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)

Junior Megan Foote goes up for a shot during a game earlier this season. The Louisburg girls fell short at home Saturday against Frontenac, 50-45.

The Louisburg and Frontenac girls
basketball teams came into Saturday’s game wanting to do the same thing – put pressure
on the opponent.

It worked on both ends as the two
teams combined to force more than 50 turnovers in what was a chaotic contest at
Louisburg High School. In the end, Frontenac made just a few more plays.

Despite a late run in the fourth
quarter, Louisburg came up short in a 50-45 loss to the Raiders and it is just
the second setback for the Lady Cats this season.

Louisburg (5-2) jumped out in
front to start the game as it took a 16-11 lead to begin the second quarter.
Unfortunately, the Lady Cats had problems scoring against the Frontenac defense
in the next two frames.

Frontenac held Louisburg to a
combined 12 points in the second and third quarters and took a 42-28 lead. The
Lady Cats didn’t give up as they scored 17 points in the fourth quarter.

Junior Madilyn Melton scored the first four points, junior Megan Foote made a 3-pointer late and junior Alyse Moore scored nine points down the stretch. Moore drove the lane, scored and was fouled to cut the Frontenac lead to two with just seconds left.

Louisburg, however, could get no
closer as Frontenac converted at the free-throw line in the final seconds to
secure the win.

Moore led the Lady Cats as she
recorded a double-double with 16 points and 12 rebounds to go along with a
team-high three steals. Melton also finished with a double-double as she had 13
points, 10 rebounds and three steals.

Junior Brooklyn Diederich was in double figures with 10 points and a team-high eight deflections. Senior Haley Cain added eight rebounds in the loss.

Louisburg will try and get back on
track tonight when it travels to Spring Hill for Frontier League matchup.
Tipoff is set for approximately 7:30 p.m.

LOU               16           5             7             17 – 45

FRON            11           13           18           8 – 50

LOUISBURG (5-2): Alyse Moore 6-14
4-7 16; Madilyn Melton 5-7 3-4 13; Brooklyn Diederich 4-16 0-0 10; Megan Foote
1-6 1-4 4; Delaney Wright 1-6 0-0 2. Totals: 17-58 8-17 45. 3-point field
goals: 3, (Diederich 2, Foote)

Junior Madilyn Melton drives past a Bonner Springs defender Tuesday during the Lady Cats’ 52-34 win over the Braves.

From the opening tip, it was
obvious that the night was going to belong to the Louisburg girls basketball
team.

On Tuesday against Bonner Springs,
the Lady Cats scored 14 of the first 16 points and used that start to roll the
Braves, 52-34, at Louisburg High School.

In what was one of their best shooting nights of the young season, mixed in with good defense, the No. 10-ranked Lady Cats were able to move their record to 5-1 on the season.

“Bonner is young, athletic and
their coach does a really good job with his girls, but I am also proud of the
way we responded against that,” Louisburg coach Shawn Lowry said. “There were
times where it was really physical and I thought that we responded well to that
and I thought our confidence was good too. At some point, this group is going
to have to start believing what they can be this year.”

The Lady Cats certainly believed Tuesday
as they shot 44 percent from floor and knocked down a season-high eight
3-pointers, despite only going 4-for-14 from the free-throw line. Louisburg
came out strong as it opened the game on a 14-2 run.

Bonner Springs made a run back to
cut it to a two-point advantage to start the second quarter, but the Lady Cats
ended the first half on an 8-2 spurt to take a 25-17 halftime lead. The Braves
would get no closer.

Madilyn Melton led the Lady Cats
in scoring as the Louisburg junior finished with a team-high 12 points and
seven rebounds, to go along with six deflections and three steals. Juniors
Alyse Moore and Megan Foote added nine points in the win.

Senior Haley Cain came off the
bench to also score nine points, all of which came from behind the 3-point
line. Cain also had a team-high four assists.

“I think it is credit to the girls putting in the work,” Lowry said of his team’s offensive success. “They are staying after practice and coming in on the weekends on their own and shooting. This is a group that can be a good shooting team.

