Last October, Paola activities director Jeff Hines went to a Kansas State High School Activities Association (KSHSAA) regional meeting to get updates on classification issues.

Six months later, Hines found himself in Topeka, in front of the Kansas Senate Education Committee to talk about a bill that could change the way schools are classified.

On Thursday, Hines sat in front of the committee to discuss Senate Bill 464 – a bill that he proposed with guidance of Sen. Caryn Tyson.

Statute 72-130 establishes specific guidelines pertaining to the organizational structure and functions of KSHSAA. Senate Bill 464 would change one part of the statute and strike the line which allows schools to be classified only by student enrollment.

“The total number of students in schools is a great starting point for classifying them,” Hines said.  “It makes sense that the largest schools should play the largest schools and the smallest schools should play the smallest schools, but there are other things that need to be considered.”

For several months, KSHSAA has had a classification committee discuss different ways to have a competitive balance with its member schools. They came up with ideas of reducing the number of classifications or changing the number of schools in a division.

“There were no other factors being considered and that bothered me,” Hines said, “All that would do was reshuffle the schools just a little bit but we would have the same problem.”

The problem for the committee was its hands were tied thanks to the wording in Statute 72-130 that specifically states schools can only be classified by enrollment numbers and nothing else.

So Hines went to work and helped create Senate Bill 464, which does not give a specific solution to the problem, but rather would take wording out of the statute to allow KSHSAA to figure out how to classify schools on its own.

Hines gave a 15 minute testimony in front of the committee and then answered questions from the committee members for more than 30 minutes afterward. Before the hearing, Hines received support from every member in the Frontier League, Pioneer League and all but two schools in the Kaw Valley League, as those two didn’t respond before the hearing.

Following Hines’ testimony, Sen. Vicki Schmidt, R-Topeka, had concerns as to why KSHSAA did not come in front of the committee itself to ask for changes.

Hines informed the committee that it would be redundant for KSHSAA to endorse the plan, because if approved, member schools would still have to vote on it. He believes Bill 464 would let KSHSAA come up with a system and let schools improve it, instead of the legislature.

“KSHSAA wants to be neutral because this proposal would affect different schools in different ways,” Hines said. “It could be very beneficial to some schools and others may not like it because they might have to move up a class. So, why should KSHSAA have to pick sides in it and pit member against member? It doesn’t have to be that way in my opinion.

“Yes, a school that has to move up a classification might not like it, but is it the best thing overall for the association? They can’t look themselves in the mirror and say ‘No, this isn’t the right thing to do?’

A major problem for some member schools in KSHSAA is they do not believe it is competitively equal the way it is currently structured.

“I am not a believer in participation medals,” Hines said. “If they are kindergartners, sure, but when you start playing, part of being successful later in life is learning how to compete. We all competed for a job when you have gone in for an interview and that is good. You need to have that skillset and I am not saying that we need to give more trophies out and give everyone a shot, but I just want a system in place that is equitable for all so that some don’t have an unfair advantage at the expense of the rest and I think that is what is happening.”

One of the problems is the lack of balance between championships won between public and private high schools. Hines did research and presented numbers at the hearing at the number of state championships won between private and public schools from 2004 to 2014.

Here is what he found.

• Private schools make up slightly less than 8 percent of the KSHSAA membership.
• Private schools have won slightly less than 32 percent of the state championships.
• Based on membership percentage, private schools should only win approximately 8 percent of the titles, not nearly 32 percent.
• Private schools are winning four times more state titles than should be expected based on their memberships.
• Private schools are nine times more likely to win five or more state titles than their public school peers.

“In that period of time, I looked for who has won five or more state titles,” Hines said. “That is a difficult feat. You look at Paola’s history and we have won like seven and Louisburg has won three in 100-plus years. During those 10 years, 37 percent of those private schools won five or more during that time and public schools had 4 percent win five or more. Private schools are nine times more likely to become a dynasty or a successful program with strong tradition. You tell me how we are all the same?”

Another problem they are facing is schools with a high percentage of low socioeconomic status (SCS) students, cannot compete against fellow schools in their own classification in many activities, including football.

“There is a whole bunch of schools in the Kansas City, Kansas school district that are 6A or 5A that have no business competing against those really hard schools,” Hines said. “They don’t have resources, they don’t have the students, there is no interest and they have all those things working against them and I feel bad for those kids. Who wants to trot out against some of those bigger schools and know you are going to get your ears boxed in? That is not fun. Moreover, it is not challenging for the kids those schools are playing against.”

Hines believes competition is important when it comes to the growth of the student athlete and it is beneficial for the school and its community.

