Lady Cats’ season comes to close with sub-state loss to Ottawa

OTTAWA — The Louisburg girls basketball had a strong finish to its regular season and the Lady Cats were playing their best basketball of the season.

In the postseason, however, Louisburg couldn’t slow down No. 3 seed Ottawa in the Class 4A sub-state semifinals Tuesday at Ottawa High School.

The Cyclones nearly shot 50 percent from the field and ended the Lady Cats’ season with a 55-28 loss. Ottawa qualified for the state tournament a few days later with a victory over Baldwin in the sub-state championship game.

“Ottawa is a great team,” Louisburg coach Adrianne Lane said. “They are very well rounded, they are fast, great at defense and they rebound very well. They started off hot against us, but we never quit and I felt like we did a good job hanging with them in the second half. I wish Ottawa the best of the luck this postseason.”

Ottawa jumped out to a big lead on the Lady Cats as they took a 20-7 lead after the first quarter. The Cyclones went up 37-15 at halftime and the Lady Cats couldn’t get closer.

Louisburg (6-15) did put together a good second half as it outscored Ottawa in the third quarter.

Junior Ashlyn Kuhlman led the Lady Cats in scoring with eight points and also had a team high four rebounds and two blocks. Junior Sami Lane was next with five points, four rebounds and two assists.

Sophomore McKenna Lohse also had four rebounds, while junior Ally Brown had two assists. Junior Sabra Brueggen had a team-best two steals.

It may have not been the ending the Lady Cats were hoping for, but coach Lane saw improvements from her team as the season went along.

“This season has been a roller coaster,” she said. “We started off pretty slow, but once we got some experience I felt like we did a great job competing in every game. Towards the end of the season we were playing together and playing to win. 

“February was a great month for our team. We went 5-3 the second half of the season and two of those losses were to Spring Hill by 7 and Eudora by 6, and I thought we held our own against them. I am so proud of how far the girls came, they worked hard every day and they ended the season playing together and playing to win.”

LOU 7 5 10 6 — 28

OTT 20 17 9 9 — 55

LOUISBURG (6-15): Ashlyn Kuhlman 3-14 0-0 8; Sami Lane 2-7 0-0 5; Morgan Latham 2-4 0-0 4; Jillian Asher 1-6 0-0 3; McKenna Lohse 0-2 2-2 2; Zyleigh Melton 1-2 0-0 2; Shylar Whiting 1-6 0-0 2; Addy Stohs 1-1 0-0 2. Totals: 11-46 2-2 28. 3-point field goals: 4, (Kuhlman 2, Asher, Lane)

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