Parker’s 26 points lift Wildcats past Frontenac

By Andy Brown
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Updated: December 18, 2023

Louisburg senior Nathan Parker goes up for two of his 26 points Thursday at Frontenac High School.

The Louisburg boys basketball team received the early Christmas present it was looking for Thursday at Frontenac.

Louisburg got a much-needed victory in its final game before the holidays — thanks in part to Nathan Parker. The Wildcat senior exploded for 26 points in the Wildcats’ 57-46 victory over Frontenac.

The win pushed the Wildcats’ record to 3-2 on the season and gave them some nice momentum going into break.

“It was huge,” Louisburg coach Ben Doll said. “With this break we have now, it is just feels better off a win. Makes practices better and there are good vibes all around. It was also big cause it gives us a winning record and we were able to bounce back off a big loss.”

Parker provided the Wildcats with a big boost in the scoring column as he helped carry his team offensively in a game where they trailed after one quarter.

Louisburg went on to outscore Frontenac 17-10 in the second quarter to take a 25-23 halftime advantage. After an even third, the Wildcats broke the game open in the fourth behind 10 points from Parker in the frame.

The Wildcats also relied on seniors Brady Hickey and Brock Vohs, who played nearly the whole contest as the Wildcats still have several players out due to injury and illness.

“He is one that is a big scorer for us,” Doll said of Parker. “When he is on it is glaring cause he can be so good. He carried us against Frontenac. He built off that game against Baldwin where he had a lot of assists, but didn’t shoot as well. He did some of that on Thursday and he showed what he is capable of as a scorer.

“He also played good defense too with Myles (Vohs) in foul trouble and Brady (Hickey) did a good job in that game as well. I don’t think Brady or Brock (Vohs) came out, and we really leaned on those guys as well.”

***Louisburg junior Gavin Lohse finished Thursday’s contest at Frontenac with a game-high 13 rebounds.***

Junior Gavin Lohse put together a strong performance underneath the basket and provided the Wildcats with a good rebounding presence. Lohse finished with a double-double as he had a team-high 13 rebounds to go along with 11 points.

“Gavin was huge,” Doll said. “He had most of those rebounds on defense. We haven’t done a good job of keeping teams off the offensive boards so far this year. Gavin was really elevating and he was cleaning it up. He is an emerging guy for us and we are going to need that play down the stretch. He is averaging 9-10 rebounds a game and he got some big ones there in the second half.”

The Wildcats took a 3-point lead going into the final quarter, but the Louisburg defense buckled down and held the Raiders to just seven points.

Parker’s 10 points in the final frame helped the Wildcats pull away, but defense was also a big factor.

“Frontenac didn’t get many second chances and Brady did a good job on their best player and limiting his looks,” Doll said. “We made some free throws and those are things we need to do to win games. We took care of the basketball, and even though we weren’t great at the free-throw line, we made them in the fourth quarter when it mattered.”

Louisburg will try for back-to-back wins out of the break as the Wildcats travel to Eudora on Jan. 4 in their first game back from the holidays.

LOU 8 17 16 16 — 57

FRON 13 10 16 7 — 46

LOUISBURG (3-2): Nathan Parker 9-17 6-9 26; Gavin Lohse 4-7 3-4 11; Brady Hickey 3-8 1-2 9; Brock Vohs 1-4 1-4 4; Bristol Barbour 1-3 1-2 3; Myles Vohs 1-3 0-0 2; Jaymes Melton 1-1 0-0 2. Totals: 20-43 12-21 57. 3-point field goals: 5, (Parker 2, Hickey 2, B. Vohs)

Wildcats fall to No. 5-ranked Baldwin

BALDWIN CITY — If playing the No. 5 team in the state wasn’t difficult enough, Louisburg had the unenviable challenge of playing without four of their players.

Last Tuesday against Baldwin, the Wildcats had two injured players out and two more who were out with an illness. It wasn’t exactly ideal and the Wildcats found themselves down big at halftime.

Still, the Wildcats didn’t back down in the 60-42 loss to the Bulldogs and were able to take away some positives from a tough situation.

“We had to have the mentality of just moving on to the next play and thought we did a good job with that, especially considering it was looking like it might be a running clock,” Louisburg coach Ben Doll said. “But we were able to cut it under 20 and we won the second half, which was a big thing for us. I was really happy that our guys didn’t quit and we cleaned some stuff up. We just have to build on that because we just aren’t healthy right now. It’s not an excuse, it is just where we are at right now.”

Louisburg scored just 14 points in the first half and trailed by 21 at halftime. The Wildcats weren’t able to rally from such a big deficit, but still played with a purpose as they outscored Baldwin 28-25 in the second half.

Senior Brady Hickey led the Wildcats offensively with 13 points, including three 3-pointers. Sophomore Bristol Barbour also finished in double figures with 10, while senior Brock Vohs had eight points and six rebounds.

Jaymes Melton and Ethan Kush also led the Wildcats in rebounding with six each. Nathan Parker led the Wildcats with a team-high six assists.

LOU 6 8 12 16 — 42

BAL 16 19 12 13 — 60

LOUISBURG: Brady Hickey 5-13 0-0 13; Bristol Barbour 5-13 0-2 10; Brock Vohs 4-8 0-4 8; Nathan Parker 1-11 4-4 6; Jaymes Melton 2-3 0-0 4; Myles Vohs 0-6 1-2 1. Totals: 17-59 5-12 42. 3-point field goals: 3, (Hickey 3)