Junior Alyse Moore puts up a runner in the lane Friday during the Lady Cats’ game with Bonner Springs at Bonner Springs High School.

BONNER SPRINGS – The Louisburg
girls basketball team was within minutes of picking up a road win and snapping
a mini losing streak.

Bonner Springs, however, had
different ideas.

The Braves closed the game with 10
straight points and handed the Lady Cats a 43-39 loss Friday at Bonner Springs
High School. It was the third straight loss for the Lady Cats as they head into
the final week of the regular season.

“It
was a tough loss for sure,” coach Leanna Willer said. “We were ahead the whole
game, but just couldn’t finish it out as a team in those final minutes. We were
all disappointed, especially because we knew that was a winnable game for us.
However, we’ll give credit to Bonner Springs – they fought back hard to come
out on top in the end.”

Louisburg
(7-11) held the lead from early in the second quarter until late in the fourth.
The Lady Cats built an eight-point lead on a couple different occasions,
including early in the fourth quarter, but the Braves made one final push.

After Louisburg senior Haley Cain scored on an offensive rebound to put the Lady Cats up 38-31, Bonner Springs finished the game on a 12-1 run. The Braves tied the game with 58 seconds remaining and then took the lead a few moments later on a basket from Kim Whetstone.

It
was Whetstone that caused the Lady Cats the most problems. She finished with a
game-high 20 points, many of which came in the Braves’ 20-point fourth quarter,
and also added 13 rebounds.

Louisburg
had a couple different opportunities to either tie the game, or take the lead
back, but either the shots wouldn’t fall or the Braves forced a turnover. The
Lady Cats also struggled at the free-throw line as they were 3-for-13 for the
contest.

The
game was a back-and-forth affair early on as the lead changed hands eight times
through the early part of the second quarter, but Louisburg junior Madilyn
Melton helped build the Lady Cats’ lead. She scored 14 points from the second
quarter to the early part of the fourth that helped give Louisburg a nine-point
lead at the time.

Melton
finished with a team-high 16 points to go along with eight rebounds and three
blocked shots. Junior Alyse Moore was next on the team in scoring with seven
points and six rebounds.

Junior Megan Foote led the Lady Cats with eight assists and had seven rebounds. Another junior, Brooklyn Diederich, had a team-high nine deflections and Foote added six. Sophomore Delaney Wright was second on the team with four assists and had a team-high two steals.

“I
thought we did a much better job offensively being patient and moving the ball
around to get the looks we wanted,” Willer said. “I think we also saw a glimpse
of the potential that this team truly has to be great. We are so close to
flipping that switch and being a really great team. At this point, we’re our
own worst enemy. If we can figure out how to take care of things on our end and
play as a team, we’ll be tough to beat.”

Louisburg
will try and bounce back tonight when it hosts Metro Academy in its final home
game. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m.

LOU               8             12           8             11 – 39

BON              10           6             7             20 – 43

LOUISBURG (7-11): Madilyn Melton
8-13 0-4 16; Alyse Moore 3-11 0-2 7; Brooklyn Diederich 2-8 0-0 6; Megan Foote
1-5 2-4 5; Haley Cain 1-3 0-0 2; Adyson Ross 1-1 0-0 2; Delaney Wright 0-5 1-3
1. Totals: 16-49 3-13 39. 3-point field goals: 4, (Diederich 2, Moore, Foote)

Louisburg senior Shayla Aye makes her first varsity basket as her teammates look on during Tuesday’s game against Eudora. Aye, who serves as the team’s manager, suited up for the first time on Senior Night.

If you are a Louisburg fan, the
game itself between the Lady Cats and No. 4-ranked Eudora didn’t leave a lot to
cheer about.

The Cardinals showed why they are
one of the best teams in Class 4A as they defeated the Lady Cats, 56-33.
Despite that, the Lady Cats left the floor with a lot of smiles on their faces
and there was one big reason why.

Tuesday was Senior Night for the
Lady Cats as they honored senior players Haley Cain and Sydni Keagle, along
with manager Shayla Aye.

Aye, who has been in charge of the
team’s camera the last few years, had a chance to suit up for the first time.
So late in the fourth quarter, she made her way to the scorer’s table to check
in.

What came after was something many
of the Lady Cat players will never forget.

Aye stole the ball and dribbled
down the court in the game’s final seconds, and after a couple missed shots,
scored her first varsity basket as the LHS gymnasium erupted.