“I really thought Haley came off
the bench and gave us a nice spark and it was great leadership from her. I am
really proud of what she did.”

Louisburg also shined defensively
at times as it shut down Bonner Springs’ inside game and forced 26 turnovers
thanks to the Lady Cats’ aggressive zone defense. Those turnovers turned into
25 points for the Lady Cats as they made it difficult for the Braves.

“We didn’t slow them down much
inside at the beginning, but we made some adjustments and that really helped,”
Lowry said. “I have to give credit to the girls because they responded to the
adjustments what we needed to make. They were communicating with each other and
talking on defense. That really was the difference. I made some adjustments,
but it was them talking that was the biggest part of that.”

The schedule will get a lot
tougher for the Lady Cats beginning tomorrow. It will be a battle of ranked
teams as No. 10 Louisburg hosts No. 4 Baldwin (7-1) at 6 p.m. Friday in a
Frontier League matchup.

Louisburg will then turnaround
Saturday to host Frontenac in a makeup contest. Tipoff for that game is set for
4:30 p.m.

“We want to be 6-1 after Friday
and we have to play a good Baldwin team on our home floor,” Lowry said. “We are
excited to play that game and that is the mentality that this group has right
now.

“Baldwin is a fantastic team from
coaching to players, and top to bottom they have such a great program. It is
going to be extremely hard and we are going to have to prepare with that in
mind. We can’t even think about Saturday’s game against Frontenac and we have
to be all in with Baldwin on Friday.”

LOU               17           8             19           8 – 52

BON              12           5             12           5 – 34

LOUISBURG (5-1): Madilyn Melton
5-8 2-6 12; Haley Cain 3-7 0-0 9; Alyse Moore 3-7 1-2 9; Megan Foote 4-7 0-2 9;
Delaney Wright 2-4 0-2 5; Brooklyn Diederich 2-10 0-0 5; Sydni Keagle 1-1 0-0
2; Jordan Mynsted 0-0 1-2 1. Totals: 20-46 4-14 52. 3-point field goals: 8,
(Cain 3, Moore 2, Wright, Diederich, Foote)

Freshman guard Adyson Ross drives to the basket during the Lady Cats’ road game Tuesday against Turner.

KANSAS CITY, Kan. – In its first
game of the new year, the Louisburg girls basketball team couldn’t have asked
for a better start to 2020.

The Lady Cats used a stingy
defense and a deep bench to help them to a 72-18 victory over Turner on Tuesday
at Turner High School. The win moves Louisburg’s record to 4-1 on the year as
it currently holds the No. 10 ranking in Class 4A.

“We worked hard over break and
everyone is in the same boat,” Louisburg coach Shawn Lowry said. “You have to
get back to where you were before break and it is crazy. You have to get that
mentality back and we focused on toughness drills, worked on a lot of defensive
stuff and I thought we took care of business. Offensively we have some stuff to
clean up, but overall it was a good night.”

Defensively, the Lady Cats shined
as they used their 1-3-1 pressure defense to force several Turner turnovers,
which led to easy baskets in transition. Louisburg racked up 47 points in the first
half and held the Golden Bears to just nine.

Junior Brooklyn Diederich had a
big scoring night for the Lady Cats with a game-high 15 points, including three
3-pointers. Juniors Alyse Moore and Madilyn Melton also finished in double
figures with 12 points and sophomores Delaney Wright and Jordan Mynsted added
nine.

Lowry shuffled five players in and
out of the game at different times throughout the contest, which allowed
several younger players to see varsity minutes. Freshman guards Brianne
Kuhlman, Adyson Ross and Emma Lohse all saw playing time and each found the
scoring column.

“It was nice to be able to rotate
a lot of kids,” Lowry said. “I thought the freshmen, like Adyson, Brianne and
Emma, all did a real nice job tonight. It is these kinds of situations where we
can get them some experience that will help them down the road past this
season. For it being our first game out of break, and being on the road, I
think it was good for us.”

