Louisburg junior Nathan Parker pulls up for a shot Friday at home against Anderson County. Parker led the Wildcats in scoring with 10 points.

Just a couple days after its first loss of the season, Louisburg had a chance to quickly make amends Friday when it hosted Anderson County.

The Wildcats used a big second quarter to do just that.

Louisburg scored 18 points in the frame, which led to a big halftime lead and the Wildcats were able to hold on for a 44-37 victory over the Bulldogs.

Still down a couple players who were out with an injury, the Wildcats (2-1) made the best of a bad situation

“With the injuries that we have had, we are doing well so far,” Louisburg coach Ben Doll said. “I think once we get everyone healthy, I think we are going to be in pretty good shape. We have to get a lot better at things. We are playing some odd lineups, and we have some young guys in there right now that haven’t played varsity before. But it was good to see us bounce back from Tuesday’s loss.”

Louisburg took a 10-6 lead after one quarter of play, but the offense started to click in the second. The Wildcats outscored Anderson County 18-6 and took a 28-12 lead at halftime.

The lead ballooned to 20 early in the third quarter, before Anderson County started to chip away.

Anderson County deployed a zone defense to try and slow down the Wildcats — and while it worked early — Louisburg found a lot of success against it in the second quarter.

“We needed to do that, just for our confidence a little bit,” Doll said. “We struggled against a 1-3-1 earlier in the year, and then when they went zone, we started to play a little fast. However, once we started to calm down, things got better. Teams are going to see on film that we struggle with zone, so it was good to see our guys have success against it.”

The Wildcats got production from up and down their lineup as seven different players scored. Senior Nathan Parker led the way with 10 points and senior Brock Vohs added nine.

Louisburg also dominated in the rebounding department. Junior Conlee Hovey had a team-high 11 rebounds to go along with seven points, while junior Gavin Lohse had 10 rebounds — 8 offensive — and eight points.

Senior Jaymes Melton also came off the bench to pull down five rebounds.

Sophomore Derek Frederick played his first varsity minutes as he came off the bench to help the Wildcats on the perimeter. He also knocked down a 3-pointer.

Senior Brady Hickey also contributed a lot of minutes at the point and had a team-high three steals to go along with four rebounds and four points.

“We did some good stuff for a while, but we are just struggling right now in taking care of the basketball against certain kinds of pressure,” Doll said. “We are trying to play a little too fast. However, not having two perimeter guys all week certainly hasn’t helped. Still, we have had some other guys step up in Derek Frederick and we asked him to play some heavy minutes in there, especially on defense. 

“Brady has been a steady point guard since those other guys have been gone. We did some good things. We scored well at times, got a lot of rebounds and I was happy that a lot of our bigger guys like Conlee, Gavin, Jaymes and Brock were hitting the boards hard.”

Anderson County tried to make things interesting late as the Bulldogs outscored Louisburg 25-16 in the second half, but the Wildcats held on for their second win of the year.

“I think the guys were pretty tuned in to the game, but I don’t think we did a good job of valuing the ball very much,” Doll said. “When we’re sloppy, I don’t think it was a lack of focus or anything, I think we were just trying to do too much.”

Louisburg will have its toughest test of the season Tuesday when it travels to state-ranked Baldwin. The Bulldogs, who are 3-0 to start the year, are currently ranked No. 7 in Class 4A.

LOU 10 18 11 5 — 44

AC 6 6 14 11 — 37

LOUISBURG (2-1): Nathan Parker 3-14 2-2 10; Brock Vohs 4-7 0-1 9; Gavin Lohse 4-13 0-0 8; Conlee Hovey 2-5 3-4 7; Brady Hickey 2-4 0-2 4; Jaymes Melton 1-4 1-2 3; Derek Frederick 1-1 0-0 3. Totals: 17-51 6-11 44. 3-point field goals: 4, (Parker 2, Vohs, Frederick)

Louisburg senior Brady Hickey pulls up for a shot Tuesday at Burlington. Hickey scored a team-high 12 points in the Wildcats’ 63-51 loss.

BURLINGTON — Before Louisburg tipped off with Burlington on Tuesday, the Wildcats were faced with a little bit of adversity.

Louisburg found itself down a starter and a main player off the bench, and the Wildcats found themselves a little short-handed for their first road tilt of the season.

Not being at full strength, and some foul trouble, hurt the Wildcats as they fell, 63-51, to Burlington.