“Shayla
has to be one of the most positive people on the planet,” coach Leanna Willer
said. “She smiles constantly and brings such a positive energy and light into
any room. We have absolutely loved having Shayla be part of our program over
the years, and she earned her right to put on that uniform for senior night.

“At
the end of the game, we were going to do whatever we could to get Shayla the
ball and the opportunity to score. It was truly an incredible moment, and I’m
so glad we got to share it together. Shout out to the Eudora coaching staff and
players – they were true class acts and cheered for her just as much as we did.”

It was also a chance to recognize Cain and Keagle for their efforts with the program and both players were honored following the game along with their parents. Both players started the game for the Lady Cats and Aye was named as an honorable starter.

“It’s
difficult to even put into words what Haley and Sydni have meant to this
program,” Willer said. “They have been awesome leaders, and are incredible
young women. Although roles have changed for each of them over the years, they
are completely unselfish and have been willing to do whatever is best for the
team. These two are true team players and their teammates trust them
wholeheartedly as they lead by example.

“There
is no hiding the fact that they are not leading the team in points, rebounds,
or even minutes, but they make the biggest impact when it comes to the
intangibles. We can always count on them to give their all and hold teammates
accountable while being the glue holding our team together. Personally, I do
not know what I would have done without these two this year. They will be
greatly missed next year.”

As
for the game itself, Eudora took control of the game early as it scored the
game’s first 15 points and took a 31-11 halftime lead.

It was a closer game in the second
half and Louisburg (7-10) found a little more of a rhythm offensively, but the
Cardinals scored 17 points in the third quarter to all but seal the win.

Junior Madilyn Melton led
Louisburg in scoring with 14 points, while sophomore Delaney Wright and junior
Alyse Moore each finished with seven. Moore also had a team-high seven rebounds
and three steals. Cain also had six rebounds to help lead the Lady Cats and
Keagle had four.

Louisburg will try and bounce back
tonight when it travels to Bonner Springs for a league game. Tipoff is set for
6 p.m.

LOU               4             7             11           11 – 33

EUD               19           12           17           8 – 56

LOUISBURG (7-10): Madilyn Melton
6-7 2-2 14; Delaney Wright 2-8 1-2 7; Alyse Moore 2-4 3-5 7; Brooklyn Diederich
1-5 0-0 2; Shayla Aye 1-6 0-0 2. Totals: 12-39 6-9 33. 3-point field goals: 3,
(Wright 2, Diederich)

Louisburg senior Haley Cain reaches out to catch a pass near the basket Friday against Spring Hill at Louisburg High School.

The Louisburg girls basketball
team was hoping the third time was the charm Friday against Spring Hill.

The Lady Cats, who have already split a pair of games with the Broncos earlier this season, had a chance to win that deciding third game at home during homecoming. Unfortunately, Louisburg wasn’t able to slow down Spring Hill, especially in the second half, as the Lady Cats fell, 44-31.

“Our
girls competed hard and gave a great effort,” Louisburg interim coach Leanna
Willer said. “Unfortunately, we weren’t able to convert much of our effort into
points. We were getting the opportunities we wanted, but we are going to have
to continue working on finishing those plays.”

Spring
Hill junior Alli Frank gave the Lady Cats problems much of the night as she
accounted for more than half of her team’s points. Frank finished with a
game-high 23 points and also pulled down seven rebounds.

Frank
provided a lot of those points in the second half where the Broncos outscored
the Lady Cats, 25-12, after Louisburg trailed by just one point at halftime.

Louisburg
(7-9), which found itself tied 12-all at the end of the first quarter, saw it
offensive production start to dwindle. The Lady Cats had trouble scoring over
the Spring Hill zone defense as they packed it in and they weren’t able to
score inside.

“Spring
Hill’s defense is definitely tough,” Willer said. “They pack into the lane
very well and collapse on any ball that gets inside. We knew this would be the
case and looked to score from the outside to open up some opportunities for our
bigs in the lane.”

The
Lady Cats knocked down just two 3-pointers on the night, so it made it
difficult for them to get the looks they were wanting inside.

Junior
Madilyn Melton tried to create on the inside for Louisburg and scored a
team-high 13 points to go along with nine rebounds, four steals and three
blocks. Junior Alyse Moore pulled down a team-high 10 rebounds and also tied
Melton with four steals.

Spring
Hill held just one a point lead going into halftime, but the Broncos pulled
away and eventually built a 15-point lead in the fourth quarter to pull away.

Louisburg
will face another tough opponent tonight as it hosts No. 4 Eudora on Senior
Night as the Lady Cats honor senior players Haley Cain and Sydni Keagle. Tipoff
is set for 6 p.m.

