; Shylar Whiting 1-6 3-4 6; Morgan Latham 2-5 0-0 4; McKenna Lohse 1-4 1-2 3; Sami Lane 1-2 0-0 3; Ally Brown 1-8 1-2 3; Addy Stohs 1-4 0-0 2. Totals: 16-50 6-14 42. 3-point field goals: 4, (Kuhlman 2, Whiting, Lane)

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