Wildcats hold off Frontenac for victory

By Andy Brown
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Updated: January 14, 2016

Louisburg senior Mitchell McLellan goes up for a layup during a home game earlier this season. The Wildcats defeated Frontenac on the road Tuesday in a 49-41 victory. It was Louisburg’s second win in a row.

FRONTENAC – The Louisburg boys basketball team couldn’t have gotten off to a better start during Tuesday’s road game at Frontenac.

The Wildcats scored the game’s first eight points and were well on their way to a big win. Louisburg got the win it was looking for, but it got a fight from Frontenac in the process.

Frontenac made the game interesting on several occasions, but the Wildcats always had an answer on both ends of the floor in a 49-41 victory.

“Our perimeter defense was fantastic,” Louisburg coach Jason Nelson said. “We were aggressive while not jumping passes and giving them advantageous situations. Also, they were never able to get comfortable in their sets because of the pressure and consistent help defense we had.

“We did give up 10 points on second-chance opportunities, including eight in the first half, but to their credit, our boys fixed this when challenged.”

Grant Harding, who led Louisburg in scoring and rebounding with 14 points and nine rebounds, got the Wildcats off to go a good start as he scored five straight points. After a Jacob Welsh jumper, Louisburg took an 8-0 lead.

Louisburg (5-3) took a 13-7 lead into the second quarter and held a 22-18 halftime lead after a late Frontenac run. The Wildcats took an eight-point lead to start the third quarter and the Louisburg defense buckled down, holding Frontenac to just five points in the frame.

“We’ve really been stressing going through our sets, and through our secondary looks and when we did this, we got high quality, high percentage looks,” Nelson said. “When we came down, didn’t move the ball with the pass, and didn’t attack a rotating defense, our shot selection and percentage suffered.

“Given that we only scored 49 points, I was overly critical of us after the game, however, I didn’t realize how good our defense was.”

The Wildcats also did a good job taking care of the ball as they finished with just six turnovers on the night. Frontenac had several mini-runs in the fourth quarter, but each time the Wildcats had an answer.

Junior forward T.J. Dover scored two big baskets to stop runs in the fourth quarter, while senior Mitchell McLellan scored most of his 11 points in the second half to spark the Louisburg offense.

Junior guard Sam Guetterman scored nine points in the first half as he was among the team’s scoring leaders. Sophomore Dalton Ribordy also gave Louisburg some good play underneath the basket with six points and six rebounds.

Louisburg, now on a two-game winning streak, will try for its third straight win Friday when it travels to De Soto. Tipoff is set for approximately 7:30 p.m.

LOUISBURG 13 9 10 17 – 49

FRONTENAC 7 11 5 18 – 41

LOUISBURG (5-3): Grant Harding 6-16 1-4 14; Mitchell McLellan 4-6 3-5 11; Sam Guetterman 3-6 3-4 9; Dalton Ribordy 3-4 0-0 6; T.J. Dover 2-3 0-1 4; Jacob Welsh 1-2 1-3 3; Jayce Geiman 0-7 2-2 2. Totals: 19-44 10-19 49. 3-point field goals: 1, (Harding).