Wildcat boys, girls fall at home to Spring Hill in first game of 2025
The Louisburg boys basketball team faced an uphill battle before Monday’s game with Spring Hill even started.
The Wildcats were without their leading scorer and rebounder in senior Gavin Lohse, who was out with an injury, and had their return from break pushed back a week due to winter weather.
It wasn’t exactly the start to 2025 that Louisburg was hoping for and Spring Hill continued that tough trend for the Wildcats.
The Broncos shot better than 50 percent from the field, and put the Wildcats in a hole they couldn’t dig out of as they handed Louisburg a 70-37 loss.
“Spring Hill shot so well against us in the first half,” Louisburg coach Ben Doll said. “I thought we played hard and didn’t do bad defensively in the first half, but they hit big shot after big shot.
“Then in the second half we just ran out of gas and couldn’t guard very well. They started getting to where they wanted to go easily and we can’t do that and expect to win or be in games. Not having Gavin right now really hurts but we still have to be way better defensively to give us a chance.”
Spring Hill shot 56 percent from the floor as it jumped out to a 22-8 lead after the first quarter. Louisburg struggled to get things going in the second half as it scored 12 points in the two quarters.
Senior Luke Schultz led the way with a double-double of 11 points and 10 rebounds, while junior Owen Marsh finished with a team-high 12 points. Another senior, Ethan Kush, also had six rebounds on the night.
Jackson Bruce had a big night for the Broncos as he scored a game-high 22 points on a perfect 9-for-9 from the floor. His teammate, Jordan Miller, had a game-high 10 assists and five steals.
The schedule doesn’t ease up for the Wildcats as they travel to No. 1 Baldwin on Friday for a 7:30 p.m. tipoff.
LOU 8 17 4 8 — 37
SH 22 18 16 14 — 70
LOUISBURG (2-5): Owen Marsh 5-8 0-0 12; Luke Schultz 5-12 1-3 11; Lance Callahan 2-3 0-0 6; Derek Frederick 1-7 0-0 3; Ethan Kush 1-4 1-2 3; Myles Vohs 1-11 0-0 2. Totals: 15-49 2-7 37. 3-point field goals: 5, (Marsh 2, Callahan 2, Frederick)
Rough start for Louisburg girls ends in loss to Spring Hill
It wasn’t the start to 2025 that the Louisburg girls envisioned for themselves Monday in a home game against Spring Hill.
The Wildcats couldn’t overcome a big Spring Hill run in the first quarter that ended in a 64-33 loss to the Broncos.
Spring Hill opened the game on a 21-3 run and the Wildcats were unable to recover as it is their sixth-straight loss to start the season. Louisburg was outscored by just four points in the next two quarters, which led to some positives.
“Spring Hill is a great basketball team,” Louisburg coach Adrianne Lane said. “They have a lot of great players who can handle the ball and take the ball to the basket. After our slow start the girls played with them the rest of the game.
“I thought the girls did a great job playing 1-3-1 defense, and in the second half they did a great job running offense. We ran a lot of offensive sets and the girls did a great job executing.”
Senior Ashlyn Kuhlman led Louisburg in a few different categories. She scored a team-high 13 points, including 11 in the third quarter, to go along with a team-best five rebounds and three blocks.
Another senior, Sabra Brueggen, finished with eight points, including going 6-for-8 from the free-throw line. Senior Ally Brown was next with five points.
Brueggen, junior McKenna Lohse and senior Addy Stohs each had four rebounds, while junior Morgan Latham had a team-high three assists.
Spring Hill’s Isla Herman led all scorers with 18 points and also had 11 rebounds, while Sydney Buscher had 15 points and nine rebounds for the Broncos.
Louisburg will hit the road Friday as the Wildcats travel to No. 8 Baldwin.
LOU 3 9 13 8 — 33
SH 21 10 16 17 — 64
LOUISBURG: Ashlyn Kuhlman 5-17 0-1 13; Sabra Brueggen 1-2 6-8 8; Ally Brown 2-3 0-0 5; Shylar Whiting 1-3 0-0 3; Jillian Asher 1-8 0-0 2; Morgan Latham 0-3 2-2 2. Totals: 10-44 8-13 33. 3-point field goals: 5, (Kuhlman 3, Whiting, Brown)