“We missed two of our ball handlers and that was evident, especially when we got into foul trouble when they were pressuring us,” Louisburg coach Ben Doll said. “Our biggest thing was we just didn’t play a very tough style of basketball when there were 50-50 balls or rebounds that we needed to get. We had plenty of moments where we got it to 10 or under, but then they would get a bucket and we can’t win that way.”

In the absence of Luke Hill and Myles Vohs, who were out with an injury and illness, a pair of Louisburg seniors stepped up. Brady Hickey and Brock Vohs played all 32 minutes and were scoring options for the Wildcats.

Hickey finished with a team-high 12 points and Vohs added 11 points to go along with six rebounds.

“Brady did a good job and I don’t think he ever came out of the game and I don’t think Brock did either,” Doll said. “We used some timeouts to try and get them a break, but there was never a moment where they were gassing and saying they needed to come out. That was awesome to see and they played tough. Once we are at full strength, it will be fun to see how good those guys can be when they get a little bit of a break.”

Burlington started out strong offensively as it scored 21 points in the first quarter and never looked back. Louisburg found itself down 34-22 at halftime.

The Wildcats tried to make a couple different runs in the second half, as it trimmed the Burlington lead to under 10, but Burlington had an answer on every occasion.

Burlington’s Sage Fejfar scored 19 points to lead the Wildcats and was one of four players to score in double figures.

“Part of the problem that they gave us was they just hit open shots,” Doll said. “(Fejfar) was solid and we knew they were going to run stuff for him. But then when we focused on him, we lost track of a few of their others guys and they hit open jumpers. At this level, playing varsity basketball, that is something you should do. Our rotations weren’t good and a lot of things just hit us.”

For Louisburg, senior Nathan Parker just missed double figures in scoring as he finished with nine points, to go along with five rebounds and three assists.

Junior Conlee Hovey finished with seven points and seven rebounds, while junior Gavin Lohse registered a team-high nine rebounds.

Louisburg will try and bounce back tonight when it hosts Anderson County. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m.

LOU 13 9 15 14 — 51

BUR 21 13 11 18 — 63

LOUISBURG (1-1): Brady Hickey 4-11 2-2 12; Brock Vohs 5-10 1-3 11; Nathan Parker 4-15 0-0 9; Conlee Hovey 3-5 1-2 7; Gavin Lohse 3-7 0-3 6; Bristol Barbour 1-3 1-2 3; Ethan Kush 1-4 0-0 3. Totals: 21-56 5-12 51. 3-point field goals: 4, (Hickey 2, Parker, Kush)

Here is the Louisburg Sports Zone Athlete of the Week for week one of the winter sports season, sponsored by Edward Jones-Craig Holtzen.

MYLES VOHS, JUNIOR, BASKETBALL

Louisburg junior Myles Vohs came up big for the Louisburg boys basketball team Friday in its season opener against Tonganoxie. The Wildcats scored only four points in the fourth quarter, but all four were big points from Vohs.

The biggest shot of the game came with 15 seconds left as Vohs hit a game-winner to give the Wildcats a 53-51 victory over Tonganoxie. Vohs was 4-for-4 from the field and had nine points on the night, including two steals.

The athlete of the week award is announced every Wednesday morning during the winter season and the winner is selected by Louisburg Sports Zone with the help of nominations from coaches.

Louisburg junior Myles Vohs drives in for a basket Friday during the Wildcats’ season opener against Tonganoxie.

The Louisburg boys basketball team couldn’t have asked for a better start to its season. 

Louisburg jumped out to a fast start, took a big halftime lead and everything was primed for a big celebration after the game was over. The Wildcats still got to celebrate, but getting the win Friday over Tonganoxie wasn’t easy.

The Chieftains rallied from a double digit deficit to tie the game in the second half, but Louisburg junior Myles Vohs hit a runner with under 15 seconds left to give the Wildcats a 53-51 victory.

“I am really proud of them,” Louisburg coach Ben Doll said. “There is definitely stuff we can learn from. However, we would definitely rather learn from a win than a loss, so we will take it.”

Not only did the Wildcats open with a victory, Doll, who is in his first season as Louisburg’s head coach, earned his first varsity win after spending 20-plus years as an assistant coach at Blue Valley North and Lansing.

Throw in a dramatic game-winner and the Wildcats had plenty to celebrate in their season season opener.

