De Soto’s fast start helps down Louisburg boys

By Andy Brown
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Updated: January 15, 2018

Andy Brown / Louisburg Sports Zone

Louisburg junior Dylan DeShazer stretches out for a rebound Friday at De Soto High School. De Soto connected on seven first half 3-pointers on its way to a 65-48 win over the Wildcats.

DE SOTO – It became apparent early on that there wasn’t much that Louisburg could do to stop De Soto offensively.

De Soto connected on seven 3-pointers in the first half alone, and Louisburg couldn’t keep up in a 65-48 loss Friday at De Soto High School. It marked another loss on the Wildcats’ resume, but it was the best offensive performance Louisburg has gone against in its first nine games.

“They can really shoot it,” Louisburg coach Ty Pfannenstiel said of De Soto. “Their guards are really good and we knew that coming in. This time they were hot and that is a good basketball team we just played. They move without the basketball very well, they are very unselfish and very patient. It is all good qualities you want to see in a team and we can learn from that. I am trying to gain some of those characteristics that they have. They had a very good shooting night though.”

On the night, De Soto finished with nine 3-pointers and shot 43 percent from the field, compared to just 33 percent for Louisburg. The Wildcats struggled to get much going offensively, but were able to slow down De Soto for a few minute stretch in the second half.

The two teams were basically even on the scoreboard in the second half, but Louisburg couldn’t overcome De Soto’s 35-19 lead at halftime.

“We went a little zone, and that slowed them down at least a little bit for a few possessions, and then they figured it out,” Pfannenstiel said. “The problems with zones, especially with a team like us that doesn’t play it very much, is you can kind of get lethargic. A team that can shoot the ball like that, it doesn’t really matter if you go man or zone.”

Louisburg had a pair of players score in double figures as senior Ben Minster led the way with 11 points and fellow senior Justin Sievert added 10 points and a team-high seven rebounds.

Sophomore Madden Rutherford drives around a De Soto player toward the basket Friday in De Soto.

Senior Desmond Doles finished with nine points in the loss, while junior Brayden Gage and senior Dalton Ribordy each scored six. Ribordy also pulled down six rebounds.

“We were better offensively in the second half and started working the ball inside more, but we have to find a way to get the ball into the basket,” Pfannenstiel said. “I think a lot of that is sharing the ball more. I think sometimes we try to do a little too much 1-on-1 stuff and we could get easier looks at the basket if we do a better job of cutting and moving without the basketball.”

Although Louisburg was never within striking distance of a win, Pfannenstiel was still able to learn some things about his team.

“It was a good environment,” he said. “A couple of our guys got knocked around a little bit and that kind of sparked our guys. But it shouldn’t take us getting run over to spark that warrior mentality that it takes to compete every possession. I did see that we do have that side of us, which is good, but we have to do that every single possession. That is what it is going to take in this league because everyone in this league is good.”

The Wildcats will try and get on the winning track this week when they take part in the Baldwin Invitational Tournament beginning on Tuesday. Louisburg, which is the No. 7 seed, will face No. 2 Bonner Springs at 7 p.m., Tuesday.

The Wildcats will play again Friday and Saturday with times to be announced.

LOU 9 10 11 18 – 48

DES 19 16 15 15 – 65

LOUISBURG (1-8): Ben Minster 11, Justin Sievert 10, Desmond Doles 9, Brayden Gage 6, Dalton Ribordy 6, Madden Rutherford 3, Noah Hill 2, Dylan DeShazer 1. Totals: 18-54 9-17 48. 3-point field goals: 3, (Sievert 2, Minster).