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 junior Konnor Vohs drives into the lane Tuesday during the Wildcats’ game with Paola. The Wildcats fell 64-52 and are 6-8 on the year.

There are nights where everything seems to be going right, but there are others, like what Louisburg had on Friday, where things just never fall into place.

Foul trouble and tough shooting
cost the Wildcats in their home contest against rival Paola and they weren’t
able to recover in a 64-52 loss. It was a night where a lot went right for
Paola as it shot 54 percent from the floor and took advantage of its
opportunities.

“That is as good as I’ve seen
Paola play,” Louisburg coach Ty Pfannenstiel said. “They were confident, and
when the ball goes through the hoop, you tend to get a little more energy and
they played well. We probably had a lot to do with that as we weren’t great
defensively. Offensively we were even worse.

“I thought we were getting good
looks, but we shot too many from the outside and I think we were settling for
shots too much. Our kids are good shooters and they are confident, but we are
struggling right now and are in a little bit of a funk. We have to find ways to
generate offense when shots aren’t falling from the outside. Hats off to Paola,
so they played really well.”

The Wildcats (6-8) weren’t able to
get in a rhythm offensively as junior point guard Weston Guetterman picked up
two quick fouls in the first quarter, then picked up his third early in the
second quarter and had to sit the rest of the half.

Louisburg managed just 20 points
in the first half, but the Wildcats trailed only 24-20 at halftime and were
still in it.

“Weston’s first two fouls weren’t
smart ones to pick up, and when he gets into foul trouble, it kind of changes
his game and it can take away his aggressiveness and that is what he is good
at,” Pfannenstiel said. “That definitely hurt us, but we have to find other
ways to keep things going when our guys get into foul trouble.”

In the second half, Paola was able
to catch fire offensively as it scored 22 points in the third quarter and built
a 12-point lead when Bo Robison had a put-back dunk off a missed shot with 1
second left to give the Panthers even more momentum.

Paola eventually pushed its lead to 15 points late in the contest and the Wildcats were unable to recover. Louisburg shot 34 percent for the game, but Paola was able to take advantage at the free-throw line as it converted 20 of 26 chances to just 6-for-8 for Louisburg.

Sophomore Julian Margrave led the Wildcats in scoring with 17 points, while Weston Guetterman had 12 points to go along with seven rebounds. Ben Guetterman also scored in double figures with 11 points and six rebounds.

Paola’s Trey Moala led all scorers with a game-high 21 points.

Louisburg will try and bounce back
Friday when it travels to Ottawa. The Cyclones are currently ranked No. 6 in
Class 4A.

“I have the ultimate confidence in
this group,” Pfannenstiel said. “I know that it is a group that wants to win
and that works hard. It is a group that has high expectations. We are going to
own up to it, look in the mirror – starting with me – and collectively get it
figured out. We are going to go about it the right way and we will be fine.”

LOU               5             15           14           18 – 52

PAO               9             15           22           18 – 64

LOUISBURG (6-8): Julian Margrave
8-14 0-0 17; Weston Guetterman 5-17 2-2 12; Ben Guetterman 3-10 3-4 11; Michael
Waldron 2-6 0-0 6; Maverick Rockers 1-4 1-2 4; Konnor Vohs 1-4 0-0 2. Totals:
22-59 6-8 52. 3-point field goals: 6, (B. Guetterman 2, Waldron 2, Rockers,
Margrave)

Senior Michael Waldron goes to the basket during the Wildcats’ game at Spring Hill last Friday. Louisburg defeated Baldwin on Saturday in a make-up game, 61-44.

The Louisburg boys basketball team was on a mini two-game losing skid going into Saturday’s home make-up game against Baldwin and was hoping for a much-needed win.

The Wildcats got what they were
looking for.

Louisburg outscored Baldwin by 18
points in the final three quarters thanks its pressure defense and came away
with a 61-44 victory to give the Wildcats their first win in a week.

Baldwin couldn’t keep up with
Louisburg on the inside either, as the Wildcats outrebounded the Bulldogs
54-35, including 25 offensive rebounds. Louisburg scored 21 points on those
second chance opportunities.

“I
was proud of how our guys responded,” Louisburg coach Ty Pfannenstiel said. “I
thought we played hard and did a better job of executing on offense. We knew we
had a size advantage so we challenged them to hit the offensive boards to give
us some extra opportunities. They responded well.”

Baldwin
got out to a hot start, and actually led the Wildcats 17-16 at the end of the
first quarter, but Louisburg turned up the pressure and forced 14 Baldwin
turnovers that turned into 18 points.

The
Wildcats (6-7) outscored Baldwin 20-6 in the second quarter and carried that
momentum into the second half where they eventually built a 23-point lead in
the fourth quarter and never looked back.