“It is awesome,” Doll said. “I have been an assistant coach for a long time and have had a lot of big wins, so this one feels like a lot of those. It never seemed like the situation was overwhelming, but at the same time I had my family there and everyone was telling me congratulations and that is different from other big wins that I have had. 

“It was a lot more special, especially for a game in December and not one in March. I told the guys after the game that I thank them. You only get one first win and it is with these guys, so I really appreciate how hard they played and how they stayed within the game.”

Louisburg struggled offensively in the second half and scored just four points in the fourth quarter, but those two baskets — both by Vohs — were in big moments.

With the game tied at 49-all, Vohs drove the lane for a basket to give Louisburg a 51-49 lead midway though the quarter. Then, the game was tied at 51-all, and after the Wildcats worked the ball around, Vohs found an opening in the Chieftain zone and hit a runner with 15 seconds left.

Tonganoxie tried to win the game, but the 3-point attempt at the buzzer rolled off the front of the rim and the Wildcats were able to survive.

“It was obviously huge,” Doll said of Vohs’ game-winner. “He did a good job of penetrating the zone and trying to get guys to collapse. On that possession, we did a really good job of doing that, especially Myles. It was a big shot by him and he was clutch.”

Louisburg jumped on Tonganoxie in the first half as the Wildcats scored 12 unanswered points to start the game and eventually took a 39-26 lead into halftime.

The Wildcats were scoring at a frantic pace and Tonganoxie needed to try something to slow them down. The Chieftains put in a 1-3-1 zone and the Wildcats scored just 14 second half points.

“It is really tough to adjust to that after playing like we were, and that was great coaching by them,” Doll said. “As a coach you reach a point sometimes where you have to throw a change-up and see if it works. It worked really well on us. Our goal was not to turnover the ball and that isn’t a great way to play offense. It is just something we have to work on.

“The one positive about going against that zone is I think we got better at attacking it as the game went on. We had to play against it for much of the second half and I think that enabled us to attack it better.”

Despite battling some foul trouble, senior Nathan Parker provided the Wildcats with a spark on offense as he scored a game-high 13 points, including 6 of 7 from the free-throw line. 

Senior Luke Hill also found a lot of success from the outside as he finished with 10 points, including three 3-pointers. 

The Wildcats did a lot of work on the glass as they outrebounded Tonganoxie 36-20, including 15 offensive rebounds, which led to 12 second chance points.

Senior Brock Vohs did a little bit of everything for the Wildcats as he finished with six points, six rebounds and six assists.

Junior Gavin Lohse had a team-high eight rebounds and junior Conlee Hovey had seven.

Louisburg will try for back to back wins Tuesday as the Wildcats travel to Burlington for their first game of the season. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m.

LOU 20 19 10 4 — 53

TON 13 13 17 8 — 51

LOUISBURG (1-0): Nathan Parker 3-10 6-7 13, Luke Hill 3-9 1-4 10; Myles Vohs 4-4 0-2 9; Brock Vohs 3-8 0-0 6; Conlee Hovey 3-5 0-2 6; Gavin Lohse 1-5 3-6 5; Brady Hickey 1-5 0-0 2; Jaymes Melton 0-1 2-2 2. Totals: 18-47 12-23 53. 3-point field goals: 5, (Hill 3, Parker, Vohs)

Louisburg’s Luke Hill is one of five seniors on the Wildcat basketball team this season as they open play at home tonight against Tonganoxie.

The Louisburg boys basketball team will have a little different look to it this season after losing its leading scorer and rebounder from a year ago.

The Wildcats will also have a new leader on the bench in head coach Ben Doll. Despite some of those changes, Louisburg returns nine players that either started, or saw major varsity minutes a season ago.

It is that experience that has helped Doll’s transition be a smooth one so far.

“It has been really good,” Doll said. “We started by not having to make any cuts on the JV and varsity level, which was good. We were able to get into practice sooner and they have done really well so far. We have thrown a lot at them because it is a new system. We have had some really good practices and the jamboree we had was good for us too. I feel pretty good and I am hopeful we can get off to a good start before the break.”

The Wildcats feature five seniors that will help lead the way this season as they try to improve off an 8-13 finish a year ago. Guards Luke Hill, Brady Hickey, Nathan Parker, along with forwards Brock Vohs and Jaymes Melton, will look to help the Wildcats get off to a good start.

Doll, who took over from former coach Ty Pfannenstiel, has liked what he has seen out of his senior class so far.

