It played against the same players and the same scheme, but the Louisburg boys basketball team played like different squads in each half.

Unfortunately for the Wildcats, the first version put them in a big hole against Paola and they weren’t able to recover in the second half. Louisburg outscored Paola in the final two quarters, but still fell 60-43 on Friday in Louisburg, which was also senior night.

“Paola really didn’t let up or change it up in the second half, but for some reason we didn’t play as well in the first half,” Louisburg coach Jason Nelson said. “The second half was just so different. Our intensity was up, our cuts were crisper and we were playing hard. The first half we didn’t have that intensity, we didn’t play with confidence and we ended up spotting them a lot of points and we can’t do that against a team like Paola.”

Before the game, Louisburg honored its three seniors: Corbin Wertz, Nathan Moore and Brady Lambeth as each played their final game on their home floor.

Louisburg senior Corbin Wertz escorts his parents Kristin and Todd Wertz onto the floor during senior night Friday.

Louisburg senior Brady Lambeth brings his parents Karen and Mark Lambeth onto the floor for senior night.

Senior Nathan Moore was honored along with his sister Natalie Moore and parents Lynne and Doug Moore on Friday during senior night activities.

Wertz provided the Wildcats a spark as he finished with a team-high 14 points, while Lambeth added eight points in the loss. Moore led the Wildcats with a team-high seven rebounds.

“We are constantly talking about building something and those three guys are our foundation,” Nelson said. “Two years ago I came in as a new coach, with a new system and those guys did everything we asked of them and they didn’t complain. They are the heart and soul of this team and have done a great job of leading those six sophomores that we have on the bench.”

The Wildcats (6-14) had a tough time staying with Paola in the first half. Louisburg committed 13 turnovers against a Paola full-court press in the first half, which led to several transition baskets for the Panthers.

Louisburg had a tough time scoring in the second quarter as the Panthers outscored the Wildcats 19-6 and built a 20-point halftime lead. Paola ended the first half on a 9-2 run.

“The effort was there, we just couldn’t execute and we didn’t play well against their press,” Nelson said. “In the second half though, we came out with a different mentality and cut down those 13 turnovers to just five in the second half. They were still pressuring us and they had the same players out there, we just played better. I just wish we could have started the same way.”

The Wildcats got a good performance from sophomore forward T.J. Dover as he finished with 11 points to go along with five rebounds against a tall Paola front line.

It is a new season for Louisburg as it begins substate action Thursday. The Wildcats are No. 4 seed and will play No. 1 Fort Scott (14-6) at 6 p.m. on Thursday at Paola High School.

If the Wildcats advance, they will play for the championship at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday.

LOUISBURG                11           6             16           10 – 43

PAOLA                         18           19           14           9 – 60

LOUISBURG (6-14): Corbin Wertz 4-7 6-8 14; T.J. Dover 5-8 1-3 11; Brady Lambeth 3-6 2-2 8; Grant Harding 2-5 0-0 5; Nathan Moore 1-5 2-4 4; Jake Hill 1-1 0-0 2. Totals: 16-37 11-18 43. 3-point field goals: 1, (Harding)

The Louisburg boys’ basketball team defeated De Soto 46-41 on Tuesday in De Soto to get its second win in three games. The Louisburg girls had a little more difficult time as it fell 51-14.

DE SOTO – The fourth quarter hasn’t always been so kind to the Louisburg boys’ basketball team.

Before Tuesday’s game with De Soto, the Wildcats have had six leads going into the fourth quarter only to come out on the losing end. Louisburg made sure that streak stopped at six.

The Wildcats came through in a big way as they knocked off De Soto on the road with a 46-41 victory despite several runs by De Soto to take the lead back in the fourth quarter. Louisburg didn’t let this one get away.

“We played well, but not great,” Louisburg coach Jason Nelson said. “However, the best thing about the win is that we had the mentality necessary to win games when we’re not our best. Our defensive rotations went into a few lapses, and our offensive sets were a bit stagnant at times.