“Baldwin
came out playing well,” Pfannenstiel said. “They were moving the ball well so it
was tough on our rotations. We pressed them a little more in the full
court in the second quarter, which turned out to be the difference we needed.” 

Junior Ben Guetterman was all over the floor for the Wildcats as he finished with a double double and led the team in steals. Guetterman scored a game-high 15 points to go along with 12 rebounds and three steals.

“Ben
has his best nights when he attacks the rim,” Pfannenstiel said. “He gets
involved on the offensive boards, which helps him play with a little more
energy and confidence.”

Sophomore
Julian Margrave also had a double-double for the Wildcats as he added 13 points
and a team-high 14 rebounds. Junior Weston Guetterman was the third Wildcat to
score in double figures with 12 points and had seven rebounds to go along with
four assists.

Junior
Konnor Vohs came off the bench to add six rebounds, three steals and two
assists, while senior Michael Waldron also finished with a team-high four
assists.

Louisburg
will try for back-to-back wins today when it hosts rival Paola and the Wildcats
will travel to Ottawa on Friday. Tonight’s tipoff is set for approximately 7:30
p.m.

LOU               16           20           16           9 – 61

BAL                17           6             7             14 – 44

LOUISBURG (6-7): Ben Guetterman
6-16 2-2 15; Julian Margrave 6-18 1-2 13; Weston Guetterman 4-14 2-2 12;
Garrett Rolofson 3-3 0-0 6; Maverick Rockers 2-5 0-0 5; Michael Seuferling 2-5
0-0 4; Konnor Vohs 2-6 0-0 4; Michael Waldron 0-5 1-2 1; Andy Hupp 0-3 1-2 1.
Totals: 25-75 7-10 61. 3-point field goals: 4, (W. Guetterman 2, Rockers, B.
Guetterman)

Wildcats struggle on the road in loss to Spring Hill

SPRING HILL – For the first half,
the Louisburg boys basketball team was playing stride-for-stride with Spring
Hill on Friday at Spring Hill High School.

The Wildcats went on a run late in
the second quarter to take a halftime lead and it seemed they had all the momentum.
Spring Hill took it all back in the second half as it held the Wildcats to just
12 points in the final two quarters and handed Louisburg a 51-34 loss.

“Spring
Hill got after us defensively,” Louisburg coach Ty Pfannenstiel said. “They
made it tough on us to get into any kind of rhythm offensively. We
have to do a better job of matching their intensity and physicality. We
got exposed on that. We’ve had a couple poor shooting nights back to back, so
hopefully we can find some consistency offensively moving forward.”

Louisburg
shot 26 percent from the field and were just 1-for-12 from 3-point range. On
the other hand, the Broncos shots 41 percent and knocked down nine 3-pointers.

Down nine points in the second quarter, the Wildcats went on a 10-0 run that ended on a 3-pointer from Michael Waldron to give Louisburg a 22-21 halftime advantage.

Spring
Hill was able to take control of the second half and never looked back.

Junior
Weston Guetterman led the Wildcats in scoring with 13 points to go along with
five rebounds and three steals. Sophomore Julian Margrave had six points and
seven rebounds, while senior Garrett Rolofson had six points and five rebounds.

LOU               10           12           6             6 – 34

SH                  14           7             17           13 – 51

LOUISBURG: Weston Guetterman 5-14
3-5 13; Garrett Rolofson 2-4 2-3 6; Julian Margrave 1-6 4-4 6; Michael Waldron
1-3 1-2 4; Maverick Rockers 1-5 1-1 3; Ben Guetterman 1-9 0-0 2. Totals: 11-43
11-15 34. 3-point field goals: 1, (Waldron)

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 sophomore Maverick Rockers goes up for a shot Monday during the Wildcats’ game at Eudora. The Wildcats fell 65-58.

EUDORA – The Louisburg boys
basketball team was hoping to build off its momentum from the Baldwin
Invitational when the Wildcats traveled to Eudora on Monday for a make-up
contest.

The Wildcats just didn’t have
enough to keep up with the Cardinals.

Despite having a halftime lead,
Louisburg scored just seven points in the third quarter, which led to a 65-58
loss to Eudora.

“Hats off to Eudora, I thought
they played a solid game,” Louisburg coach Ty Pfannenstiel said. “They were
good defensively and we knew that coming in. They are a very disciplined team
and I think offensively that was one of their better nights from what I can
tell.

“We were kind of rolling there for
a while, but a lot of that was scoring inside, but we weren’t hitting anything
from the outside. We have to understand that we can’t continue to fire up shots
that aren’t in rhythm because a game can get away from us pretty quick and we just
have to do a better job with that.”