“They are going to be really important,” Doll said of his seniors. “We have the right number of seniors and we are going to rely on them. Luke is recovered from his injury, and even though he hasn’t really played high level basketball for 11 months, he has done a really good job at practice. Excited about all of them and we have a really good junior class as well. It really helped when Coach Pfannenstiel gave a lot of those JV guys some varsity minutes last year so they know what to expect.”

Juniors Conlee Hovey and Gavin Lohse will give the Wildcats some big minutes underneath the basket, while guards Myles Vohs and Luke Schultz will also play significant minutes throughout the season.

Although many players will be returning, the team will look a little bit different offensively as they have to replace an all-league player in Colyer Wingfield, who was their leading scorer last season. 

“The basic offense stuff is about the same,” Doll said. “Last year they had a really good player (Wingfield) that could score in a bunch of different ways, but we aren’t going to have that this year and we don’t need to have one guy do all that. That has been a little bit of an adjustment for them. 

“It wasn’t a bad thing for them last year because he was a really good player. The guys this year realize that we need to move the ball a little bit more and we will be better when we screen and come off screens, rather than just get the ball in our hands and create things that we don’t want.”

As important as the offense is, Doll knows the defensive end of the floor is just as important — if not more early on.

“Before the break, offenses won’t be very advanced and most teams will have some inexperience out there,” Doll said. “We need to be up in people’s business and pressure defensively and create offense off turnovers. I think defenses will be ahead of offenses and we have to be good defensively in order to take advantage of that. We want to play fast and be able to run. People enjoy watching an up and down game and players like that. We are going to go 9-10 deep to start the year, so that will allow us to pressure more and guys can get more minutes.”

A new rule for the high school level this year is the elimination of 1-and-1 opportunities at the free throw line. The new rule states each team will be given five fouls a quarter, and after that, each team will shoot two free throws and the team fouls will be reset after each quarter.

That change had led to different ways teams have approached those free shots going into the season.

“We have focused more on free throws in practice than we normally do at this point in the year,” Doll said. “Free throws are one of those things where you tell them they are important, but don’t do a lot with them in practice and you expect them to work on that on their own. We have had about 1 or 2 parts of every practice where we are doing different free throw type drills. I like to do them after we do something hard when they are tired. If we are up there hitting just 1 of 2 or 0 of 2, that is glaring and costly. You have to make free throws and I think a lot of teams around the state are treating them more seriously.”

Louisburg will try and get in the win column to start the season tonight as the Wildcats host Tonganoxie in a Frontier League matchup. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m. and Doll is knows his team has the potential to do good things this year.

“I just want to them to compete in every game,” Doll said. “There will be games where we are down, but we are going to have to keep fighting. I told them this at one of our team meetings recently, is that you just have to be playing your best at the end. You obviously want to win every game, but it is a process and we are trying to build something.”

Louisburg senior Mason Dobbins was voted by the LHS head coaches as the 2023 Louisburg Sports Zone Male Athlete of the Year

Mason Dobbins had a senior season to remember when it came to athletics.

Dobbins left it all on the field/court/track during his final campaign with the Wildcats and he put his stamp on it. Whether it was winning a league title in football, helping the Wildcats to a state runner-up finish in track or earning all-league honors in three sports — Dobbins enjoyed it all.

Those were just some of the reasons Dobbins was named the 2023 Louisburg Sports Zone Male Athlete of the Year.

“It means a lot to me to be named athlete of the year,” Dobbins said. “It feels good to that know that all your hard work pays off.”

He certainly put in a lot of work and it showed throughout the 2022-23 school year. It started during football season as the team’s starting wide receiver.

The Wildcats finished as undefeated Frontier League Champions and Dobbins played a big role in that. Dobbins earned first team All-Frontier League honors at wide receiver with 25 catches, 382 yards and four touchdowns. He was also named honorable mention all-state.

Dobbins returned to the basketball court after taking a couple years off and his 6-foot-7 frame made an immediate impact as he led the team with 7.6 rebounds a game to go along with 1.5 steals and a block per contest. He was later named to the Frontier League All-Defensive Team.

However it was the track where he made his biggest impact.

Dobbins won the state championship in the high jump, and earlier in the year, broke the school record with a jump of 6 feet, 7 inches. He was a state runner-up in the 110-meter hurdles and also took third in the 200-meter dash. 