“Not only what it does for grades, but for what it does for the human spirit,” Hines said.
“When I was the FFA advisor in Paola, we won 10 state championships in nine years and you could tell the interest by the students and the community went through the roof. You can say the same thing about Louisburg and what Jim Morgan does with his FFA kids. People flock to success.

“Naturally, when they are there they feel better about themselves, they want to work harder in the classroom to stay eligible and kids that want to stay involved are going to be more successful in life. It is all about having the chance to be successful.”

During Hines’ testimony in front of the Senate Education Committee, not all of the legislatures seemed open to the idea. Molly Baumgardner, R-Louisburg, asked Hines if he would be willing to relinquish state funding if the legislature agrees to release oversight of how KSHSAA classifies schools.

“If we relinquished the funding behind it, (high school activities) would disappear,” Hines said at the hearing.

No action was taken following the hearing, but the committee chairman spent 15 minutes with him and Tyson to help them strategize on what to do next.

One option is to amend the bill to include more specifics that could include a multiplier or a separate division for private schools and a low SCS school de-multiplier.

Another option, Hines said, would be to have the classification committee draft a letter to the Senate Education Committee that states they would like to study these other factors as part of a proposal for revamping the classification system, but not until they feel the legislature is open to changing the law.

Whatever decision comes next, however, Hines wants it to be decided by multiple people within KSHSAA on how to proceed.

“I don’t feel comfortable making that change because I feel a committee needs to do the work,” Hines said. “I shouldn’t be doing it, nor should 11 legislators, you need more. We should let the classification committee work on it and hopefully we can get some things accomplished.

“The only way to allow this to happen is to remove the barrier in place that exists due to the state statute.”

Louisburg’s Ben Minster dives to the floor to try and get a loose ball away from Paola’s Tanner Moala on Friday during the Wildcats’ substate tournament game at Louisburg High School. Louisburg saw its season come to an end with a 58-34 loss.

It wasn’t the most pleasant finish to the season for the Louisburg boys basketball team and that end came Friday.

During the Class 4A-Division I substate tournament at Louisburg High School, the Wildcats met No. 1 seed Paola in the opening round and gave the Panthers a close game through three quarters. Louisburg couldn’t hold on, however, as it fell to the eventual substate champion, 58-34.

The Wildcats (6-15), who won six of their first nine games to start the year, went winless the rest of the way, including several close losses down the stretch. Although the season didn’t end on a high note, Louisburg coach Jason Nelson believes his team grew in a lot of different areas.

“There were probably two games we should have won during that stretch without question and it would be a lot different,” Nelson said. “This is probably the best 4A league in the state, especially when you look at the upper echelon of teams.

“We had some season goals that we strove to meet. We wanted to keep teams at 60 points or less a game on average and we matched that. We wanted to outrebound teams and I think we were close there, which is a testament to our kids because we are undersized compared to most of the other schools. The turnover number was good, we just had a hard time finding consistency on offense.”

Louisburg senior Jacob Welsh drives past Paola’s Blain Ohlmeier during Friday’s substate game in Louisburg.

Offense was hard to come by for Louisburg again Friday, but the Wildcats found themselves up against a Paola front line that stands 6-7, 6-7 and 6-5. Louisburg also went up against an aggressive perimeter defense that made it difficult to score from the outside.

Although the offense wasn’t clicking, the Wildcat defense slowed Paola down, especially in the second and third quarters to keep the game close.

“You just look at Paola’s kids, they are just huge, well-coached and good,” Nelson said. “Our kids battled and did what we asked them to do. We emphasized blocking out just because they are so massive, and we could have done a little better job early, but to our credit they cleaned it up. We got the looks we wanted, we slowed them down offensively and they took the shots we wanted them to take. I couldn’t be prouder of our kids.”

Paola opened the game on a 17-3 run to get out to a double-digit lead early. To start the second quarter, Louisburg got two baskets from Korbin Hankinson and another from Ben Minster to cut the Paola lead to 10.

The Panthers then went on a mini 8-0 run to push their lead to 18 points shortly before halftime. Louisburg’s Jayce Geiman hit a 3-pointer with a minute left in the first half, but Paola still held a 29-14 lead at half.

T.J. Dover hit a basket to cut the Paola lead to 13 early in the third quarter, but it would be as close as the Wildcats would get.

Dover led the Wildcats in scoring with eight points as eight different players scored for Louisburg. Grant Harding and Hankinson each finished with six points for the Wildcats.

