Big second quarter, defense lift Wildcat girls past Bonner Springs

The Louisburg girls basketball team had yet to pick up a home victory this season, but that all changed Friday against Bonner Springs.

Louisburg used a big second quarter to get a lead, and the Wildcats were able to hold on for a 36-28 victory over the Braves as they got their third win on the season.

“The girls played hard and together on Friday and they were super excited to get the win,” Louisburg coach Adrianne Lane said. “Our defense was great. We played zone and man to man and I felt like the girls executed and communicated well. I didn’t think Bonner got a lot of looks to score and they didn’t get many second chances.”

The Wildcats outscored the Braves, 17-0, in the second quarter and took a 25-9 lead at halftime. It was a nice bounce back victory for the Wildcats after losing to the Braves in the final game before the holiday break.

Defensively, the Wildcats set the tone as they held the Braves to just 25 percent shooting and only three second chance points. 

Bonner Springs didn’t go away, however, as the Braves outscored Louisburg 11-2 in the third quarter. Bonner Springs cut the lead to three early in the fourth, but the Wildcats hit key shots down the stretch and got stops when they needed it.

With five minutes left in the game, Ally Brown hit a jumper to push the lead back to five and end the Louisburg drought as it was just the fourth point of the second half at the time. Junior Morgan Latham followed with a pair of free throws to increase the lead to seven.

After that, the Wildcats got the stops they needed and sealed the win at the free-throw line. Louisburg finished the game with a 10-for-14 performance at the line to hold off the Braves.

Senior Jillian Asher led the Wildcats in scoring with 12 points, while Latham added nine points and five rebounds. Both players finished 5-for-6 from the line.

Brown added seven points to go along with six rebounds, while senior Ashlyn Kuhlman had six points and a team-high seven rebounds and three assists. 

However, it was the team effort on defense that helped the Wildcats prevail to their first home win of the season.

“I thought Jill (Asher), Sami (Lane) and Shylar (Whiting) did a great job guarding Bonner’s scorers in the fourth quarter,” coach Lane said. “They stepped up and played tight and tough defense. Ashlyn (Kuhlman), Mo (Latham), and Ally (Brown) did a great job reading Bonner’s plays and helped when needed in the fourth quarter as well. It was fun to watch our defense work together.

“Down the stretch our goal was to take care of the basketball and go to the basket and finish if we had wide open looks. I thought the girls played smart and they played to win verses playing not to lose. They did a good job taking care of the ball on offense and then getting stops on defense.”

Louisburg is back in action Tuesday as the Wildcats travel to Paola for a Frontier League matchup. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m.

LOU 8 17 2 9 — 36

BON 9 0 11 8 — 28

LOUISBURG (3-10): Jillian Asher 3-9 5-6 12; Morgan Latham 2-6 5-6 8; Ally Brown 3-5 0-0 7; Ashlyn Kuhlman 2-7 0-0 6; McKenna Lohse 1-4 0-0 2. Totals: 11-39 10-14 36. 3-point field goals: 4, (Kuhlman 2, Asher, Brown)

Wildcats fall on the road to No. 4 Eudora

It isn’t easy to play a ranked team on the road and Louisburg had its fair share of challenges on Jan. 28 at Eudora. 

The Wildcats got out to a rough start against No. 4 Eudora and left with a 61-34 loss. Eudora jumped out to a 19-4 lead after the first quarter to pull away.

Junior McKenna Lohse led the Wildcats with nine points to go along with a team-high three assists. Senior Ashlyn Kuhlman had eight points and three blocks. 

Senior Sabra Brueggen had a team-hight six rebounds, while junior Morgan Latham added six points and three blocks.

LOU 4 14 11 5 — 34

EUD 19 19 14 9 — 61

LOUISBURG: McKenna Lohse 3-4 3-4 9; Ashlyn Kuhlman 2-10 2-2 8; Morgan Latham 3-4 0-0 6; Sami Lane 1-6 1-1 4; Ally Brown 1-3 0-0 3; Sabra Brueggen 1-9 0-0 2; Addy Stohs 1-1 0-0 2. Totals: 12-44 6-7 34. 3-point field goals: 4, (Kuhlman 2, Lane, Brown)