“To the credit of our boys, however, we found a way to not let this one get away. They were determined not to let that happen again and I couldn’t be more proud of that fact.”

Louisburg (6-13) took an early 14-9 lead after the first quarter and held that lead as it had a 27-22 halftime lead. De Soto made a mini-run in the third quarter to tie the game going into the fourth quarter.

It was then the Wildcats took a small lead and were able to hold it. The Louisburg defense came through in the final minute as it held De Soto empty in its final possession with Louisburg up three points.

The victory was the second in three games for the Wildcats, and had it not been for a bad fourth quarter last week against Spring Hill, it could have been three in a row. Looking at that, Louisburg seems to be trending upward at the right time of the season with the substate tournament a week away.

“Our boys work as hard as any I’ve been around,” Nelson said. “Be it finishing moves, defense, shooting, offense, or the like, our boys put in the work through high energy and intense practices and I like we’re beginning to reap the benefits of this, especially with the six sophomores that suit up on varsity. We’ve tasked these young men with a great deal of pressure, especially given that they’re in 10th grade and they’re starting to figure out how to play.”

Louisburg senior point guard Corbin Wertz made his return to the Wildcat lineup and made an immediate impact. Wertz had a double-double as he led the team with 15 points and 12 rebounds in the victory.

Another senior, Nathan Moore, also had a strong game as he finished in double figures with 14 points, while sophomore Grant Harding added six rebounds.

Wertz, Moore and teammate Brady Lambeth will play their final home contest tonight when they Wildcats host rival Paola on senior night. Senior night ceremonies will be held in-between the varsity girls and boys game.

Tipoff for the boys game is set for approximately 7:30 p.m. Nelson hopes it is a memorable night for his three seniors.

“More than anything, I want our seniors to experience success (tonight),” Nelson said. “They truly deserve it and have worked hard towards it.  Paola is a fantastic team with a great coach that we may face in substate, so we’ll definitely be looking to assert ourselves and let them know that we’re a capable and competent group of young men. “

LOUISBURG                14           13           7             12 – 46

DE SOTO                     9             13           12           7 – 41

LOUISBURG (6-13): Corbin Wertz 4-9 6-9 15; Nathan Moore 5-8 3-4 14; T.J. Dover 3-7 0-0 6; Grant Harding 2-7 0-1 4; Brady Lambeth 2-3 0-0 4; Jacob Welsh 1-1 0-0 2; Sam Guetterman 0-0 1-2 1. Totals: 17-36 10-16 46. 3-point field goals: 2, (Moore, Wertz)

LADY CATS STRUGGLE ON ROAD

DE SOTO – The Louisburg girls basketball team wanted to quickly forget Tuesday’s game with De Soto before it even finished.

The Lady Cats struggled offensively as they scored on seven points in each half and fell 51-14 as they enter their final regular season game tonight against Paola. De Soto jumped out to an 11-5 lead in the first quarter and jumped out to a 22-7 halftime lead.

De Soto put the game away in the third quarter as it outscored Louisburg 23-5 in the frame to seal the win.

Senior Kirstin Lowry led the Lady Cats (10-9) in scoring with six points, while Madisen Simpson and Paige Buffington each had three points.

Lowry, along with fellow seniors Natalie Moore and Kallie O’Keefe, will play their final home game tonight against Paola for senior night. Tipoff for tonight’s game is set for approximately 6 p.m.

LOUISBURG                5             2             5             2 – 14

DE SOTO                     11           11           23           6 – 51

LOUISBURG (10-9): Kirstin Lowry 6, Madisen Simpson 3; Paige Buffington 3; Kallie O’Keefe 2. Totals: 3 5-8 14. 3-point field goals: 1, (Buffington)

Brady Lambeth goes up for a shot earlier this season. Lambeth and the Wildcats fell to Spring Hill 57-47 on Friday in Spring Hill after the Broncos outscored Louisburg 21-10 in the fourth quarter.