LOUISBURG                5             9             11           9 – 34

PAOLA                         17           12           11           18 – 58

LOUISBURG (6-15): T.J. Dover 8, Grant Harding 6, Korbin Hankinson 6, Jayce Geiman 4, Jacob Welsh 4, Ben Minster 2, Dalton Ribordy 2, Sam Guetterman 2. 3-point field goals: 2, (Harding, Geiman)

Louisburg sophomore Dalton Ribordy puts up a shot against Paola during a game earlier this season in Louisburg. The Wildcats fell to Paola on Friday, 70-31.

PAOLA – The Louisburg High School boys basketball team had a big challenge of trying to stay with No. 3 ranked Paola on Friday at Paola High School.

Paola made it difficult on the Wildcats from the start.

The Panthers took an 18-point lead into the second quarter and the Louisburg offense didn’t have an answer as it fell 70-31. The Wildcats ended their regular season with a 6-14 record.

In the process, Paola captured their undefeated Frontier League title in front of its home crowd on senior night. Throw in two hall of fame inductions and it was a difficult environment for the Wildcats to play in.

Paola jumped out to a big lead and never looked back and it took a 26-8 advantage into the second quarter and led 38-14 at halftime.

Junior T.J. Dover helped the Wildcats offensively as he, and fellow junior Grant Harding, were the lone players to score in double figures. Dover led Louisburg with 12 points and Harding finished with 11, who also had eight rebounds in the loss.

Paola’s Mason McDow was one of four Paola players to score in double figures and led the Panthers with 23 points.

The postseason will now begin for the Wildcats as they will host the Class 4A substate basketball tournament, beginning Friday. Louisburg, the No. 4 seed, will face none other than Paola (18-2) again. Paola is the No. 1 seed and the game will tipoff at 7:30 p.m., on Friday

No. 2 Fort Scott (11-9) and No. 3 Spring Hill (10-10) will square off at 6 p.m. on Friday and the winners of the two games will meet in the championship at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday at Louisburg High School.

LOUISBURG                8             6             13           4 – 31

PAOLA                         26           12           20           12 – 70

LOUISBURG (6-14): T.J. Dover 6-12 0-1 12; Grant Harding 4-10 3-3 11; Korbin Hankinson 2-4 0-0 4; Alex Dunn 1-1 0-0 2; Dalton Ribordy 1-2 0-0 2. Totals: 14-43 3-6 31. 3-point field goals: none

Louisburg junior Sam Guetterman passes off to a teammate during Tuesday’s senior night contest against De Soto at Louisburg High School. The Wildcats nearly stopped their losing streak, but lost in overtime, 66-62.

For the second time in three games, the Louisburg High School boys basketball team had the ball in its hands in the final seconds with the chance to win.

And for the second time in three games, the Wildcats came up empty.

Louisburg had the opportunity to knock off De Soto at home Tuesday, but came up short in a 66-62 overtime loss in a contest in which the Wildcats rallied from seven points down in the fourth quarter to tie the game.

On a night that could have had a lot of celebration with the honoring of Alex Dunn, Jacob Welsh and Ben Brummel on senior night, or Grant Harding’s 33-point effort, instead ended in disappointment.

“It really stuck to the script as what a lot of the other games have been,” Louisburg coach Jason Nelson said. “We outrebounded them, we broke the press fine and all these little things that we are focusing on in practice, we are doing it. When we attacked the rim and run what we do, good things happened. It is what it is. It doesn’t matter who is on the court, all five guys want to be the best they can be, we just aren’t putting it altogether.”

Harding had his best night of the season offensively as the De Soto defenders couldn’t keep him out of the lane. He made eight field goals in the game, but Harding hurt De Soto at the free-throw line where was 15-for-19.

Despite all that, the Wildcats needed one more of Harding’s shots to go down at the end of regulation. With the game tied, and seconds remaining on the clock, Harding drove the lane but his shot bounced off the rim and the game then went into overtime.

Junior Grant Harding scores two of his 33 points on a dunk Tuesday against De Soto.

“Grant was superb,” Nelson said. “He shot great from the free-throw line and really everyone is doing what we need them to do. But when we have breakdowns, they come at the worst time. We have been in a lot of close games, but we just can’t seem to get those.”

Louisburg jumped out to 16-11 lead at the end of the first quarter when junior Jayce Geiman connected on a 3-pointer at the buzzer.

De Soto started to battle back and took one-point lead with under three minutes left in the first half. But the Wildcats got big baskets from Harding, Korbin Hankinson and a free throw from Dalton Ribordy to give them a 25-21 halftime lead.

