PAOLA – Scoring just two points in a quarter against the No. 2 ranked team in Class 4A-Division I, on its home floor no less, usually means blowout city.

Instead, the Louisburg girls basketball team nearly put together the upset of the season. The Lady Cats had undefeated Paola down with 5 minutes left in the contest, but couldn’t hold on in a 51-39 loss Tuesday in Paola.

The Lady Cats took the lead with 5 minutes and 29 seconds left in the contest on a pair of Natalie Moore free throws, but Paola answered with a 17-4 run to end the game, with many of those points coming at the free-throw line late.

Even with the loss, Louisburg (8-6) knows it will get a chance to see Paola one, if not two more times before the end of the season.

“To be honest, yes it was a loss and we don’t like to lose, but at the same time this was big for our girls,” Louisburg coach Shawn Lowry said. “They needed to get the confidence that we can play with teams like Paola and we did. It really helps us take that next step and hopefully we can keep building on this.”

It was a sluggish start for both teams as the first four minutes of the game was scoreless and was littered with turnovers on both sides. Paola found a little rhythm to take a 7-0 lead and Louisburg just missed getting shutout of the frame but Moore hit a runner with 20 seconds left.

The basket seemed to carry over into the second quarter as the Lady Cats outscored Paola 17-9 and took a 19-16 lead into halftime. Louisburg took advantage of some Paola foul problems and charged back.

Senior Kirstin Lowry connected on two 3-pointers, including one that tied the game, while senior Kallie O’Keefe tied the game again on a basket with 1:33 left in the game. Moore and O’Keefe each hit free throws down the stretch to give the Lady Cats the halftime lead.

“I think both teams were playing hard at first, even though it was a little sloppy, but I think both were just feeling each other out,” coach Lowry said. “We made a nice run in the second quarter and felt pretty good at halftime. Even when we were down early, it was good to see the girls battle back and feel like they can play with Paola.”

The third quarter went back and forth, but the Lady Cats seemed to seize the momentum heading into the fourth when Kirstin Lowry knocked down another 3-pointer to put Louisburg up 31-29 with under 10 seconds left.

However, Paola’s Taylor Williams took the ball down the floor, scored, was fouled and converted the 3-point play with 1 second left to put the Panthers back up by one.

Moore hit four straight free throws in the fourth quarter to give the Lady Cats the lead at 35-34, but Paola would take control after that. Moore led the Lady Cats in scoring with 16 points to go along with six rebounds and was 8-for-10 from the free-throw line.

Kirstin Lowry also finished in double figures for the Lady Cats with 13 points. O’Keefe added six points, but also pulled down a team-high 12 rebounds against a big Panther front line.

“I thought Kallie really battled in there and played smart,” coach Lowry said. “She was going up against some big girls and she did well. She was very aggressive, which was good to see.”

 

 

LOUISBURG        2      17      12     8 – 39

PAOLA                   7      9        16    19 – 51

LOUISBURG (8-6): Natalie Moore 4-13 8-10 16; Kirstin Lowry 4-11 2-2 13; Kallie O’Keefe 3-14 2-5 6; Megan Lemke 2-3 0-0 4. Totals: 12-35 12-21 39. 3-point field goals: 3, (Lowry 3)

Seniors Natalie Moore, Kirstin Lowry and Kallie O’Keefe have been putting the Louisburg girls basketball team on their backs for most of the season.

Friday’s championship game of the Louisburg Invitational was no different as each player came through at the right time. All three seniors played vital roles in the 47-41 victory over St. James Academy to win back-to-back tournament titles. The Lady Cats have now won their home tournament championship three of the last four seasons.

“It is really big for this group of girls,” Louisburg coach Shawn Lowry said. “They stepped up when they needed to and the whole team really did some good things. We knew St. James was a good team and we are going to have to play hard and smart and I thought we did that for the most part.”

Moore got things started in the first quarter as she scored 12 of her team-high 21 points in the frame.

Sophomore Madisen Simpson opened the quarter with a 3-pointer that banked in, then Moore followed with 12 straight points, 10 of which came from the free-throw line. She finished the game 13-for-18 from the charity stripe.

The Lady Cats (8-5) took a 15-6 lead into the second quarter and were able to overcome a taller and bigger St. James team in the process.

