Wildcats respond to win tourney crown

The Louisburg boys basketball team raises the Wildcat-Bulldog Classic first place trophy into the air following Friday’s 69-52 victory over Baldwin in the championship game. The Wildcats won two straight games to win the tournament.

As Mitchell McLellan gazed on the Wildcat-Bulldog Classic championship plaque following Friday’s 69-52 victory over Baldwin, it was like hitting the jackpot.

For McLellan, and several other Louisburg basketball players, it was their first opportunity to actually hold a first place trophy. The Wildcats have gone through several lean years lately when it comes to wins, but they are off to a good start this year.

For the first time since 2012, the Wildcats won the Wildcat-Bulldog Classic championship and they had to earn it. After losing their first game of the tournament to Iola, which was held at Louisburg High School, the Wildcats battled back to win their next two games by an average of 17 points and were crowned champions.

“I couldn’t be more pleased,” Louisburg coach Jason Nelson said. “To think about where we were after the Iola loss and to learn what we learned from that was the big thing. We learned our lesson. These boys want it and are intelligent enough to understand what they needed to.

“They were fantastic these last two games.”

It concluded with a strong 17-point victory over Frontier League foe Baldwin in the championship game as Louisburg got a team-high 22 points from McLellan, who scored 16 of those points in the first half.

Louisburg junior T.J. Dover fights through two Baldwin defenders for a shot Friday during the Wildcat-Bulldog Classic.

Louisburg jumped out to a 20-11 lead at the end of the first quarter and never looked back as it pressured the Bulldogs defensively and contested most of their shots. The Wildcats held Baldwin to just 32 percent from the field.

Offensively, Louisburg was just the opposite as it shot 53 percent from the field, with many of those opportunities coming from around the basket.

“We were just ready from the opening tipoff,” McLellan said. “We caught fire and we did a good job of running the court and pressing the ball. We never settled to their game, we wanted them to play our game and that is what happened. We were able to feed the ball inside and we took advantage of a lot of those close shots that we couldn’t make (against Iola).”

McLellan had a big night for Louisburg. Along with game-high 22 points, he also finished with 10 rebounds to record his first double-double of the season. Five of those rebounds came on the offensive end that led to several put backs.

“He is so important for us,” Nelson said of McLellan. “He finds that weak side, and as soon as the help slides over to the strong side, he is so good at sliding underneath and getting those easy buckets and it was fantastic to see.”

The Wildcats (3-1) also got double digit performances from juniors T.J. Dover and Grant Harding. Dover finished with 15 points and seven rebounds, many of which came the second half. Harding added 14 points and eight rebounds in the victory.

“Everyone is on a mission to win,” McLellan said. “Our program has had losing seasons every year for a very long time and we are all just tired of losing. We have that desire to win every time we step on the court.

“We took smart shots. We didn’t have to force anything and we got the looks we wanted to get most of the night, which were easy short shots and we didn’t settle.”

To get to the championship game, not only did the Wildcats have to beat its final opponent in pool play, Burlington, but they had to do so convincingly. Since Louisburg opened tournament play on Dec. 8 with a loss to Iola, the Wildcats had to do defeat Burlington by at least 13 points to advance to the title game.

Louisburg left a little cushion on that number.

The Wildcats jumped on Burlington from the start and never let up in their 71-53 victory. Like in its championship game win, Louisburg put a 20 spot on the board in the first quarter and held a 20-8 advantage into the second.

“Eliminating turnovers and attacking the rim is what was key for us,” Nelson said. “We know that we have guys that can shoot, but why shoot a low percentage 3-pointer when we can attack the rim and exploit matchups. Our boys may not be the biggest, but there is always mismatches somewhere and it is their job to find those and exploit them and that is what we did.”

The Louisburg boys basketball team poses with its championship trophy following Friday’s win over Baldwin. Members of the team are (front row, from left) Korbin Hankinson, Mitchell McLellan, Grant Harding, Jacob Welsh, Alex Dunn; (back row) Dalton Ribordy, Jayce Geiman, Sam Guetterman, Ben Brummel, T.J. Dover, Ben Minster and Jake Hill.

Louisburg definitely found one as Burlington had a hard time containing Harding. The Wildcats forward exploded for a game-high 28 points and seven rebounds and Burlington didn’t have an answer.

Harding also connected on four 3-pointers along with driving to the basket and getting to the free-throw line. The Louisburg junior was 8 for 8 from the line.

After Harding, the Wildcats had balanced scoring across the board. Dover finished in double figures with 10 points, while juniors Sam Guetterman, Jayce Geiman and McLellan each added eight points.

It was a big relief for Louisburg following its 54-46 loss to Iola two nights before. The Wildcats struggled offensively and trailed 24-18 at halftime.

Louisburg seemed to get some momentum back in the third quarter and even held a 36-32 lead into the fourth quarter. However, Iola outscored the Wildcats 22-10 in the final frame to get the upset.

Harding and McLellan each scored 13 points in the loss.

Louisburg will go for its first official Frontier League victory tomorrow when it travels to Eudora and hopes to get a win in its final game before the holiday break.

“The Frontier League is tough and we have to go out on a mission to win,” McLellan said. “We have to come out ready to play every night, and even if we don’t win, we can’t hang our heads and let it carry over.  This league is no joke and every game is going to be tough.”

BALDWIN                    11           16           14           11 – 52

LOUISBURG                20           18           14           17 – 69

LOUISBURG (3-1): Mitchell McLellan 11-18 0-2 22; T.J. Dover 7-11 1-2 15; Grant Harding 5-8 4-4 14; Jayce Geiman 3-6 0-0 8; Sam Guetterman 2-2 1-1 5; Jacob Welsh 1-3 2-7 4; Dalton Ribordy 0-2 1-2 1. Totals: 29-55 9-20 69. 3-point field goals: 2, (Geiman 2).

BURLINGTON            8             15           14           16 – 53

LOUISBURG                20           17           18           16 – 71

LOUISBURG: Grant Harding 8-14 8-10 28; T.J. Dover 5-10 0-0 10; Sam Guetterman 4-4 0-0 8; Jayce Geiman 1-6 6-9 8; Mitchell McLellan 4-8 0-0 8; Dalton Ribordy 1-2 4-4 6; Alex Dunn 2-2 0-0 4; Jacob Welsh 0-0 2-2 2. Totals: 25-48 20-25 71. 3-point field goals: 4, (Harding 4).

IOLA                             10           14           8             22 – 54

LOUISBURG                5             13           18           10 – 46

LOUISBURG: Mitchell McLellan 6-11 1-3 13; Grant Harding 5-16 3-7 13; T.J. Dover 2-5 2-7 6; Dalton Ribordy 2-4 0-0 4; Ben Minster 1-2 1-1 3; Jacob Welsh 0-1 3-4 3; Sam Guetterman 1-4 0-0 2; Alex Dunn 1-3 0-0 2. Totals: 18-49 10-22 46.

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