SPRING HILL – It was right there for the taking, but the Louisburg boys basketball team lost a hold of what could have been its second straight win.

A bad fourth quarter haunted the Wildcats on Friday as they fell to Spring Hill 57-47 in Spring Hill. Louisburg held the lead for much of the game, but the Broncos went on a 21-10 run to end the game and halted any momentum the Wildcats had going into the final week of the season.

“For three quarters, we played pretty well,” Louisburg coach Jason Nelson said. “We were assertive, got good looks, limited turnovers and controlled the glass, but we encountered a little adversity in the fourth that changed our mentality and we weren’t able to recover.

“We missed a couple bunnies, and they came down and hit two contested 3’s. We lost confidence and they gained confidence and didn’t look back. It’s part of being such a young team with leadership and experience on the bench with injuries in Corbin (Wertz) and Mitchell (McLellan), but I feel like all of our sophomores have progressed in their absence.”

One sophomore has in particular.

For the second game, Grant Harding reached the 20-point mark as he nearly finished with a double-double. Harding scored 20 points, including three 3-pointers, and pulled down nine rebounds.

The Louisburg sophomore has been more assertive as of late, especially with Wertz, the team’s leading scorer, still out with a leg injury.

“We’ve expected Grant to become a dominant force since we first saw him last year and we’re seeing his evolution in the present,” Nelson said. “He has such good court awareness and ability to reach the rim that as he gets older and more experienced, he’s only going to get better.

“In addition to leading by example, he’s becoming a leader on the court. He has grown in the past few weeks as we’ve asked him to do more on the court, both physically and verbally in Corbin’s absence.”

Louisburg (5-13) jumped out to a slim lead in the first quarter and took a 27-22 lead into halftime. The Wildcats held a 37-36 lead into the fourth quarter before the Broncos went on a run.

Along with Harding, senior Nathan Moore provided the team with a much-needed scoring punch as he finished with 12 points. Another sophomore, T.J. Dover, added seven points and six rebounds in the loss.

The Wildcats have a tough week to close out their regular season as they travel to De Soto tonight before returning home Friday for senior night against rival Paola. Tonight’s tipoff in De Soto is set for approximately 7:30 p.m.

“One of my goals for the last two weeks of the season has been to get all our sophomores some quality minutes to see how they respond and to give them something to build towards for the summer and the future,” Nelson said. “We’ve done that and we’re seeing our guys continue to improve.

“For this last week, our goal is to get Corbin back to his pre-injury shape, and continue to see the growth of our sophomores and continued high level of play from Grant, Nathan and Brady (Lambeth). If everything falls into place, we are capable of going on a run.”

LOUISBURG                10           17           10           10 – 47

SPRING HILL               7             15           14           21 – 57

LOUISBURG (5-13): Grant Harding 7-15 3-6 20; Nathan Moore 4-6 4-6 12; T.J. Dover 3-6 1-2 7; Jayce Geiman 1-2 0-0 3; Korbin Hankinson 1-2 0-0 3; Sam Guetterman 1-1 0-0 2. Totals: 17-36 8-17 47. 3-point field goals: 5, (Harding 3, Hankinson, Geiman)

Louisburg sophomore Grant Harding goes up for two of his of his 23 points Tuesday against Baldwin in Louisburg. The Wildcats won 57-45.

Grant Harding walked out of the Louisburg boys locker room Tuesday and ran into Louisburg High School activities director Darin Gagnebin, who had a rolled up banner ad in his hand that Harding had broken with a blocked shot during the Wildcats’ game with Baldwin.

“You owe me 5 bucks,” Gagnebin joked to Harding.

Harding couldn’t hold back the grin. He and the rest of the Wildcats had a lot to smile about.