The schedule will get quite a bit
tougher for the Lady Cats and it starts tonight when they travel to No. 7
Eudora. The Cardinals have been going through some transition as their head
coach, Richard Ebel, was relieved of his duties before the holiday break and
they currently have a new coaching staff.

Despite the changes, the Lady Cats
know it will be a difficult challenge on the road in Frontier League play.

“Eudora is fantastic and they have
one of the best point guards around,” Lowry said. “They are dealing with some
stuff right now, but I think they are going to be ready to play. It will be
tough for them, but I know they will be ready.

“We have a tough four-game stretch
coming up too. We have Eudora, but then we get three games at home, with Bonner
Springs, Baldwin and Frontenac and Baldwin and Frontenac are back-to-back
nights. It is a gauntlet, but that is the time of year we are in and it is time
to play. We have 80 percent of our games left to play and 60 percent of our
practices are done. It is about improving and getting better and we are going
to be a different team between now and the end of the season. We have a lot of
growth left to happen.”

LOU               20           27           15           10 – 72

TUR               5             4             4             5 – 18

LOUISBURG (4-1): Brooklyn
Diederich 15, Alyse Moore 12, Madilyn Melton 12, Delaney Wright 9, Jordan
Mynsted 9, Brianne Kuhlman 6, Adyson Ross 5, Megan Foote 2, Emma Lohse 2.
Totals: 27 12-22 72. 3-point field goals: 6, (Diederich 3, Wright 2, Ross)

Louisburg junior Alyse Moore goes up for a basket Friday during the Lady Cats’ final game of 2019 against Piper at Louisburg High School.

It would have been easy for the
Louisburg girls basketball team to realize Friday was just not its night.

The Lady Cats found themselves
down 10 points in the first three minutes of the game against Piper, the No. 2
team in Class 4A and defending state runner-up. Trying to get back in the game
against one of the best teams in the state was going to be a tough task.

Louisburg was up for the challenge
as the Lady Cats rallied to keep the game close, before Piper used a big fourth
quarter to hand Louisburg its first loss of the season, 47-29, at Louisburg
High School.

Piper opened the game on a 10-0
run to put the Lady Cats on their heels, but they were able to respond and
trailed just 16-10 at the end of the first quarter. From there, Louisburg was
able to stay within striking distance, but would get no closer.

“Two things are going to happen in
that situation – you are either going to stand up for yourself or you are just
going to quit and lay down,” Louisburg coach Shawn Lowry said. “The character
of our team is they are going to fight. We really battled the entire game, but
it is just some things that we are doing to ourselves. If we can clean those
things up, I like what this team can be.”

The Lady Cats struggled on the
offensive end of the floor as they shot 27 percent from the field, but they
hurt themselves on the free-throw line as they went 10-for-24.

It was tough to get good looks at
the basket most of the night against a tough Piper defense that applied
full-court pressure for part of the contest.

“We are not that far away,” Lowry
said. “The things we have been talking to the girls about time after time is
finishing plays at the rim, free-throw shooting and we really hurt ourselves
with those two things. Piper is obviously an extremely talented team, with
extremely talented players.

“The message to our girls was when we got down big early, was to settle down and to compete and they did that. We have a lot of progress left to do, both individually and as a team, but I sure like our kids and I like what the rest of the season can look like for us.”

Junior Megan Foote paced the Lady
Cats with a team-high 12 points, while junior Madilyn Melton finished with
seven points and five rebounds. Junior Alyse Moore pulled down a team-high 11
rebounds and senior Haley Cain also had five boards.

Piper took an 11-point halftime
lead and the Pirates were able to build on it into the fourth quarter as they
used a 9-2 run to pull away from the Lady Cats.

Louisburg, which is 3-1 going into
the holiday break, saw a lot of positives to begin its season. The Lady Cats
also realize they will be competing in several difficult games in the Frontier
League when they resume play in early January.