“We
are focusing on one possession at a time, within one game at a time, starting
with Eudora tonight,” Willer said. “Each day at practice is a clean slate and
brand new opportunity to put in the work to get better. We all know that we
have had our ups and downs this season, but none of that really matters when we
step out onto the floor. The score will always start at 0-0 and we will have to
earn everything we get. We are looking to finish this regular season on a high
note headed into sub-state.”

LOU               12           6             6             7 – 31

SH                  12           7             12           13 – 44

LOUISBURG (7-9): Madilyn Melton
5-10 2-3 13; Alyse Moore 1-5 4-9 6; Brooklyn Diederich 2-10 0-0 5; Adyson Ross
2-3 1-2 5; Haley Cain 1-2 0-0 2. Totals: 11-43 7-14 31. 3-point field goals: 2,
(Diederich, Melton)

Sophomore Delaney Wright drives past an Ottawa defender Friday during the Lady Cats’ win over the Cyclones.

OTTAWA – It had been awhile since
the Louisburg girls basketball team had tasted victory and the Lady Cats were
becoming more and more frustrated.

They decided to take all that
frustration out on Friday.

Louisburg held Ottawa to just
seven first half points and the Lady Cats ran away with it from the opening tip
as they snapped their six-game losing streak with a 41-24 win over the Cyclones
at Ottawa High School.

“It was so much fun to see the girls smiling and having fun
out on the court together, and it was even better to come out on top,” interim
coach Leanna Willer said. “We all just had a great time as a team. Even when
mistakes were made, no one got down on themselves and we were able to maintain
a high energy throughout the entire game.”

The Lady Cats (7-8) were able to pull away thanks to their
defense as they held Ottawa to just 18 percent from the field and forced 23
turnovers in the process.

Freshman Adyson Ross, who started in place of Megan Foote and
was out with an illness, led the team with three steals. Junior Alyse Moore and
senior Haley Cain both added two steals each. Those Cyclone mistakes led to 18
points off turnovers.

“Our defense definitely set the tone for us coming out,” Willer
said. “It’s always nice to have some defensive plays that turn into offensive
or transition points, and we were able to get our hands on a lot of balls and
keep them out of a rhythm on offense.

“We did a much better job of moving on the flight of the ball
instead of reacting, and I think we realized how much that helps us stay active
and engaged. Our rebounding also improved from earlier in the week, which was
nice to see as we emphasized it during practice.”

Louisburg sophomore Delaney Wright got the Lady Cats started
strong with five straight points to start the game and junior Brooklyn
Diederich ended the first quarter with five points of her own to give them a
12-3 lead.

The Lady Cats did much of the same in the second quarter as they
outscored the Cyclones 13-4 and led 25-7 at halftime.

Diederich led Louisburg in scoring with 10 points and also had a
team-high six deflections. Junior Madilyn Melton also had nine points in the
win to go along with three blocks.

Moore finished with a team-high seven rebounds, while Wright had
seven points and a team-best three assists.

Louisburg will try for back-to-back wins Friday when it hosts
Spring Hill for homecoming. Willer believes this game can give the team
confidence going into the final stretch of the season.

“This game was a huge step for us in terms of confidence and
team chemistry,” Willer said. “We are really looking forward to practices
focused on ourselves and doing the little things right for the remainder of the
season. Our main goal is to focus on one game at a time, not worrying about the
rest. We want to take care of business by playing our best game.”

LOU               12           13           6             10 – 41

OTT               3             4             8             9 – 24

LOUISBURG (7-8): Brooklyn
Diederich 4-8 0-0 10; Madilyn Melton 4-6 1-1 9; Delaney Wright 2-6 2-7 7; Haley
Cain 1-3 2-2 5; Alyse Moore 1-5 2-5 4; Adyson Ross 1-2 0-0 2; Jordan Mynsted
0-1 2-4 2; Sydni Keagle 0-0 2-4 2. Totals: 13-33 11-23 41. 3-point field goals:
4, (Diederich 2, Wright, Cain)

Senior Brooklyn Diederich releases a shot between two Paola defenders Tuesday at Louisburg High School.

It wasn’t the best start to the
week for the Louisburg girls basketball team that began with the resignation of
their coach and was followed up with a road loss to Eudora on the same day.

Despite all that, the Lady Cats
found themselves up on rival Paola with just seconds to play on their home
floor Tuesday. Instead, the Panthers made their week just a little bit worse.