He was also a part of the 4×100-meter relay that also medaled third and set a new school record earlier in the year. In all, Dobbins won nine state medals in his Wildcat career.

At the state meet, Dobbins racked up 30 points to help Louisburg to a state runner-up finish as the Wildcats lost to Andale by just half-a-point.

“This past season was my best one yet,” Dobbins said. “In football we were league champs. In basketball, I thought I played way better than I thought I would. Then in track, I was a state champ and we almost won a state championship. It was a lot of fun.”

As easy as he made it look at times, competing in three sports has its challenges. 

“It’s definitely something that I am proud of,” Dobbins said. “Three sports can be a lot on the body, and for me to go without an injury the whole year, was a blessing.”

Now that his high school career is finished, he is looking forward to starting a new chapter in his life — with the Northwest Missouri State track and field program.

“I am so excited to start my track career at Northwest,” Dobbins said. “It’s a whole different world than what high school track is, but I am ready for it.”

For the sixth consecutive year, Louisburg Sports Zone will be handing out an Athlete of the Year honor to a male and female athlete at Louisburg High School. I wanted the opportunity to recognize those who exemplify what it means to be an “athlete.”

Although I am giving out the award, I wanted the process to be subjective, so I asked the head coaches at LHS to help me out. I asked each coach to send me nominations of who they thought exemplified the Athlete of the Year honor. They will then vote for their top 3 male and female athletes and then I will tabulate the results and determine the winner. The winner will be announced in the coming days.

Below are the nominees for the Male Athlete of the Year award in alphabetical order by last name. Congrats to all those who were nominated and best of luck!

Kaven Bartlett – Senior – Wrestling and Soccer

Kaven Bartlett competed on the Louisburg wrestling and boys soccer team, but Bartlett was a fixture on the mat for the Wildcat wrestling program.

Bartlett qualified for state at 138 pounds and became a 3-time state qualifier for Louisburg and was a state medalist in 2022. He finished with a 119-45 career record and was a two-time team captain and four-year letter winner. Those 119 wins are fifth in program history and he has 158 career takedowns and 726.5 career points, which is both third in team history. He was named the 2023 LHS Wrestler of the Year.

Bartlett was also a defender on the Wildcat soccer team his past season. The Wildcats advanced to the regional championship game.

Declan Battle – Junior – Football and Baseball

Declan Battle had big seasons for both the Wildcat football and baseball programs.

Under the lights on the football field, Battle was the Wildcat starting quarterback as he led his team to an undefeated Frontier League championship. The dual-threat quarterback scored 23 total touchdowns and totaled more than 1,700 yards. That performance led him to a first-team All-Frontier League, along with all-state honors.

On the diamond, Battle was the Wildcats’ starting centerfielder and leadoff hitter. He scored 32 runs on the year, which is a Wildcat program record. Battle also recorded a .429 average to go along with five doubles and three triples. He also stole 17 bases. His performance also earned him second team All-Frontier League and all-state honors.

Mason Dobbins – Senior – Football, Basketball and Track and Field

Louisburg senior Mason Dobbins was a fixture for three Wildcat programs this past season. Dobbins was the starting wide receiver on the football field, starting forward on the basketball team and a state medalist for the track program.

Dobbins stood out the most in the track and field arena. He qualified for state in four events and medaled in all four as he helped the Wildcats to a state runner-up finish this past May. 

Dobbins won the state championship in the high jump, and earlier in the year, broke the school record with a jump of 6 feet, 7 inches. He was a state runner-up in the 110-meter hurdles and also took third in the 200-meter dash. He was also a part of the 4×100-meter relay that also medaled third and set a new school record earlier in the year. In all, Dobbins has won nine state medals in his Wildcat career.

On the football field, Dobbins earned first team All-Frontier League honors at wide receiver with 25 catches, 382 yards and four touchdowns. He also earned honorable mention all-state honors. 

On the basketball court, Dobbins was named to the All-Frontier League defensive team. He led the Wildcats with 7.6 rebounds a game to go along with 1.5 steals and 1 block per contest.

Cade Gassman – Senior – Soccer, Basketball and Track and Field

Cade Gassman was a starter, or key contributor, for three Wildcat programs during 2022-23 school year. Gassman was the starting midfielder and captain for the soccer team, starting guard on the basketball court and a jumper for the track and field program.

Gassman made his biggest impact on the pitch for Louisburg. As a midfielder, Gassman drew a lot of attention from the opposition as he finished with five goals and four assists on the season to lead the Wildcats to the regional title match. In his career, he is one of the more prolific scorers in school history.

