Burlington hands Lady Cats their first loss of season

By Andy Brown
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Updated: December 6, 2018

Andy Brown / Louisburg Sports Zone

Louisburg junior Haley Cain gets on the floor for a loose ball Tuesday during the Lady Cats’ home game against Burlington. The Lady Cats lost their first game of the season, 48-32.

The Louisburg girls basketball team encountered its first major test of the season Tuesday when it hosted the No. 3-ranked team in Class 3A, Burlington.

Burlington pressed the Lady Cats through much of the first half, and knocked down several open looks off turnovers, as it handed the Lady Cats their first loss of the season, 48-32.

“Our heads weren’t right before the game started and that falls on me,” Louisburg coach Shawn Lowry said. “We have to do a better job of preparing them mentally to be ready to go into a game like that against a really good team. We can’t be psyched out before the tipoff. We knew what they were going to do and it is a program that has run that stuff for many years. I thought we were ready to go, but obviously we weren’t.”

Burlington jumped on the Lady Cats early as it took a 20-4 lead at the end of the first quarter, with many of those points coming off Louisburg turnovers. Louisburg wasn’t able to dig out of the hole as Burlington outscored the Lady Cats 14-6 and took a 34-10 lead at halftime. Burlington also knocked down seven 3-pointers in the game.

The Lady Cats had a difficult time getting their offense going against a Burlington team that pressured the ball and weren’t able to score much in transition. Only three players scored for Louisburg and bulk of the points came thanks to Carson Buffington and Madilyn Melton.

Buffington nearly finished with a double-double as she scored 14 points, pulled down eight rebounds and also added four steals. Melton also recorded double figures with 13 points, and was second on the team with five rebounds, along with junior Haley Cain.

Sophomore Megan Foote came off the bench to score five points in the second half in which the Wildcats were able to chip into Burlington’s lead. Louisburg won the second half 22-14, but the Lady Cats weren’t able to overcome the big deficit.

“We didn’t play defense very well compared to last Friday,” Lowry said. “We have to do a much better job with stances and rotations and flying to the ball. At the same time, Burlington has a great senior class with some really nice players.

“For me, I want us to feel that feeling the bottom of your stomach that you don’t like very much after a loss. This group doesn’t like this very much, so I am happy to see that. I think they will come back to practice to work really hard and get ready for Friday’s game. Our preparation has to be at a higher level in preparing for every game we are going in to.”

Louisburg will try to get back on track this Friday when it travels to Anderson County for its first road contest. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m.

LOU 4 6 14 8 – 32

BUR 20 14 10 4 – 48

LOUISBURG (1-1): Carson Buffington 4-8 4-5 14; Madilyn Melton 4-14 5-6 13; Megan Foote 2-2 0-0 5. Totals: 10-43 9-11 32. 3-point field goals: 3, (Buffington 2, Foote)