Paola’s Brayden Hanf knocked down
a go-ahead 3-pointer with just 1.2 seconds left to hand Louisburg a 39-38 loss.
Despite all the struggles, the Lady Cats are keeping a positive frame of mind.

“Of course this was a tough loss for the girls, no one likes
losing a rivalry game,” Louisburg interim coach Leanna Willer said. “After how
hard they battled, losing on a shot in the final seconds felt like getting
punched in the gut. That being said, I think the girls are already looking
forward to playing them again in a couple of weeks on Paola’s home floor. They
came to practice Wednesday morning ready to put in work and get better together.”

On Monday, the Lady Cats were informed their head coach,
Shawn Lowry, turned in his resignation and Willer will lead the varsity squad
for the rest of the season. It was a shock to a lot of the players.

Although it has still not worn off for some of them, they are all trying to move forward and finish the season on a positive note.

“This is not a natural or easy transition for anyone, and we all
know that we have a tough road ahead,” Willer said. “It’s tough to lose such an
amazing coach in Coach Lowry. Over the last couple of years I have learned so
much, not only about basketball, but leading and coaching in general as he took
it upon himself to take both me and coach (Nick) Chapman under his wing. He
cares so deeply for each of the girls in the program (past, present, and
future), and that is what makes it so difficult to see him go. 

“We have a wide range of emotions about the situation on our
team right now, but I have been impressed with how much they want to move
forward, play for each other, and finish out the season strong. As a team, we
are excited to be able to have the chance to practice together and figure some
things out about ourselves. We will all make mistakes, but we will make them
giving 100 percent effort and dedication.”

Louisburg (6-8) got out to a good start as the Lady Cats took a
17-9 lead at the end of the first quarter, and although Paola whittled away at
it, they were still on top 22-19 at halftime.

It was a close game the rest of the way and Paola took a 36-33
lead early in the fourth quarter. The Lady Cats came right back as Delaney
Wright knocked down a jumper to cut it to one, then Alyse Moore hit a 3-pointer
with 3 minutes and 45 seconds left to give Louisburg a 38-36 lead.

The score stayed that way till the end when the Panthers found
Hanf in the right corner on an inbound pass and her 3-pointer rolled in to give
Paola a one-point lead with 1.2 seconds left.

Louisburg had one final opportunity as Moore heaved the ball
down the floor and found an open Brooklyn Diederich behind the 3-point line.
Diederich squared up for the shot, but Paola’s Macaela Garrett quickly got over
to her to knock the ball away as time expired.

“I
am so proud of how the girls responded after the Eudora game on Monday,” Willer
said. “It would have been easy to hang their heads and let Paola come get an
easy win, but our team showed up ready to fight. I think that was pretty
apparent with our energy in that first quarter. The girls played a great game
and fought for each opportunity they got. Our shots weren’t always falling, but
we were getting good looks just like we wanted. We even gave ourselves a chance
in that last 1.2 seconds on an incredible throw from Alyse, which is all we
could have hoped for in that situation.

“Naturally,
we would like to clean up a few things as well. We need to take better care of
the basketball and rebound, but we played from the heart and took pride in the
fact that we are Louisburg.”

Madilyn
Melton led Louisburg in scoring with 12 points to go along with five rebounds.
Moore also scored in double figures with 10 points and pulled down nine
rebounds.

Wright
led the Lady Cats defensively as she recorded a team-high six steals and also
had five rebounds.

The
Lady Cats will try and bounce back tonight when they travel to Ottawa for
another Frontier League matchup. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m.

LOU               17           5             11           5 – 38

PAO               9             10           12           8 – 39

LOUISBURG (6-8): Madilyn Melton
5-10 2-3 12; Alyse Moore 3-9 2-2 10; Brooklyn Diederich 3-9 0-0 8; Delaney
Wright 2-10 0-0 4; Haley Cain 1-3 0-0 2; Adyson Ross 1-3 0-0 2. Totals: 15-46
4-5 38. 3-point field goals: 4, (Diederich 2, Moore 2)

Lady Cats fall to No. 6 Eudora

It wasn’t going to be easy when
Louisburg traveled to Eudora – a team that is currently ranked No. 6 in Class
4A.

The Cardinals certainly didn’t
make it easy on them as they defeated Louisburg, 47-17, on Monday at Eudora High
School.

Madilyn Melton had eight points and
eight rebounds to lead Louisburg.

Eudora took a 19-5 lead at the end
of the first quarter and led 29-9 to halftime to pull away from the Lady Cats.