Everything seemed to be going Louisburg’s way in the third quarter as it took an eight point lead with three minutes left in the period. Then things started to unravel.

The Wildcats (6-13) started missing shots and De Soto took advantage as it went on a 12-1 run to end the quarter with a 38-35 lead as it got forward Isaac Albert involved. Albert scored a team-high 26 points and was tough for the Wildcats to stop inside.

Louisburg nearly tied it up at the buzzer as Welsh heaved a three-quarter court shot that hit off the back of the rim and went out to end the third.

“It is ultimately on us, but we had some advantageous foul calls that took us out of our rhythm a little bit,” Nelson said. “But if we played inside-out like we are supposed to do, those things probably don’t matter.”

De Soto eventually built a seven point lead, but the Wildcats had another charge in them. Harding scored eight straight points in about a minute span get Louisburg back in it.

Harding converted a basket and was fouled for the traditional three-point play, hit two more free throws and then knocked down a 3-pointer to give the Wildcats the lead.

De Soto took the lead back, but a basket from Sam Guetterman, along with free throws from Harding and Welsh gave Louisburg a 53-52 lead with under a minute left. De Soto hit a free throw to tie the game with 21 seconds left, which gave the Wildcats one lost opportunity before overtime, but Harding’s drive to the basket rolled off.

That missed opportunity by Louisburg seemed to fuel De Soto as it opened the extra period on a 9-3 run to give it a 62-56 lead with 45 seconds left.

Welsh converted a traditional three-point play of his own to cut the lead to three, and after a De Soto basket, Harding answered with a 3-pointer with 13 seconds remaining. After the made basket, the Wildcats stole the ball from De Soto in backcourt with a chance to at least tie the game, but turned the ball over themselves.

De Soto sank two free throws with eight seconds left to seal the win.

Louisburg seniors (from left) Alex Dunn, Ben Brummel and Jacob Welsh were honored before the game during a senior night ceremony.

It was the final regular season home game for Louisburg’s three seniors as they were honored before the game during a senior night ceremony. Nelson knows those three brought a lot to the team this year.

“Welsh and Corbin Wertz (2015 grad) are two of the most intense defenders that I have had the opportunity to coach and Jacob is a hard worker,” Nelson said. “Alex couldn’t play last year with his knee, but he gives us some of the best minutes and he makes things happen. Brummel works hard and has a lot of natural ability and I wish I had him for four years. They are super kids.”

Louisburg will try and stop its 10-game losing skid tonight when the Wildcats travel to Paola for their final game of the regular season. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m.

LOUISBURG                16           9             10           18           9 – 62

DE SOTO                     11           10           17           15           13 – 66

LOUISBURG (6-13): Grant Harding 8-14 15-19 33; Jayce Geiman 2-7 0-0 6; T.J. Dover 2-4 2-4 6; Jacob Welsh 1-4 3-3 5; Sam Guetterman 2-4 0-0 4; Dalton Ribordy 1-4 2-3 4; Alex Dunn 1-3 0-0 2; Korbin Hankinson 1-2 0-0 2. Totals: 18-42 22-31 62. 3-point field goals: 4, (Geiman 2, Harding 2)

Louisburg junior Jake Hill puts up a shot between two Spring Hill defenders Friday at Louisburg High School. The Wildcats fell to Spring Hill 58-32 after the Broncos hit eight 3-pointers on the night.

During its losing streak, the Louisburg boys basketball team hasn’t caught many breaks.

Through much of the last nine games, the Wildcats have been trying to put a complete game together. There have been close losses, but some have been lopsided in nature.

Unfortunately, it was the latter for the Wildcats on Friday against Spring Hill at Louisburg High School.

Spring Hill caught fire from the outside as it connected on eight 3-pointers on the night and ran away with a 58-32 victory over Louisburg.

“We rebounded well, we pushed the ball well, but we can’t let a couple of small bits of adversity take us out of our game plan,” Louisburg coach Jason Nelson said. “We made our first three shots to start the game, we are assertive, going through our offense and then we go through a little bit of adversity and it takes us out of what we practice all the time. I guess I need to do a better job of prepping them.”

Senior Alex Dunn dives on the floor for a loose ball with teammate Dalton Ribordy on Friday.

The Wildcats (6-12) had a good idea the Broncos shot well from the outside. Even when Louisburg defenders got hands in the face of the Spring Hill shooters, they still found the bottom of the net.

Spring Hill pulled away in the second quarter as it hit six 3-pointers in the frame and took a 35-15 lead into halftime.