The Louisburg senior finished with 47 career goals, which is second in program history and was third in school history with 26 career assists. His 120 career points is also second in Wildcat history. He is a four-time all-state and all-Frontier League first team selection.

On the hardwood, Gassman was the starting guard for the Wildcats and he recorded 39 rebounds and had 22 assists to go along with 14 steals. On the track, Gassman was a state qualifier in the high jump for Louisburg and finished 11th overall at state.

Nathan Vincent, Senior, Football and Track and Field

Louisburg senior Nathan Vincent played big roles for both the Wildcat football team and track and field program. Vincent was a starting lineman for the Wildcat football team and a state medalist in track.

On the football field, Vincent started on both sides of the ball as he earned all-state and all league honors. He finished with 80 tackles as a defensive end to go along with 6.5 sacks and 8.5 tackles for a loss. Vincent was a key member of the offensive line as he helped the Wildcats to more than 33 points per game. He earned first team all-league offensive league honors and second team-defense. He also recorded first team all-state honors and was selected to play in the Kansas Shrine Bowl.

Vincent was the Wildcats’ top thrower for the track and field program. Vincent recorded three state medals as he helped Louisburg to a state runner-up team finish. At state, Vincent medaled third in the shot put, fifth in the discus and sixth in the javelin. In all, Vincent has won five career state medals, with three coming in the javelin.

Colyer Wingfield, Senior, Basketball, Track and Field

Louisburg senior Colyer Wingfield had a big season for both the Wildcat basketball team and track program. Wingfield was the leading scorer for the Wildcat basketball program, and was a part of two state relays in track.

Wingfield earned a lot of success on the hardwood as he was named to the All-Frontier League second team. He led the Wildcats in scoring at 17.4 points per game and pulled down nearly six rebounds a contest.

On the track, Wingfield helped the 4×100 relay and 4×400 relay to state medals as both finished third at the state meet last month. The 4×100 relay set a new school record in the process. He also did the long and triple jumps for the Wildcats.

Louisburg High School will have a new boys basketball coach next season as the school district hired Blue Valley North assistant Ben Doll earlier this month. It will be Doll’s first head coaching position after 24 years as an assistant.

Ben Doll has been a part of a lot of winning basketball over the last two decades.

Doll has patrolled the sidelines as an assistant for two state championship teams and has coached in numerous state tournaments over his 24 year career.

Now, he is ready is to bring that winning attitude and experience to Louisburg.

During the USD 416 Board of Education meeting earlier this month, Doll was hired as the new head coach for the Wildcat boys basketball program. He takes over for Ty Pfannenstiel, who spent six years in that role, before becoming the school’s new activities director last month.

This will be Doll’s first head coaching position after spending time as an assistant at St. Thomas Aquinas, Johnson County Community College, Lansing and Blue Valley North.

“I am really excited to get going,” Doll said. “It has been a long time coming. I have a lot of great experiences and I am ready to apply those things I have learned into this job. I am ready to put my own stamp on some stuff as well.”

Doll has been waiting for the right spot to start his head coaching journey and he found it in Louisburg. After talks with Pfannenstiel and his family, he realized Louisburg is the right destination for him.

“A little bit was opportunity and a little bit was Ty reaching out and getting me interested in Louisburg,” Doll said. “I have in-laws that used to live there and they told me it was a nice community. I just thought it would be a great place to go and get this first job. 

“Louisburg could be a sleeping giant in 4A. Judging by the guys we have coming back, there is some talent in the area. It is a situation similar to the one I had in Lansing. That appealed to me.”

Doll was an assistant at Lansing for eight years under Rod Briggs. He was on the Lions’ staff that made four consecutive state tournament runs and won the state title in that fourth year.

It is that continuity that Doll believes was one of the reasons for their success. It was the same type of thing he saw at Blue Valley North under head coach Ryan Phifer.

The Mustangs won the Class 6A state title in 2021 with a group of athletes that played together for several years and built a level of familiarity with each other.

“In both cases we had a group of kids that play a lot together,” Doll said. “They knew each other really well. With both teams, many of them had played in the state tournament before they actually won it. We went four years in a row in Lansing and it just built from there. 

