Louisburg knocks off Paola to play for substate title

By Andy Brown
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Updated: March 3, 2017

Andy Brown / Louisburg Sports Zone

Louisburg’s Jayce Geiman (3) was all smiles, as was teammate Dalton Ribordy, following Thursday’s 54-44 win over Paola in the Class 4A substate semifinals at Spring Hill High School.

SPRING HILL — Louisburg exorcised a lot of demons Thursday — and it only took about six minutes.

For the first time since 2012, the Wildcats defeated Paola and picked a good time to do it. Louisburg ended the Panthers’ season with a 54-44 win in semifinals of the Class 4A substate tournament at Spring Hill High School and ended a 12-game losing streak to the Panthers that dated back five years.

More importantly, the Wildcats (9-12) now find themselves one win away from a berth in the state tournament. Thursday’s win gave Louisburg its first substate tournament win since 2013 and are in the substate championship game for the first time since 2010.

The Wildcats went on a 14-1 run in the final 6 minutes and 30 seconds to pull past Paola and continue their quest at a spot in the state tournament.

“It feels great,” Louisburg senior Grant Harding said. “It has been a while since Louisburg has beaten Paola in general. I know my freshman year we lost to Paola in this exact place in substate so it feels good to win this one. It has been a long time since we have been in the subsate championship game, so this definitely feels good.”

Louisburg came close in its first two meetings with Paola this season.

On both occasions, the Wildcats would have a lead late, only to see the Panthers rally for a win — including one that spoiled Louisburg’s senior night a week ago.

The Wildcats put together that big finish when they needed it most.

Louisburg senior Grant Harding drives to the basket for two points Thursday against Paola.

Paola’s Noah Bell hit a 3-pointer with just under seven minutes left in the contest to put Paola up five points and momentum switched to the Panthers. About 15 seconds later, it all changed as Louisburg senior Sam Guetterman countered with a 3-pointer of his own to begin the run.

“Sam’s three was huge,” Louisburg coach Jason Nelson said. “It got everyone going and everyone loosened up and played like the senior team that we know they can.

“We blocked out better. Defensively we were pretty locked in. It was just us being us. There was no overthinking. It was just taking advantage of the opportunities that we had.”

Junior Dalton Ribordy muscled his way up through the Paola defense for two points 30 seconds later to tie the game, then senior T.J. Dover scored back-to-back baskets to put the Wildcats up three.

After a pair of Harding free throws that put Louisburg up five, it was the Wildcat defense that took over. Harding drew a charge near the basket on the next possession and also blocked a pair of Paola shots.

The Wildcats limited the Panthers’ second chance opportunities and they were able to pull away after baskets from Guetterman and Harding that put Louisburg up nine with under two minutes left.

“Everyone’s confidence level went up during that stretch,” Guetterman said. “Everyone wanted this game really bad. I think we all came together as a team and we knew we needed to make a run here. We moved the ball, people were cutting at the right time and we all just played well in those last few minutes.”

Louisburg senior T.J. Dover shoots over Paola’s Tanner Moala in the Wildcats’ 54-44 win.

Louisburg kept the game close despite dealing with foul trouble most of the way. Ribordy and Dover, the team’s starting forwards, were saddled with two fouls in the first quarter and required the Wildcat bench to step it up with key minutes from Jake Hill, Dalton Stone and Desmond Doles.

Harding also moved inside from the perimeter, grabbed key rebounds and blocked a shot in the fourth quarter.

“We were in serious foul trouble most of the night,” Nelson said. “If we were in zone, they would exploit their size and when we were in man we would foul. But everyone stepped up and helped out. Desmond gave us great minutes in the post and when we moved Grant down low and he did fantastic. His charge was huge for us as well. Everyone did a good job picking each other up.”

Harding finished the game with a double-double as he was one of four Wildcats to score in double figures. He led the Wildcats with 14 points, 14 rebounds and had two blocked shots.

Guetterman finished with 11 points, with seven of those coming in the fourth quarter. Ribordy and Dover each scored 10, while Ribordy added six rebounds.

Louisburg now has a day to prepare for its substate championship opponent — Fort Scott. The No. 4 seed Tigers (6-15) upset No. 1 Spring Hill, 56-52, and Louisburg will face off with the Tigers at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday in Spring Hill.

“Fort Scott is going to be ready to go,” Nelson said. “They are well coached and they are scrappy. They put good pressure on defense from what we saw earlier. We are going to have play as well as we did in that third and fourth quarter because Fort Scott is going to be hungry.

“Our guys are ready to put in the work today. If we let them, they would probably have a sleepover and watch film all night long. They will be ready to play.”

Louisburg coach Jason Nelson gets hug from Dalton Ribordy after Louisburg’s win over Paola. It was the Wildcats’ first win over Paola since 2012.

The players are also excited to try and end another Louisburg drought. The Wildcats haven’t advanced to the state tournament since 2005.

“No one is easy to beat and we have seen that all year in some of the games we have been in,” Guetterman said. “We just need to come out and play hard like we did (Thursday) and hopefully we will come out with a W.”

And — hopefully for the Wildcats — another demon will be exorcised Saturday night.

LOU 16 6 10 22 – 54

PAO 14 4 16 10 – 44

LOUISBURG (9-12): Grant Harding 14, Sam Guetterman 11, T.J. Dover 10, Dalton Ribordy 10, Jayce Geiman 4, Dalton Stone 3, Jake Hill 2. Totals: 21-48 9-18 54. 3-point field goals: 3, (Guetterman, Harding, Stone)