“We wanted to be 4-0, but we like
where we are at,” Lowry said. “We would have liked to have that other game
before break with the Frontenac game being postponed, but we are going to take
some days off here, regroup and get back after it. This group has high
expectations for themselves and you have to love that.

“This league is fantastic and what a great league to compete in. When we come back from break we will face a very good Eudora team, Baldwin is tough, Paola is strong again this year, Spring Hill is good and I think the league is going to be a race this year. I don’t think that anyone is going to run away with it. Piper is out to a good lead, but I think it will be competitive till the end.”

The Lady Cats will continue their
season on Jan. 7 when they travel to Turner. Louisburg will then go to Eudora
on Jan. 10 to start up league play.

LOU               10           7             9             3 – 29

PIP                 16           12           10           9 – 47

LOUISBURG (3-1): Megan Foote 5-7
0-0 12; Madilyn Melton 1-6 5-12 7; Haley Cain 1-7 1-2 4; Alyse Moore 0-3 3-7 3;
Delaney Wright 1-1 0-0 2; Brianne Kuhlman 0-0 1-2 1. Totals: 8-30 10-24 29.
3-point field goals: 3, (Foote 2, Cain 1)

Louisburg sophomore Delaney Wright races down the floor during a fast break opportunity Friday during the Lady Cats’ home opener against Anderson County.

The Louisburg girls basketball
team wanted to make a good impression in its home opener Friday and the Lady
Cats got everyone’s attention early.

Louisburg scored the first 10
points of the game – all by junior Megan Foote – and the Lady Cats used that
run to pull away for a 47-35 victory over Anderson County. It was also the
third straight victory for the Lady Cats as they remained perfect on the year.

“We were excited to be able to
come out and play on our home floor, have our home opener on a Friday night,”
Louisburg coach Shawn Lowry said. “These three games that we have had to start
our schedule have been scrappy and tough and it has been good for us. We are
progressing, which has been great. I thought we were better defensively this
time around than we were on Tuesday. If we can keep making this progression and
keep learning and fixing our mistakes, then I like what this thing can be.”

Foote got the Lady Cats off to
their blazing start as she drove to the basket three straight times, including
one for a three-point play. She then knocked down a 3-pointer to put Louisburg
up 10-0 and the Lady Cats were off and running.

The Lady Cats (3-0) went on to
score 16 points in the first quarter and the Louisburg defense held Anderson
County to 16 total points in the first half.

“We knew by looking on film that we
wanted to get downhill early,” Lowry said. “I told Megan before the game that
she needed to be the aggressor with the ball and she took it to heart. It was a
great start for us and a great start for her and it was able to get us going.

“I thought our defense was good
and our kids are getting tougher. I have challenged them after every game and
they are responding. We aren’t there by any means in regards to toughness, but
I like where we are going.”

Louisburg forced 34 Anderson
County turnovers and the Lady Cats were able to score 22 points off those
Bulldog mistakes. The Lady Cats also pulled down 20 offensive rebounds that led
to 11 second chance points.

To end the first half, the Lady
Cats went on a mini 6-0 run after back-to-back baskets from junior Madilyn
Melton. Then sophomore Delaney Wright had a steal and score right before the
buzzer to put Louisburg up 31-16 at halftime.

The Lady Cats saw their lead balloon
to 17 late in the third quarter and Anderson County would get no closer than
12.

Foote led the Lady Cats in scoring
with 12 points, while Melton also finished in double figures with 11 points,
seven rebounds and team-high five steals. Senior Haley Cain finished with nine
points, six rebounds and four steals.

Junior Alyse Moore had eight
points, a team-high 10 rebounds and four steals. Junior Brooklyn Diederich also
had four steals in the win.

Louisburg will try and make it four
straight wins Tuesday when it hosts Frontenac. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m.

“It is going to be a challenge on
Tuesday with Frontenac,” Lowry said. “They are going to be physical and tough.
Our next goal is to be 4-0 and that is what we are shooting for.”