“Blue Valley North was the exact same thing. They were friends that played club ball together and they were able to have success. The year during COVID, we were the last game before they shut the state tournament down. We had to tell them after the game and that was a huge heartbreak. We could have won the title that year too. The program just builds when you have continuity and you have to get a good group of kids together and play together over time. There is little luck too.”

Doll is looking forward to putting those winning aspects on the Wildcat program. He will also bring some changes with him as far as what playing style he would like to see on both ends of the floor.

“I want to play an up and down, running type of style,” Doll said. “I think players like that, and when done right, it is a good way to play. We don’t want half-court sets, grind it out type of basketball. We want to score quick if we can. Defensively we want to pressure with great man-to-man defense. You have to adjust to your players, but we would like to press if we can. Kids like playing that way and it is a fun style of basketball. We can get a lot of more kids in the game playing that style. Would like to have an 8-9-man deep rotation so we can shuffle kids in and out, so we can keep that pressure on.”

“At the same time, we want to build great young men and men of character. Sports can be an avenue to those challenges in life. In a community like Louisburg, there will be kids who look up to our players, so I want them to be good to the kids and community. We want to represent Louisburg well.”

Doll already had a chance to meet the returning members from last year’s team and also looked over some game film from last season. Although he is still trying to get to know this group, he is looking forward to the start of summer activities.

“It was nice to meet some of those soon-to-be seniors and put some names with faces,” Doll said. “I am really excited to get out on the court for our first team camp and that is when we will get to know each other. Get a basketball out there and start going at it.”

Along with the normal weekly camp in June, Doll is also offering another youth camp in early July for those interested in getting more work in and registration can be found here.

He has also created a new Twitter page and fans can follow the program @LHSWildcatBB. 

Louisburg boys basketball coach Ty Pfannenstiel will take over the school’s activities director role next school year. He also resigned his basketball position after coaching the Wildcats for the last six years.

Beginning next school year, Louisburg High School activities will have a little different look to it — especially at the top.

Ty Pfannenstiel will serve as the school’s new activities director and will take over for current AD, Michael Pickman, who will focus on his assistant principal duties and curriculum. 

Pfannenstiel, who has been the boys basketball coach for the last six years, resigned his post to take on the activities director position. He also stepped down as an assistant football coach.

Currently the weight room instructor, Pfannenstiel will spend half his day teaching and the other half in the AD role.

All of the moves were approved during Monday’s meeting of the USD 416 Board of Education.

“This is very exciting for me,” Pfannenstiel said. “It’s definitely going to be a change. I have been a teacher and a coach for 18 years. I still get to be a teacher half-time, and now I get to step into a new role as an administrator. It is going to be all sports and activities and I am looking forward to the new direction.”

As for Pickman, he gets the opportunity to focus more on the academic side as a full-time assistant principal. He was hired as an assistant principal/ activities director in April of 2020.

“I am very excited to commit more fully to the assistant principal role as education and curriculum have always been my true passion,” Pickman said. “Being able to support the teachers, students, and administrative staff by providing data, feedback, and assessing teaching and learning goals and initiatives in the building and district aligns with that passion and the opportunity arose to allow for that. I hope to enable and promote continued growth in the various curriculums and initiatives and structures that make Louisburg a fantastic district in a supportive community.

“Ty has experience and is passionate about athletics and activities. As it is where his passion is, I have every confidence he will do a fantastic job in his new role and look forward to witnessing where he takes our programs moving forward.”

Pickman took over LHS activities at a difficult time as the school was coming back from COVID-19 and the all challenges it presented. As tough as that situation was, he appreciated the relationships he built.

“I have thoroughly enjoyed my role as activities director and was presented a fantastic growth opportunity and am grateful for being given it,” Pickman said. “I had a goal of being present for athletes and coaches and for the patrons, so I hope people saw that presence. I was blessed to have great leadership in place in our coaches and sponsors, and tried to support them best by advocating for their needs and supporting them to do their job of being great role models and passing on their passion and knowledge to students.

“Ultimately, I am most proud of our student athletes and activity participants and being part of their journey. I believe that sports are an extension of the classroom and I wanted to help ensure that character and sportsmanship were just as important and success, and I am overjoyed to have a wealth of memories where our fans, students, participants, and coaches and sponsors proved that to be true of LHS.”

While taking on the challenge of being a new administrator is one he is looking forward to, leaving his coaching roots behind was a difficult decision for Pfannenstiel.

In 2021, Pfannenstiel led the Wildcat boys basketball team to the Class 4A state championship game and finished as the state runner-up.