LOU               5             4             5             3 – 17

EUD               18           10           16           2 – 47

LOUISBURG: Madilyn Melton 3-6 2-4
8; Alyse Moore 2-8 1-2 5; Brooklyn Diederich 1-2 0-0 3; Megan Foote 0-1 1-2 1.
Totals: 6-26 4-8 17. 3-point field goals: 1, (Diederich)

Louisburg head girls basketball coach Shawn Lowry resigned Monday, effective immediately. Lowry was currently in his seventh season with the Lady Cats.

The Louisburg sidelines will look
a little different for the rest of the Lady Cats’ basketball season.

In a move that caught some
off-guard yesterday, Louisburg High School girls basketball coach Shawn Lowry
turned in his resignation, effective immediately.

Lowry coached his final game last Saturday
at the Top Gun Tournament in Wellsville and the Lady Cats were 6-6 through the
first 12 games before he stepped down Monday.

“I want to thank the great people that worked with me as assistant
coaches, the other LHS coaches during my tenure and all the basketball players
that were part of the Lady Cats basketball program for their commitment,
support and love,” Lowry said. “Most importantly, I want to thank my wife, Kristine,
and my children, Kirstin, Garrett and Kody, for understanding my passion and
for everything they sacrificed while I was giving of myself to other people’s
daughters.”

Lowry was currently in his seventh season as the Louisburg girls head coach after taking over the program in 2013. He also spent a year as an assistant on the Lady Cat bench, along with a year as an assistant on the boys team.

According to LHS activities director Scott Hinkle, junior
varsity coach Leanna Willer will serve as the interim head coach for the rest
of the season. Freshman coach Nick Chapman will continue to help with freshman
and junior varsity, while Hinkle looks for a temporary hire to fill the vacant
spot.

Players were told of Lowry’s resignation Monday afternoon before
the team left for their game in Eudora.

The Lady Cats started the year with a 6-2 record and a spot in
the state rankings, but problems arose to where Lowry felt he could no longer
do the job to the best of his ability.

“During the last several weeks, my family and I have had to
endure a great deal personally related to me coaching basketball,” Lowry said. “I
believed that I could continue to do so because I put the players and their
best interest above all else. However, I came to realize that no matter how
hard I worked, how much I cared about these kids or what I did to make this the
best possible experience for these young ladies, I was in a situation that
would not only be detrimental to these efforts, but actually foster the
opposite.

“I have always taken a great deal of pride in the way I
represent myself, my family and those young people that I had the privilege to
work with. From growing up in rural Kansas to running large companies, I
learned early and have refused to compromise on those core values that are the
fabric of who I am and that I have strived to teach.”

LHS administration could not comment on the coaching change, as
it is a personnel matter. The Lady Cats are back in action tonight when they
host Paola.

Louisburg junior Alyse Moore pulls down a rebound during a game at Wellsville earlier last week. Moore pulled down a team-high 16 rebounds in a loss to Hayden on Saturday.

WELLSVILLE – When it was all said
and done, the end result of the Top Gun Tournament was not what the Louisburg
girls basketball team was hoping for.

After an overtime loss in the first
round, and then a loss to Spring Hill in the consolation semifinals, Louisburg
had to face a tough Topeka-Hayden team in its final game Saturday in
Wellsville.

The Lady Cats took a nine-point
lead at halftime, but Hayden used a second half rally to pull away for a 44-38
victory over Louisburg.

The game was tied at 10-all going
into the second quarter, but Louisburg (6-6) had a big second quarter to take
the halftime lead. The Lady Cats outscored Hayden 14-5 before the break and
took a 24-15 advantage.

It didn’t stay that way as Hayden
cut into the Lady Cat lead in the third quarter, then early in the fourth,
Hayden took it back for good as it outscored Louisburg 15-7 in the final frame
to pull away.

Junior Alyse Moore was all over
the floor for the Lady Cats as she recorded a double-double to lead her team.
Moore had 12 points to go along with 16 rebounds and three steals.

Another junior, Madilyn Melton,
almost nearly had a double-double herself as she had 11 points and eight
rebounds. Junior Brooklyn Diederich had six points and a team-high seven steals
and seven deflections.

Neither team was able to get in a
rhythm offensively as both Louisburg and Hayden shot 27 percent from the field,
but Hayden was able to take advantage of some Louisburg mistakes. The Lady Cats
gave up 18 points on turnovers, which turned out to be one of the differences
in the game.