LOU               16           15           11           5 – 47

AC                  10           6             9             10 – 35

LOUISBURG (3-0): Megan Foote 5-9
1-2 12; Madilyn Melton 5-13 1-2 11; Haley Cain 3-8 1-2 9; Alyse Moore 4-12 0-1
8; Delaney Wright 2-8 0-0 4; Brooklyn Diederich 1-15 1-4 3; Sydni Keagle 0-2
1-2 1. Totals: 20-67 5-13 47. 3-point field goals: 3, (Cain 2, Foote 1)

Louisburg junior Megan Foote races the ball up the court during Tuesday’s game at Burlington High School. The Lady Cats picked up their second straight win with a 59-46 win over Burlington.

BURLINGTON – Sometimes it takes
just one play to spark a team to go on a game-clinching run, and on Tuesday in
Burlington, that spark came from Megan Foote.

The Louisburg junior started what
was a big run for the Lady Cats with her aggressive play on both ends of the
floor. The rest of the Lady Cats fed off that as they ran away from Burlington
in the fourth quarter and left with a 59-46 victory.

Foote took a charge midway through
the fourth quarter and then drove to the basket for a score that would break
open a close game. Louisburg went on a 12-0 run and the Lady Cats earned their second
straight win to start the season.

“Our defense was key during that run, but it really started with Megan’s aggressive attack to the basket,” Louisburg coach Shawn Lowry said. “We really hadn’t been the aggressor all night, but that seemed to flip a switch mentality-wise. The next thing you know Alyse (Moore) gets a steal and scores and it turned for us. Runs like that normally start with one play and I thought Megan’s drive to the basket did that for us and then we just took off.”

Junior Alyse Moore was another
catalyst on both ends of the floor for the Lady Cats. Moore finished with a
game-high 22 points, several of which came off steals in transition.

Another junior, Madilyn Melton,
also finished in double figures with 18 points and Foote added eight points –
six of which came in the Lady Cats’ 24-point fourth quarter.

“Alyse played great and she always
plays so hard,” Lowry said. “Alyse will give you every single ounce that she
has and she did that again for us. It was a great performance and I thought
Megan was really solid as well. She was good with the basketball for us and I
thought she did a great job offensively and defensively.”

It was a back and forth game through
the first three quarters as the lead changed hands nine times and neither team
could pull away. It was the type of game Lowry was expecting.

Burlington is a traditionally good
program in Class 3A and the Louisburg coach wasn’t expecting anything different
this time around.

“This is always a tough place to
play, and not to mention that their longtime coach is back now after six-year
hiatus,” Lowry said. “The last time we faced off against him was in my first
year and it was one of the best games I had been a part of in an 86-84 overtime
win. I knew this was going to be a battle and I knew he was going to have his
kids ready to go. The kids really responded well.

“The best part of it is we are 2-0
now, but there is still so much stuff we are doing to ourselves and we are
going to get better at it. It is a lot nicer to be 2-0 and having those issues,
instead of being 0-2.”

Early in the fourth quarter, the Lady Cats found themselves down 40-39 but then came their run. Foote scored four straight points to give Louisburg a three-point lead and then Moore had two steals that led to layups on the other end.

After another bucket from Moore
and Melton, Louisburg all of a sudden found itself up 51-40 in about a three
minute span. From there, the Lady Cats were able to hold on and secure a big
road win.

Louisburg will try for three wins
in a row Friday when it hosts Anderson County in its home opener. Tipoff is set
for approximately 6 p.m.

“They are going to be good,” Lowry
said. “They had young players last year that are juniors this year. They are a
good group and it was a battle the first time we played them last year. It will
be tough. We have a gauntlet coming up where we face a good Anderson County
team, Frontenac is going to be tough and then we finish out with Piper before
the break. We are on our home court though so we are going to defend that place
with everything we have.”

LOU               13           14           8             24 – 59

BUR               14           9             13           10 – 46

LOUISBURG (2-0): Alyse Moore 22,
Madilyn Melton 18, Megan Foote 8, Brooklyn Diederich 6, Delaney Wright 3, Sydni
Keagle 2. 3-point field goals: 1, (Diederich)