“That was definitely the biggest thing that was holding me back,” Pfannenstiel said. “I love basketball and the kids that I have worked with. There is a group coming up that I really enjoy coaching, and leaving that behind was one of the biggest challenges for me. Whoever takes over the program, I think it will be good transition for them because they will have a great group of kids to work with.

“Originally, I was going to be allowed to coach a sport and they didn’t want to take coaching away from me. The more I thought about it, if I want to do a good job at this, I need to focus on being the AD and that will be something that will benefit me and all the other activities.”

Pfannenstiel believes the move is a good one for the school in general as it will allow Pickman and principal Amy VanRheen to focus more on the academic side of things.

“This is something that is definitely needed,” Pfannenstiel said. “Our administrators are so busy with all the stuff they do during the school day, but they are also going to all the activities as well. Hopefully this will be a big help for Mrs. VanRheen and Mr. Pickman.”

Although he won’t official start his new position till next school year, Pfannenstiel is already starting to transition into his new role — one that is looking forward to.

“My job in the weight room and coaching has all been about sports,” he said. “That is what entices me about this job is that I am still going to be all about sports and activities. I just want to be a support for our coaches and our athletes and be advocate for our students.” 

Louisburg senior Colyer Wingfield led the Wildcats in scoring and was second on the team in rebounding this season. Wingfield was named to the all-league second team.

The Frontier League showed how difficult it was at times this season, as it put two teams in the state tournament in both Baldwin and Eudora.

Louisburg had its fair share of ups and downs through the league slate, but the coaches recognized a pair of Wildcat players when all-league teams were released Sunday.

Senior Colyer Wingfield was named to the All-Frontier League second team, while senior Mason Dobbins was selected to the All-Defensive Team.

“Our league is loaded with talent, so for Colyer to be a second team selection is quite the honor,” Louisburg coach Ty Pfannenstiel said. “Year in, year out it is hard to get guys on this list, so I was excited that Colyer was recognized by the league coaches.”

Wingfield was the go-to scorer for the Wildcats as he always drew the attention of opposing defenses. He averaged 17.4 points per games to lead Louisburg and also had nearly 6 rebounds a contest, which was second on the team.

“Colyer had an outstanding season,” Pfannenstiel said. “His points per game is the second highest in the six years that I’ve been the coach. Colyer was asked to do a lot for us. He was our point guard and had to take on a scoring role for us as well. Teams were always keying on him and he still found a way to produce for us offensively.  He was very consistent all year, which is really hard to do. 

“Colyer took on a leadership role this year and led our team both on and off the court. He’s a good kid that does things the right way. We are going to miss his off court presence just as much as his on court presence.”

For the first time, the coaches also put together an All-Defensive Team and Dobbins earned that honor for the Wildcats.

He led Louisburg with 7.6 rebounds a game to go along with one block and 1.5 steals a game.

“Mason had a nice year for us after coming back to play after his freshman year,” Pfannenstiel said. “He was a force for us on the defensive end and on the boards. He was the second leading rebounder in the league. He played with great energy each night and kept improving game after game.”

ALL-FRONTIER LEAGUE BOYS BASKETBALL

FIRST TEAM

Caleb Carr, Baldwin, senior

Logan Sullivan, Eudora, junior

Tavian Cruse, Bonner Springs, senior

Cole Parker, Eudora, senior

Kalen Streit, Bonner Springs, junior

SECOND TEAM

Colyer Wingfield, Louisburg, senior

Chase Bond, Spring Hill, junior

Caleb Hepner, Ottawa, sophomore

Landon Taylor, Paola, senior

Cameron Doss, Bonner Springs, senior

HONORABLE MENTION

Luke Metcalf, Spring Hill, senior

Cooper Carr, Baldwin, freshman

Conor Dunback, Eudora, senior

Samuel Darnell, Baldwin, senior

Aiden McCullough, Ottawa, freshman

Kale Hammerschmidt, Eudora, senior

Ryker Grossner, Baldwin, junior

ALL-DEFENSIVE TEAM

Samuel Darnell, Baldwin, senior

Kalen Streit, Bonner Springs, junior

Micah Barron, Eudora, senior

Mason Dobbins, Louisburg, senior

Carter Hepner, Ottawa, sophomore

Landon Taylor, Paola, senior

James Allen, Spring Hill, junior

Talon Langford, Tonganoxie, sophomore