The Louisburg sophomore led the way with a game-high 23 points to help the Wildcats to a 57-45 victory over Baldwin in Louisburg. The victory snapped a nine-game losing skid and is the third time the Wildcats have defeated the Bulldogs this season

“This is obviously a huge win for us,” Harding said.  “We really needed this as we are getting close to the end of the season. Hopefully this will give us the boost we need and we can start getting some momentum as we get closer to substate.”

Harding was a big boost for Louisburg as he seemed to be all over the floor. Along with his 23 points, he finished with 11 rebounds, five assists, two steals, two blocked shots and one broken banner. He was also 11 for 11 from the free-throw line.

A lot of those assists came as Harding brought the ball up the floor. In the absence of point guard Corbin Wertz, who is still out with an injury, he played a point forward at times trying to initiate the offense.

“Grant was fantastic and we really needed him to be,” Louisburg coach Jason Nelson said. “With Corbin being out, we needed to find some offense somewhere and Grant really stepped up and took control. It was great to see, but what was even better was we were able to find 34 points from other spots on the floor.”

Senior Brady Lambeth rose to the challenge as he joined Harding in double figures with 17 points, including two 3-pointers. The Wildcats (5-12) also did a good job on the boards as senior Nathan Moore led Louisburg with 14 rebounds from the guard spot.

Wildcat senior Brady Lambeth puts up a shot over two Baldwin defenders Tuesday in Louisburg.

“I think Brady is getting it and the game is finally slowing down for him,” Nelson said. “A lot of times he is a mismatch out there on the floor, and it is all about trying to exploit those mismatches and he did a great job of that for us. He is starting to figure it out.”

As good as the game ended up being for the Wildcats, it didn’t start out that way. Both teams were sluggish from the floor and the game was tied at 6-all going into the second quarter.

It didn’t get much better in the second as Louisburg center T.J. Dover was saddled with three fouls and the Wildcats were forced to play small. Baldwin was able to take advantage and turn that into a 23-18 halftime lead.

Baldwin built a seven-point lead early in the third quarter, but the Wildcats responded with an 18-5 run to grab a 36-30 lead. Lambeth connected on two 3-pointers in the quarter and the Wildcats also got baskets from Harding, Moore and Guetterman.

Louisburg answered with another 8-3 run to start the fourth quarter to pull away for the win.

“There have been times this year where we have lacked a killer instinct and it has hurt us, but we found it in that second half,” Nelson said. “This win was huge for us.”

The Wildcats will try and start a win streak Friday when they travel to Spring Hill. Tipoff is set for approximately 7:30 p.m.

LOUISBURG                6             12           18           21 – 57

BALDWIN                    6             17           7             15 – 45

LOUISBURG (5-12): Grant Harding 6-12 11-11 23; Brady Lambeth 7-14 1-1 17; Jacob Welsh 2-5 2-2 6; T.J. Dover 2-8 0-3 4; Nathan Moore 1-4 1-3 3; Sam Guetterman 1-3 0-2 2; Korbin Hankinson 1-1 0-0 2. Totals: 20-47 15-22 57. 3-point field goals: 2, (Lambeth 2)

 Louisburg sophomore T.J. Dover goes up for two of his team-high nine points Friday against Ottawa. The Wildcats fell 64-31.

It wasn’t exactly the showing the Louisburg boys basketball team wanted to put together on homecoming.

The Wildcats faced a big obstacle against Ottawa, which is ranked No. 4 in Class 4A-Division I. After a back-and-forth first half, Louisburg couldn’t keep up with the Cyclones as it fell 64-31.

Louisburg took the Cyclones to overtime a month ago, but it was a little different this time around and the Wildcats’ offense went cold as they scored just 13 points in the second half.

“They hit their open shots and we didn’t hit early,” Louisburg coach Jason Nelson said. “We had really good looks, but missed too many shots that we need to hit. As they gained confidence from hitting their contested shots, we got frustrated and that frustration snowballed.”

Ottawa jumped out to a 9-2 lead to get started, but the Wildcats were able to cut it to one after a bucket from Corbin Wertz, along with a basket and two free throws from T.J. Dover.