“Those definitely hurt because they were making shots and guys were doing what they were supposed to be doing,” Nelson said. “We were closing out, there were a few instances where our help-side defense wasn’t there, and that was unacceptable, but I thought we did ok. Coming out in the second half, we were assertive and got the looks we want, which is 15 feet and in. They just didn’t fall.”

Louisburg actually jumped out to an early lead as it scored on its first three possessions of the game, including two baskets from junior Sam Guetterman. From there, the Broncos went on a 12-2 run to take a 14-8 lead.

Then came a tough second quarter and the third quarter didn’t get much better as Spring Hill scored 19 more points to all but seal the win.

Junior Jayce Geiman led the Wildcats in scoring with eight points and junior Grant Harding added seven in the loss. Spring Hill’s Ivan Hughes led all scorers with game-high 22 points.

The Wildcats will try and snap their nine-game losing streak tonight when they host De Soto. Louisburg defeated De Soto earlier in the season and it hopes to end its regular season home schedule on a good note.

It will also be senior night for Louisburg as it will honor seniors Jacob Welsh, Alex Dunn and Ben Brummel. Tipoff for the game is set for approximately 7:30 p.m.

 LOUISBURG               8             7             11           4 – 32

SPRING HILL               14           21           19           4 – 58

LOUISBURG (6-12): Jayce Geiman 3-7 0-0 8, Grant Harding 3-9 1-2 7, Jacob Welsh 2-5 2-2 6, Sam Guetterman 2-4 0-0 4, Alex Dunn 1-2 2-2 4, Dalton Ribordy 1-1 0-0 2, Jake Hill 0-2 1-2 1. Totals: 12-36 6-8 32. 3-point field goals: 2, (Geiman 2)

Louisburg junior Jayce Geiman passes the ball off to teammate Korbin Hankinson during Tuesday’s league game against Baldwin. Geiman finished with a game-high 18 points, including six 3-pointers in the 60-59 loss.

With six seconds left and time ticking away, Grant Harding drove the lane, rose up for a shot and let it go.

If it goes in, Louisburg completes a comeback to beat Baldwin and snaps a seven-game losing skid in the process.

“I thought it was going in,” Louisburg coach Jason Nelson said. “Whenever any of the guys put up a shot, I always think it is going in.”

Instead, Harding’s shot bounced off the rim as time expired and the Wildcats suffered a 60-59 loss to Baldwin on Tuesday at Louisburg High School. The loss made it tough for a lot of the players and coaches as they still continue to search for the elusive win to stop the streak.

“The perseverance thing is the key for all of us for when we are going to get out of this tailspin,” Nelson said. “We are so close in putting everything together. I would put these kids up against anyone in the world in practice as far as effort. We know what we need to fix, but it is about me getting everyone on the same page and driving it home.”

The Wildcats (6-11) shot well from the field as they hit on 54 percent of their shots, but the problem was Baldwin did as well. The Bulldogs connected on 10 3-pointers and held the lead from a minute left in the first quarter to the 1 minute and 42 second mark of the fourth quarter.

Louisburg was constantly trying to play catch up as it found itself down 10 points going into the fourth quarter and the Wildcats trailed by eight points with just under three minutes left in the game.

Korbin Hankinson goes up for a shot Tuesday against Baldwin at Louisburg High School.

Junior Jayce Geiman kept the game close as he put together one of his best shooting performances of the season. Geiman made six 3-pointers, including one that gave the Wildcats the lead late, and scored a team-high 18 points.

The Wildcats also had some success underneath the basket. Forward T.J. Dover added 14 points in the loss and had a team-high six rebounds. Harding finished with 13 points

“Jayce was fantastic,” Nelson said. “He had a couple good takes in the first half and two of them I thought he got fouled on. His shots were coming off free and easy. We don’t mind good 3’s. We talk about bad 3’s a lot about being one pass and shoot, or dribble down and just shoot.

“When Jayce got hot, we were going through progressions, T.J. and Dalton (Ribordy) got touches inside and we were working inside-out. That left a lot of open looks for Jayce and Grant. Those two can bury open shots.”

Those two players did that late in the fourth quarter to help get the Wildcats back in the game. With 2:47 left, and Louisburg down by eight, Harding hit back-to-back 3-pointers in a span of 20 seconds to cut the Baldwin lead to two.

Geiman put Louisburg in front with a 3-pointer of his own with 1:42 left and gave the Wildcats their first lead in three quarters. Baldwin took the lead back on a basket with 45 seconds left.

