Wildcat girls hope learning year catapults them to success this season

It was a learning year for the Louisburg girls basketball team last season.

With no returning varsity players and a roster with no seniors, the Wildcats were forced to grow up fast. After a tough start to the year, the Wildcats saw improvements in the final half.

Although Louisburg finished with six wins on the year, five of those came in the month of February .

Now for the 2024-25 campaign, the Wildcats all of sudden have a lot of varsity experience and a roster filled with seven seniors.

“It is very nice to have all the girls back from last year,” Louisburg coach Adrianne Lane said. “We had a great summer and off-season and I think they are very excited to get another opportunity this season.”

The Wildcats will have a good amount of depth this season as they bring back a pair of all-league honorees. 

Senior Ashlyn Kuhlman was an honorable mention player last season as she led Louisburg with eight points a game, including a team-high 29 3-pointers. The Wildcat guard also led the team in rebounds with 98 and blocked shots with 45.

Another senior, Sami Lane, also returns after being named to the All-Frontier League defensive team a year ago. 

Senior guards Jillian Asher, Shylar Whiting and Ally Brown will all see time on the wing, and Asher returns as the team’s primary ball-handler. Sophomore Maddie Yoder, who saw limited minutes a season ago as a freshman, could also see time on the varsity level.

Sabra Brueggen and Addy Stohs, a pair of senior forwards, will also see a lot of time underneath the baskets. They will be joined by juniors Morgan Latham and McKenna Lohse, who both saw a lot of varsity minutes as sophomores.

“I think our experience will be a strength this year and our depth,” coach Lane said. “We have several girls who will get minutes on the varsity team.

“I feel that we have a great balance of posts and guards, and we have been working really hard on our inside-outside game. The girls have been working great together and I do feel like we will have some success playing inside-outside.”

There will also be a little change to the schedule from a year ago. The Wildcats will play every Frontier League team twice, in a league that currently has two teams ranked in the top 10 of Class 4A in Ottawa and Eudora, along with a strong Class 5A program in Spring Hill.

It is a difficult slate of games for the Wildcats, including three in a row to begin the season — at Ottawa, home to No. 6 Wamego and home to Baldwin. Louisburg opens its season Friday at home against Tonganoxie.

“Our league will be super tough this season, but I do think we will be able to compete with all the teams,” coach Lane said. “I feel our game play has improved since last year and I am super excited to see how we play as a team.”

The Wildcats traveled to Piper on Monday for a preseason jamboree with Shawnee Mission West, and were able to shake some of the preseason rust off. Lane liked what she saw from her team during that and in practice.

“Practice has been going great this year,” Lane said. “The girls work very hard every day. We ask a lot out of them and I feel they have really stepped up this year and are giving their best each day.”

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