Louisburg will try and stop its four-game
losing streak tonight when it travels to Eudora in a makeup game from earlier
in the year. Varsity tipoff is scheduled for around 7:30 p.m.

It is the first of another
three-game week for the Lady Cats. They will host Paola tomorrow and then
travel to Ottawa on Friday to finish out the week.

LOU               10           14           7             7 – 38

TH                  10           5             14           15 – 44

LOUISBURG (6-6): Alyse Moore 4-11
4-7 12; Madilyn Melton 3-9 5-5 11; Brooklyn Diederich 2-8 0-1 6; Haley Cain 2-5
0-0 5; Megan Foote 1-7 0-0 2; Adyson Ross 0-0 2-2 2. Totals: 12-43 11-15 38.
3-point field goals: 3, (Diederich 2, Cain)

Slow start costs Louisburg against Spring Hill

Just a week earlier, Louisburg
went on the road and handed Spring Hill a double-digit loss.

On Thursday in the consolation
semifinals of the Top Gun Tournament, Spring Hill returned the favor.

Louisburg scored 10 points in the first
half and struggled to overcome its slow start in a 42-25 loss to the Broncos.
Spring Hill jumped out to a 22-10 halftime lead and never looked back.

Alyse Moore led the Lady Cats in
scoring with eight points, while Brooklyn Diederich added five in the loss.
Megan Foote pulled down a team-high six rebounds to go along with four steals.

LOU               5             5             5             10 – 25

SH                  15           7             6             14 – 42

LOUISBURG: Alyse Moore 3-7 0-1 8;
Brooklyn Diederich 1-13 2-2 5; Madilyn Melton 2-5 0-2 4; Megan Foote 1-5 1-2 4;
Delaney Wright 1-6 0-3 2; Haley Cain 1-3 0-2 2. Totals: 9-42 3-9 25. 3-point field
goals: 4, (Moore 2, Diederich, Foote)

Louisburg junior Megan Foote puts up a floater in the lane Tuesday during the Lady Cats’ game with Anderson County at Wellsville High School.

WELLSVILLE – Louisburg didn’t have
much left in the tank. The same could also be said for Anderson County.

The two teams beat each other up for 32 minutes, then the game went into overtime as both squads played physical in the first round of the Top Gun Tournament on Tuesday in Wellsville.

Whether it was diving for loose balls,
tough defense or fighting for rebounds, Louisburg and Anderson County left it
all on the court. Unfortunately for the Lady Cats, Anderson County made just
one more play.

The Bulldogs made a free throw with
8 seconds left to break the tie and Louisburg’s last second shot fell short as
the Lady Cats fell 70-69. The loss sends Louisburg to the consolations
semifinals where it will face off with Spring Hill at 5 p.m. today in
Wellsville.

It was a revenge win of sorts for
Anderson County after they Lady Cats defeated them in Louisburg back in
December.

Louisburg (6-4) appeared well on
their way to a victory early on as the Lady Cats jumped out to an 8-0 lead, but
Anderson County battled back and eventually took a 33-29 lead at halftime.

“Anderson County was tough and
physical like that the first time,” Louisburg coach Shawn Lowry said. “They
have improved and their record shows they have been playing well. I think maybe
when we got out to that early lead, we had some mentality stuff set in that probably
shouldn’t set in. The next thing you know we are in a game again and it was
back and forth the whole way. We had opportunities to win and had shots at the
rim that didn’t go in, but that is the way it goes sometimes.”

The Bulldogs built an eight-point
lead midway through the third quarter, but the Lady Cats were able to rally and
eventually take the lead. Junior Megan Foote connected on four free throws and
knocked down a 3-pointer with 15 seconds left in the third to bring the Lady
Cats within one.

Right before the end of the
quarter, Foote recorded a steal and passed it down the floor to Madilyn Melton
and she laid it in for a 48-47 lead.

Anderson County took the lead back
again, but Foote put together another run as she scored seven points late in
the fourth quarter, including a 3-pointer to tie the game at 62 with 1 minute
and 45 seconds left in the game. Foote then had a layup on the team’s next
possession and the Lady Cats went up 64-62 with 52 seconds remaining.

The Bulldogs eventually tied the game on a basket with 26 seconds left and the two teams went into overtime.

In the extra period, Melton and junior
Alyse Moore both scored to give Louisburg an early lead. However, with the game
tied with 8 seconds left, Louisburg was called for a foul after both teams dove
for a loose ball.

That sent Anderson County’s Cali
Foltz to the line as she made 1 of 2 free throws to give the Bulldogs the lead
for good.