The Cyclones tried to pull away again in the second quarter and built an 11-point lead halfway through the period. Again, a basket from Wertz and five straight points from Dover cut the lead to just 21-17.

Louisburg trailed 27-18 at halftime but was still in the game.

“The effort was there most of the night,” Nelson said. “Our staff was a little disappointed in the fourth quarter, but for the majority of the game, our defense was solid, communication was good and rebounding was a plus.”

Seniors Natalie and Nathan Moore were crowned homecoming king and queen at halftime of the boys contest Friday.

The Wildcats’ offense went silent in the third quarter as it recorded just four points and Ottawa came out of the locker room on a 13-1 run. Ottawa sophomore Isaac McCullough led all scorers with 18 points.

Dover, a sophomore, provided the Wildcats with some good scoring in the post as he finished with a team-high nine points. Another sophomore, Sam Guetterman, came off the bench and finished with five points.

Wertz, the team’s leading scorer, made his first appearance in almost a month after sustaining an injury and finished with four points in limited minutes. One positive is it gives the Wildcat underclassmen an opportunity to grow at the varsity level.

“Corbin still isn’t 100 percent so it will take him a while, but we feel he’s moving in the right direction,” Nelson said. “Injuries really have hampered us, but the benefits that all our sophomores will see from having to step up in what should be their ‘learning’ year will be huge moving forward. I’d think even as we progress this year that we’ll see the tangible benefits of our younger guys being forced into action.”

Louisburg will try to get back on the winning track tonight when it hosts Baldwin. The Wildcats have defeated the Bulldogs twice this season. Tipoff is set for approximately 7:30 p.m.

LOUISBURG                8             10           4             9 – 31

OTTAWA                     12           15           16           21 – 64

LOUISBURG (4-12): T.J. Dover 9; Sam Guetterman 5; Brady Lambeth 4; Corbin Wertz 4; Grant Harding 4, Korbin Hankinson 3; Nathan Moore 2. 3-point field goals: 2, (Guetterman, Hankinson)

Louisburg senior Brady Lambeth and the Wildcats couldn’t keep up with Eudora on Friday in a 77-34 loss. Lambeth finished with nine points.

EUDORA – For the second straight game, the Louisburg boys’ basketball team faced off with a state tournament team from a year ago and had to do so with two starters on the bench with injuries.

Eudora, the No. 5 ranked team in Class 4A-Division I, had the Wildcats’ number from the opening tip Friday as the Cardinals took care of Louisburg 77-34 in Eudora. Earlier in the week, the Wildcats fell to Paola on the road as well.

The Wildcats (4-11) were without starters Corbin Wertz and Mitchell McLellan again due to injury. McLellan is out for the season with a broken leg, while the Wildcats hope to have Wertz back soon from a leg injury.

“When you’re as inexperienced as us, to play without two starters is a tremendous negative and we knew without Corbin and Mitchell finding points would be tough,” Louisburg coach Jason Nelson said.

It was difficult, especially early as Eudora put together a huge run to outscore Louisburg 29-2 in the first quarter and the Wildcats were never able to recover.

Eudora sophomore Mitchell Ballock, one of the top players in the state, put on a show in front of his home crowd as he finished with a game-high 25 points, including six 3-pointers.

“The resiliency of our boys was commendable,” Nelson said. “Playing in Eudora, against a state ranked team, with the best player in the state is a daunting task for the most seasoned of varsity players. We consistently had three [or] four sophomores on the court and despite the slow start for us and lightening quick start for them, the boys never backed down.

“In the near future, when we look back at our improvement, I suspect that this game will be watershed for us. Our sophomores played in a high intensity, hostile environment and despite the score, they never backed down.”

One of those sophomores, Grant Harding, led the Wildcats in scoring for the second straight game with 10 points to go along with six rebounds. Senior Brady Lambeth added nine points for the Wildcats, while fellow senior Nathan Moore led the team with eight rebounds.