Dover hit a jumper to put the Wildcats up one with 17 seconds remaining, but Baldwin drove the ball down the floor and was fouled with 11 seconds left. Baldwin’s Austin Ward hit both free throws, which set up one final opportunity for Louisburg with six seconds remaining and Harding with the ball at the top of the key.

“We were coming to set a screen and T.J. was going to slide down from the block and Jayce was going to slide to the corner so that gave us three different options,” Nelson said. “There was six seconds left so that was enough time to get something. I always think it is going in with these kids, but it just didn’t this time.”

Louisburg will get another chance to stop its losing streak Friday when it hosts Spring Hill. Tipoff is set for approximately 7:30 p.m.

LOUISBURG                10           14           15           20 – 59

BALDWIN                    16           13           20           11 – 60

LOUISBURG (6-11): Jayce Geiman 6-11 0-1 18; T.J. Dover 7-8 0-0 14; Grant Harding 5-13 1-4 13; Korbin Hankinson 3-5 0-0 6; Dalton Ribordy 2-3 0-0 4; Sam Guetterman 1-2 0-0 2; Alex Dunn 1-2 0-0 2. Totals: 25-46 1-5 59. 3-point field goals: 8, (Geiman 6, Harding 2)

Louisburg senior Alex Dunn tries to get a shot up despite the outstretched arms of an Ottawa defender Friday at Ottawa High School. The Wildcats fell to the Cyclones 50-33 to move to 6-10 on the season.

OTTAWA – Throughout its lengthy losing streak, the one thing the Louisburg boys basketball team has done was get off to good starts.

The Wildcats have put together solid first quarters, only to see the other team pull away later in the game. It was the exact opposite Friday in Ottawa.

Louisburg couldn’t cool off the Cyclones in the first quarter as Ottawa used a big run to pull away from the Wildcats in a 50-33 win. The loss was the seventh in a row for Louisburg.

“They were definitely on fire,” Louisburg coach Jason Nelson said of Ottawa. “We executed after that first three minutes or so. That first couple minutes, we knew was coming, and we dug our feet in to get back in it. We just couldn’t get the ball in the hole.”

The Cyclones opened the game on a 16-2 run and the Wildcats were not able to recover. Louisburg was able to keep the game within reach as it closed the gap to 10 points at the end of the quarter after a pair of baskets from senior Jacob Welsh.

Senior Ben Brummel goes up for a shot and gets fouled during Friday’s game in Ottawa.

Senior Alex Dunn cut the Ottawa lead to eight with a basket to start the second quarter, but the Cyclones went on a mini 7-0 run to push the lead back out and led 28-16 at halftime.

Although the Wildcats were able to settle the game down defensively, they couldn’t get the offense to match. Louisburg shot just 32 percent from the field and made only 7 of 24 free throw attempts.

The Wildcats (6-10) had plenty of chances as they were able to pull down 10 offensive rebounds for the contest, but their shots wouldn’t fall.

“The goals we established to get out of the rut was to outrebound them, like we always work on in practice,” Nelson said. “We can’t turn the ball over and we did a good job of handling their press and to push the ball offensively. When we did that we did OK. Those shooting numbers aren’t going to get it done. A lot of those were pretty solid looks.”

Ottawa opened the second half on a 12-2 run to push the lead to 20 and the Wildcats weren’t able to catch up.

Junior T.J. Dover led the Wildcats in scoring with nine points and Welsh was second on the team with eight. Guard Sam Guetterman led Louisburg with eight rebounds.

“We took a big step forward mentally,” Nelson said. “We always practice well, but we had a good week this week. Offensively we just have to get ours. We are really close, but it was just one of those nights. We have to find the hot hand.”

Louisburg will try and break its losing skid tonight when it hosts Baldwin. The Wildcats have defeated the Bulldogs twice this season. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m. at Louisburg High School.

LOUISBURG                11           5             8             9 – 33

OTTAWA                     21           7             12           10 – 50

LOUISBURG (6-10): T.J. Dover 3-7 2-7 9; Jacob Welsh 4-6 0-3 8; Grant Harding 2-10 2-5 6; Jayce Geiman 1-4 0-0 3; Ben Brummel 1-1 1-3 3; Sam Guetterman 0-4 2-4 2; Alex Dunn 1-3 0-0 2. Totals: 12-37 7-24 33. 3-point field goals: 2, (Geiman, Dover)

Louisburg guard Jacob Welsh passes off to teammate Ben Minster under the basket during Friday’s homecoming game against Eudora. The Wildcats fell to Eudora 66-30.

The Louisburg boys basketball team tried to slow down the pace against a high-powered Eudora offense Friday, and early on, it seemed to work.