“I thought we started out good,
but here is what we have to get away from,” Lowry said. “It can’t be me
challenging the kids and then they get tough. They are going to have to
collectively get together on that. In the second half, the girls just played
their tails off. Every single one of them played their tails off. Both teams
had zero gas left and it was just about taking shots. It was a fun overtime
high school game, but obviously wish we could have gotten the win there.”

Melton led the Lady Cats in
scoring with 22 points and had eight rebounds and five steals. Moore came close
to a triple-double as she tallied 21 points, 13 rebounds and she had seven
steals. She had 16 of those 21 points in the first half.

Foote finished the game with 15
points and five steals, while Brooklyn Diederich and Melton both led the team
with 10 deflections.

Louisburg had a hard time slowing
down Anderson County’s inside-outside combo of Rayna Jasper and Foltz. Jasper
had a game-high 28 points and was 9-for-10 from the free-throw line, while
Foltz finished with 23 points.

Sophomore Delaney Wright found herself on Jasper at the top of the Lady Cats’ zone defense and pressured her all night as Wright played the entire four quarters and overtime.

“I told Delaney if that girl doesn’t
come off the floor then you are not coming off the floor,” Lowry said. “If you
are tired, then she is going to be tired too and I think she stayed on the
floor the entire time. I thought we played with toughness and pride out there,
but it just didn’t come down to one shot, it came down to a lot of little
things.”

Louisburg will try and bounce back
today against Spring Hill and then will play for either fifth or seventh-place
Saturday against Topeka-Hayden or Lansing.

LOU               14           15           19           7             4 – 69

AC                  10           23           14           18           5 – 70

LOUISBURG (6-4): Madilyn Melton
8-17 5-9 22; Alyse Moore 8-16 5-7 21; Megan Foote 4-9 5-6 15; Delaney Wright
2-12 2-2 6; Brooklyn Diederich 2-5 0-0 5. Totals: 24-65 17-26 69. 3-point field
goals: 4, (Foote 2, Diederich 1, Melton 1)

Louisburg junior Brooklyn Diederich puts up a 3-pointer during Saturday’s home contest against Baldwin.

It was a battle of ranked teams
Saturday at Louisburg High School as No. 10 Louisburg had an opportunity to
knock off No. 4 Baldwin.

Unfortunately for the Lady Cats,
the game didn’t go as they would have hoped.

Baldwin used a big second quarter
to jump out large lead and the Lady Cats weren’t able to recover in a 67-46
loss to the Bulldogs.

“There were times we competed with good energy and effort, but we didn’t execute as well as we could have,” Louisburg coach Shawn Lowry said. “You have to credit Baldwin for their defensive pressure and the toughness they played with.”

Louisburg
(6-3) got off to a good start as it took an 11-8 lead early as junior Madilyn
Melton scored the team’s first six points, followed by a 3-pointer from
Brooklyn Diederich and a basket from Megan Foote.

From there, Baldwin was able to take over as it went on an 11-2 run to go up six and then expanded its lead to 33-20 at halftime. The Bulldogs grew their lead to 18 points at the end of the third quarter.

Baldwin
made it tough for Louisburg to defend as the Bulldogs knocked down nine
3-pointers and also used their size inside to score 32 points in the paint.

“Baldwin
definitely shot the ball well and complimented that with some strong inside
play.” Lowry said. “It challenged us with several defensive rotations and also
caused us issues with defending their penetration.”

Melton
found a lot of success for the Lady Cats as she scored a team-high 16 points to
go along with a team-high eight rebounds and three blocks. Sophomore Jordan
Mynsted was next in scoring with seven points and Diederich finished with six.

Louisburg
will try and bounce back today when it travels to Wellsville for the Top Gun
Tournament. The Lady Cats will tip off at 6:30 p.m. against Anderson County and
will also play Thursday and Friday nights.

“Our kids
are staying the course and working hard in practice to prepare for the games
ahead,” Lowry said. “Games like this provide us good experience and lessons for
the stretch run that is ahead of us.”

LOU               11           9             9             17 – 46

BAL                12           21           14           20 – 67

LOUISBURG
(6-3): Madilyn Melton 6-15 4-8 16; Jordan Mynsted 3-5 1-1 7; Brooklyn Diederich
2-5 0-0 6; Delaney Wright 2-9 1-2 5; Megan Foote 1-3 2-3 4; Haley Cain 1-5 2-2
4; Emma Lohse 1-1 0-0 2; Brianne Kuhlman 0-0 1-2 1; Alyse Moore 0-3 1-2 1.
Totals: 16-48 12-20 46. 3-point field goals: 2, (Diederich 2)

Louisburg sophomore Delaney Wright dives on the floor for a loose ball Wednesday during the Lady Cats’ win at Spring Hill High School.