The Wildcats will try and rebound this Friday when they host Ottawa for homecoming. Louisburg also expects to have Wertz and his 20-plus points per game back in the lineup.

“Our boys are awaiting Corbin’s return with open arms and we are all eagerly anticipating his return,” Nelson said. “I know he’s tired of listening to our staff on the bench.”

Tipoff is set for approximately 7:30 p.m.

LOUISBURG                2             12           11           9 – 34

EUDORA                      29           18           21           9 – 77

LOUISBURG (4-11): Grant Harding 5-10 0-2 10; Brady Lambeth 4-8 0-1 9; Jacob Welsh 2-6 2-2 6; T.J. Dover 2-5 1-2 5; Sam Guetterman 1-4 0-0 3; Nathan Moore 0-1 3-4 3. Totals: 14-39 6-11 34. 3-point field goals: 2, (Guetterman, Lambeth)

Leave it to a children’s movie to solve all of life’s problems — well, at least my problems anyway.

It was a movie that led me to create the Louisburg Sports Zone website and start my own action photo business to coincide with it.

Before I get to that, let me take you back to seven years ago when I arrived in a small quaint town called Louisburg. It was a town I was familiar with as I grew up in Paola, but I never envisioned myself coming back to Miami County to raise a family.

Coming out of college, my goal was to make it big one day by getting a job at a large, daily newspaper and become a beat writer for a college team or professional team. I knew with hard work and practice that I could get there one day.

Well, two kids later and my priorities quickly changed — for the better. After stops at newspapers in Leavenworth and Atchison, my wife Jennifer and I wanted to move closer to family and when a newspaper job in the county opened up, I was offered the job and took it.

After I was hired, my family and I bought a house in Louisburg and decided to make this our home. The place where we were going to raise our two kids, that eventually became three several years later, was a place we fell in love with.

Louisburg was our home, and at the same time, covering Louisburg athletics became my responsibility and one I didn’t take lightly. Living in the same town I worked in was a first for me.

I got the chance to get to know the community and they got the chance to know me through my articles. I was lucky enough to cover Louisburg High School’s first state football championship in 2010 and several other state title runs in other sports.

Getting a chance to know the kids, coaches and parents was something I will never forget. Unfortunately, all that ended for me a month ago when I was let go from my responsibility of writing about Louisburg sports.

I honestly didn’t know what to do. It was my life for seven years and then all of a sudden I was going to have to find something else to do, something I probably wasn’t going to like.

Trying to figure things out, I remember watching an animated movie called Big Hero 6 with my kids. It talked about when a problem arises, and you can’t figure out a solution, try looking at it from a different angle.

So, ladies and gentleman, Louisburg Sports Zone is my different angle.

This site gives me the opportunity and privilege to write about athletic achievements in the area and continue doing what I love to do. It is a free service that I provide to you and one I hope you appreciate.

Hopefully, down the road, not too far, businesses in the area will want to advertise here so that this can grow into something even bigger. For those who want to buy photos from events I cover, they can visit louisburgsportszone.smugmug.com and search through what I hope becomes several galleries.

I plan on covering athletic events at Louisburg High School and Louisburg Middle School, along with elementary-age activities. This page is going to be updated on a regular basis to give you the most up-to-date sports news and you won’t have to wait 5 days or even a week to read about it.

Oh, and did I mention…IT IS FREE!!

I just want to say a big “Thank you” to my family for all the support and encouragement they have given me. I want to thank all the members of community who reached out to me on Twitter, Facebook or just picked up the phone during what was a difficult time in my life.

Also, I want to give a big shout out to Mr. Kenneth Sweeney, a senior at Louisburg High School who helped design this site for me and was there to answer all my weird questions. I appreciate everything and all the hard work you put into it.

When I moved here seven years ago, I figured I was never going to make it “big.” I couldn’t have been more wrong. I have definitely hit it big and this community is the reason why.