After the first quarter, however, it didn’t quite go as planned.

Louisburg, which trailed by six points at the end of the first quarter, allowed 29 second quarter points to the Cardinals and the Wildcats ended up with a 66-30 loss on homecoming. It was also the sixth loss in a row for Louisburg.

“Until we start doing things that we are supposed to do, things that we work on every day in practice, it is going to be like this,” Louisburg coach Jason Nelson said. “What we see in practice is different than what we see in games and that mentality has to carry over and it hasn’t for some reason.”

The Wildcats (6-9) made it difficult on the Cardinals early as they forced the ball inside on offense and were able to get to the free-throw line. In fact, Louisburg went to the line 12 times in the first quarter and found themselves in the bonus four minutes into the contest.

Louisburg junior Jayce Geiman goes up for a shot during Friday’s game against Eudora.

Although Louisburg didn’t have a field goal in the first quarter, it trailed only 14-8 going into the second period. However the lack of offense, seven turnovers and confident Eudora team made for a tough way to end the first half for the Wildcats

“They are such a good group of kids and they want to be good, but it is about sticking to the game plan,” Nelson said. “We talk about controlling the tempo and attacking. We did that. They had seven fouls and we were shooting free throws in the first quarter. We were slowing them down and that is what we wanted. For some reason, we deviated from it and it just kind of snowballed.”

Eudora hit four 3-pointers on consecutive possessions at one point during the second quarter, which led to a 13-0 run by the Cardinals that gave them a 43-16 halftime lead. It was a lead the Wildcats couldn’t overcome.

Junior Grant Harding led the Wildcats in scoring with eight points and junior Jayce Geiman finished with a team-high five rebounds in the loss.

“We have been focusing on getting the ball inside more and running an inside-out game,” Nelson said. “When we do it, and when we are assertive with it, it works well. When we deviate from that, it kind of spirals out of control. It is not physical because these kids work harder than any group of kids that I have had, but we have to keep doing what we know how to do and not get away from that.”

The Wildcats will try and stop their losing streak Friday when they travel to Ottawa. Tipoff is set for approximately 7:30 p.m.

LOUISBURG                8             8             7             7 – 30

EUDORA                      14           29           12           11 – 66

LOUISBURG (6-9): Grant Harding 3-9 1-2 8; Alex Dunn 2-2 2-2 6; T.J. Dover 1-4 4-6 6; Jacob Welsh 2-3 0-0 4; Jake Hill 1-2 1-2 3; Dalton Ribordy 0-0 2-2 2; Jayce Geiman 0-7 1-2 1. Totals: 9-33 11-16 30. 3-point field goals: 1, (Harding)

Wildcat junior Grant Harding passes the ball off to an open teammate during Louisburg’s home game with Paola on Tuesday at Louisburg High School. Harding finished with 19 points, but the Wildcats lost 65-39 to the No. 3 ranked Panthers.

For the first quarter, the Louisburg boys basketball team had it all going its way against No. 3 ranked Paola on Tuesday at Louisburg High School.

The Wildcats held a three-point lead going into the second quarter and the momentum on its home floor.

All that started to change – and quickly.

Paola went on a 16-2 run to start the second quarter and never looked back in a 65-39 victory over Louisburg. The Wildcats also lost their fifth in a row, but Louisburg coach Jason Nelson saw a lot of positives from his team.

“It was much better at times,” Nelson said. “We just played one of the top teams in the state, and if we would have played that way for the last week-and-a-half, we would be in a lot better spot than we are right now. We knew we couldn’t let them get hot and we did a good job contesting them in the first half, but they are a fantastic team.”

The Panthers won the battle underneath the basket as they had a decided advantage. Paola starters Mason McDow and Alex Wilson each stand at 6 feet, 7 inches, while reserve forward Tanner Moala stands at 6-5.

Louisburg junior Sam Guetterman pulls up for a jumper Tuesday during the Wildcats’s home game with Paola.

Louisburg tried different defenses to give Paola multiple looks, but in the end, the Panthers scored around the basket and got several second-chance opportunities.

“They are huge,” Nelson said. “We are smallish for the most part and I thought we handled it as best as we could. We couldn’t run zone for a prolonged period of time against them because they were going to find the weaknesses and exploit it. We were just trying to change up the zones and run some man defense mixed in.

“We were blocking out for the most part, and that is something we have been preaching in practice, but every single time that we didn’t – they exploited it.”

The Wildcats (6-8) got out to a fast start thanks to Grant Harding. The Louisburg junior scored 10 of his team-high 19 points in the first quarter and helped the Wildcats to a 13-7 lead.