SPRING HILL – Fresh off just its
second setback of the season, the Louisburg girls basketball team wanted to make
sure one loss didn’t turn into two.

Thanks to a big second half, the
Lady Cats prevented that from happening.

Louisburg scored 32 points in the second half, including a 17-point fourth quarter and pulled away from Spring Hill, 56-42, on Wednesday at Spring Hill High School. It was a big road victory the Lady Cats were looking for as they improved to 6-2 on the season and 3-1 in Frontier League play.

“Spring Hill is a good team and
they are well-coached,” Louisburg coach Shawn Lowry said. “The stuff they had
prepared for us after they played a lot of games was really good. We always
talk a lot about how we will respond to adversity, and not just in basketball,
but in life as well.

“This was about them learning how
to deal with when things don’t go your way. You can either dust yourself off
and get up, or you can lay down. This group really took that to heart getting
ready for this game and really all three levels did that. They all had great
games and I was really proud of their effort.”

The Lady Cats faced a full-court pressure
defense the entire night, but they were able to make their way through it and
convert on the offensive end. If Louisburg didn’t score, it was able to draw a
foul as it had 33 attempts at the free-throw line.

“We handled it better and Spring
Hill has some athletes on their side as well,” Lowry said. “We did a pretty
good job of handling their pressure for the most part and we were aggressive
after we broke it. It wasn’t enough for us to just break it, we wanted to go
score as well.”

Score they did.

Louisburg took a 24-16 halftime
lead, but came out in the third quarter on a mission. The Lady Cats opened the
second half on a 12-2 run to build a 16-point lead thanks to 3-pointers from
Brooklyn Diederich and Megan Foote, along with a pair of baskets from Madilyn
Melton and free throws from Alyse Moore.

Spring Hill eventually whittled
Louisburg’s lead to five late in the third quarter, but the Lady Cats responded
again in the fourth. Moore scored nine of the team’s 17 points in the frame as
the Lady Cats built up its double digit lead and never looked back.

Moore led all scorers with 18 points and had five rebounds to go along with four steals. Melton also finished in double figures with 14 points and seven rebounds.

“We need them to be more for us
and for them to demand it more and I thought they did some good things for us,”
Lowry said of Moore and Melton. “We are going to look to them, but they have to
put themselves into a position where we can get them the basketball. They can
both be finishers and be tough to defend in the low post and they are getting
better at it.”

Diederich added eight points in the winning effort with a team-high five assists and five steals, while Foote also had eight points, seven rebounds and four assists to help lead the Lady Cats.

On defense, the Lady Cats were
active as they forced 30 turnovers and were able to score 20 points off those
Spring Hill mistakes. They also recorded 20 steals.

“I liked what I saw from some of the
younger kids,” Lowry said. “I thought Delaney Wright and Adyson Ross were
solid. The older girls are pretty good about their rotations, but I thought
those two were pretty active. Alyse is always all over the place.

“Overall, the girls were just
really together and they played for each other. They knew it was an important
one to bounce back from what happened against Frontenac. We learned a lot about
ourselves.”

Louisburg will try and make it
back-to-back league victories when it hosts Baldwin at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday in
a make-up contest. Junior varsity will play at 1 p.m.

It will be the start of what is a
busy two weeks for the Lady Cats as they will see plenty of tests come their
way.

“We are going to have gauntlet
coming up and it starts with Baldwin,” Lowry said. “Then we turn around and
play three tournament games the next week and then we play Monday, Tuesday and
Friday the following week. All of those games will be against great teams, but
this is where we want to be. It is the meat of the season and tournament week
is always a fun time.

“We are looking forward to Baldwin
as well with it being a girls only night and all the teams get to play in the
main gym. Our girls are looking forward to the challenge.”

LOU               10           14           15           17 – 56

SH                  7             9             17           9 – 42

LOUISBURG (6-2): Alyse Moore 5-9
8-14 18; Madilyn Melton 6-9 2-3 14; Brooklyn Diederich 3-9 0-2 8; Megan Foote
2-8 3-6 8; Delaney Wright 1-4 3-4 6; Haley Cain 0-4 2-4 2. Totals: 17-45 18-33
56. 3-point field goals: 4, (Diederich 2, Wright, Foote)