With wins over Osawatomie and Shawnee Mission North to start the tournament, the Lady Cats have now won three straight and are hoping they are turning the corner on their season.

“Our team chemistry is so much better now that what it was,” Moore said. “It was good before, but we are working a lot better as a team. The underclassmen are feeding off what the seniors are doing right now and it was a really good week for us.”

St. James made things interesting in the second quarter as it outscored Louisburg 16-7 to tie the game at 22-all at halftime. It left a nasty taste in the Lady Cats’ mouth.

So when the team ventured to the locker room, they got a nice talking to from the coach.

“We basically got our (rear end) chewed and we needed it, especially me,” Kirstin Lowry said. “We basically gave away our momentum in that second quarter and we weren’t playing hard. I know I took it to heart and we played a lot harder in the second half.”

Coach Lowry just had a simple message for the team.

“I just asked them how they wanted to be remembered,” coach Lowry said. “We gave them the game back in the second quarter and we weren’t playing well. I challenged them and they responded like good teams do and I couldn’t be prouder of them.”

Kirstin definitely responded as she scored all 10 of her points in the third quarter to help give Louisburg a slim 35-30 lead going into the fourth quarter. It also opened the door for O’Keefe to shine at the most crucial time.

The game, which was tied at 37-all with under five minutes remaining, turned when O’Keefe scored five straight points. The biggest play came when she drove the length of the floor after a rebound, made the basket, was fouled and converted the three-point play.

That five-point lead was enough and St. James wasn’t able to recover. O’Keefe finished with seven points, but also added nine rebounds in the winning effort. Junior Megan Lemke also had six rebounds.

“I am just ecstatic,” O’Keefe said. “It is great to be able to win this in our senior year and we are playing well right now. It is a good feeling that is for sure.”

 

LOUISBURG                15           7            13           12 – 44

ST. JAMES                  6 16           8             11 – 41

LOUISBURG (8-5): Natalie Moore 4-12 13-18 21; Kirstin Lowry 4-10 0-1 10; Kallie O’Keefe 3-7 1-2 7; Madisen Simpson 1-9 0-0 3; Paige Buffington 0-2 3-4 3; Megan Lemke 1-2 0-0 2. Totals: 13-42 18-27 47. 3-point field goals: 3, (Lowry 2, Simpson)

 

Louisburg downs Shawnee Mission North

 

On Jan. 29, Louisburg faced off with Shawnee Mission North in the second game of pool play in the Louisburg Invitational and came away with an easy 55-33 victory.

Natalie Moore came up big for the Lady Cats again as she finished with a game-high 26 points to go along with five rebounds. Sophomore Paige Buffington finished just outside of double figures with nine points and had four assists.

Kallie O’Keefe added eight points and seven rebounds and Kirstin Lowry added six rebounds in the win.

The game was tied at 9-all in the first quarter and the Lady Cats took a 23-17 lead at halftime. Louisburg pulled away even further as it outscored Shawnee Mission North 13-6 in the third quarter to pull away.

 

LOUISBURG                9             14           13           19 – 55

SM NORTH   9             8             6             10 – 33

LOUISBURG: Natalie Moore 8-12 9-11 26; Paige Buffington 2-6 4-5 9; Kallie O’Keefe 3-5 2-4 8; Madisen Simpson 2-7 0-0 6; Megan Lemke 0-2 2-2 2; Kirstin Lowry 1-9 0-0 2; Emalee Overbay 1-3 0-2 2. Totals: 17-44 17-24 55. 3-point field goals: 4, (Simpson 2, Moore, Buffington)

 

Lady Cats roll Osawatomie

 

The first game of the Louisburg Invitational didn’t provide much drama for the Lady Cats as they cruised to a 60-23 victory over Osawatomie to open pool play.

Junior Megan Lemke had one of her best games of the season as she finished with a team-high 12 points and Kirstin Lowry added 11 points in the victory.

“I will tell you what, Megan Lemke really played hard in that win over St. James and really the whole tournament,” coach Lowry said. “We asked her to guard some bigger girls in the post and she did a great job with that. She was relentless in there.”

Sophomore Madisen Simpson finished with eight points.