Louisburg took a 15-12 lead into the second quarter, but Paola went on its 16-2 run to build an 11-point lead with four minutes left in the first half. Wildcat junior Sam Guetterman hit a pair of baskets to keep the deficit at single digits, but the Panthers went on a mini 7-2 run to take a 38-23 halftime lead.

Offensively, the Wildcats didn’t have enough left to rally from that big of a deficit. Louisburg managed just 16 second-half points.

Along with Harding’s 19 points and seven rebounds, junior T.J. Dover added eight points in the loss, while Guetterman added five rebounds.

The Wildcats will try and snap their losing streak tonight when they host Eudora for homecoming. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m., with the crowning of the king and queen set before the contest.

Nelson knows his team is going through a tough stretch at the moment, but he saw signs that they are starting to come around.

“Compared to where we have been it is a much better mentality,” Nelson said. “There are lots of things to work on obviously, and it is not going to get any easier with Eudora looming, but this game tested our moxie and we will see how we respond against Eudora.”

LOUISBURG                15           8             11           5 – 39

PAOLA                         12           26           14           13 – 65

LOUISBURG (6-8): Grant Harding 6-13 5-6 19; T.J. Dover 4-6 0-0 8; Sam Guetterman 2-5 1-2 5; Dalton Ribordy 2-2 1-3 5; Ben Minster 1-3 0-0 2. Totals: 15-38 7-11 39. 3-point field goals: 2, (Harding 2)

Homecoming week at Louisburg High School kicked off Monday and events are in full swing. With something going on every day this week, it will be a busy time for students and faculty alike. All of it is of course centered around the crowning of the 2016 winter king and queen. Eight students were selected as nominees and here are their names and profiles.

The crowning will take place on Friday inside the LHS gymnasium in between the varsity boys and girls games against Eudora. The boys game is scheduled to tip at approximately 7:30 p.m.

Cale Schneider

Cale is the son of Scott and Danna Schneider. Cale has been involved in soccer for four years, baseball for four years, Leo’s Club for two years, Spanish Club for two years and Math Club for one year. Cale is currently undecided on what college he will be attending, but he will major in civil engineering.

Makenzie Kallevig

Makenzie is the daughter of Eric and Kara Kallevig. Makenzie has been involved in volleyball for four years, track for four years, Letterman’s Club for three years, Leo’s Club for one year and basketball for one year. Makenzie plans to attend the University of Kansas and major in nursing with a minor in psychology.

Mitchell McLellan

Mitchell is the son of Wade and Angi McLellan. Mitchell has been involved in football for four years, basketball for four years and debate for one year. Mitchell plans to attend Hutchinson Community College to play football and then transfer to a four-year school and pursue a degree in law.

Makenzie Richardson

Makenzie is the daughter of Kelly and Mary Margaret Richardson. Makenzie has been involved in Student Council for three years, Letterman’s Club for three years, SADD for three years, National Honor Society for two years, volleyball for two years, cheerleading for one year and FCA for one year. Makenzie plans to attend Kansas State University and pursue a degree in the medical field.

The 2016 Louisburg High School winter homecoming candidates are (front row, from left) Makenzie Kallevig, Makenzie Richardson, Riley George, Megan Roy; (back row) Cale Schneider, Mitchell McLellan, Spencer Rogers and Cole Kramer

Spencer Rogers

Spencer is the son of David and Genni Rogers. Spencer has been involved in band for four years, jazz band for three years, Scholar’s Bowl for three years, Spanish Club for three years, Math Club for two years, Model United Nations for two years, cross country for two years, National Honor Society for two years, track for one year, debate for one year and forensics for one year. Spencer plans to attend the University of Kansas and major in molecular biology and then transfer to Dartmouth to earn a PhD in genetics.

Riley George

Riley is the daughter of Chris George and Denise Ellison. Riley has been a football manager for four years, she has been involved in debate for four years and forensics for four years. Riley plans to attend Kansas State University and pursue a degree in political science.

Cole Kramer

Cole is the son of Rob and Marcy Kramer. Cole has been involved in football for four years, baseball for four years and Letterman’s Club for two years. Cole plans to attend Johnson County Community College for two years and then transfer to Pittsburg State to major in automotive engineering.

Megan Roy

Megan is the daughter of Craig and Laura Roy. Megan has been involved in FFA for four years, Student Council for four years, volleyball for three years, SADD for two years, basketball for two years, FCCLA for one year and cheerleading for one year. Megan plans to attend Johnson County Community College and then transfer to the University of Kansas to pursue a degree in nursing.