Eudora made things difficult on
the Wildcat defense as the Cardinals drove toward the basket and scored 32
points in the paint. That also allowed Eudora to knock down seven 3-pointers to
create a balanced attack.

“I think our guys were doing a
pretty good job of keeping them out of the paint, but our rotations were not
where they need to be,” Pfannenstiel said. “They were driving baseline and our
help defense was ok, but we were a little slow either to prevent the offensive
rebound or that little dump pass to the middle. We will be able to see that on
film and get that corrected. We just weren’t clicking on all cylinders.”

Louisburg (5-6) found itself down
17-15 at the end of the first quarter and Eudora extended that lead to 28-22
midway through the second. The Wildcats were able to make a run before halftime
and took the lead.

The Wildcats went on a 10-0 spurt to end the first half thanks to five straight points from Weston Guetterman, a basket from Garrett Rolofson and a 3-pointer from Maverick Rockers. Guetterman led the charge most of the night for Louisburg as he finished with 16 points, seven assists and played the entire game.

“Weston definitely played with the
most confidence that I have seen him play with all year,” Pfannenstiel said. “He
kind of took charge and I thought he was really good. That is what he has to be
for us. He has the ball in his hands a lot, and he creates a lot for us, so
hopefully he can build on this game.”

Eudora went on a run of its own to
start the third quarter as it went on a 12-2 spurt to grab a five-point lead
going into the fourth. The Cardinals would go on to extend the lead to 11 late
in the game and the Wildcats couldn’t recover.

Sophomore Julian Margrave had
another big game for the Wildcats as he finished with a team-high 21 points and
had six rebounds and two blocks. Sophomore Maverick Rockers came off the bench
to score nine points, while junior Ben Guetterman pulled down a team-high nine
rebounds.

Louisburg will try and bounce back
tonight when it travels to Spring Hill in a Frontier League matchup. Tipoff is
set for 7:30 p.m.

LOU               15           17           7             19 – 58

EUD               17           11           16           21 – 65

LOUISBURG (5-6): Julian Margrave
9-12 2-3 21; Weston Guetterman 5-16 6-8 16; Maverick Rockers 3-5 0-0 9; Garrett
Rolofson 3-5 0-0 6; Ben Guetterman 2-13 1-1 6. Totals: 22-57 9-12 58. 3-point
field goals: 5, (Rockers 3, B. Guetterman, Margrave)

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)

The Louisburg boys basketball team receives its third-place trophy and celebrates its comeback victory over Bishop Seabury on Saturday at the Baldwin Invitational.

BALDWIN CITY – Everything seemed
to be going against the Louisburg boys basketball team.

The Wildcats had to play two games
in a span of six hours, they dealt with foul trouble and found themselves down
15 points in the third quarter to the No. 1 ranked team in Class 2A in the
third-place game of the Baldwin Invitational.

Not exactly the recipe for a
comeback.

However, that is just what the
Wildcats did.

Louisburg overcame a 15-point
deficit to force overtime, and took advantage of its newfound opportunity, as the
Wildcats pulled away for a 70-63 win over Bishop Seabury for its highest finish
ever in the Baldwin Invitational.

“It was a huge win for us,”
Louisburg coach Ty Pfannenstiel said. “We knew going into this tournament that
we needed to get a signature win and Seabury is a very, very good team. They
have good guards and they have good post players inside and they were putting
it on us in the first half. We challenged the kids at halftime and questioned
their toughness a little bit because they were able to do whatever they wanted
inside and had 11 offensive rebounds in the first half.

“To me it was all about effort. It
wasn’t that our kids weren’t playing hard, because I think they always do, but
there is another level of effort in us and obviously they showed that in the
second half. They went into an offensive funk and we hit some shots. We had to
take it one possession at time and we did.”

The Wildcats (5-5) whittled away
at the Seabury lead slowly but surely and it started with sophomore Julian
Margrave as he scored 15 of his game-high 26 points in the second half and in
overtime. He also added seven rebounds and two blocks.

Margrave hit a pair of free throws
to cut Seabury’s lead to five heading into the fourth quarter and the Wildcats
started to get its momentum from there.

It was still a five-point deficit
when senior Garrett Rolofson made back-to-back baskets, including one on an
assist from Ben Guetterman to make it 55-54. Then, after another defensive
stop, Guetterman knocked down a 3-pointer with under a minute left to put the
Wildcats up 57-55.

Seabury’s Zach Bloch hit a jumper
to tie the game with just seconds remaining to force overtime, but that didn’t
slow down the Wildcats much.

In the overtime, junior Weston
Guetterman drove the lane for a basket to the give the lead right back to
Louisburg and the Wildcats wouldn’t let it go. Ben Guetterman made another 3-pointer
to increase the lead to five and the Wildcats converted six straight free
throws, including four from Margrave, to secure the win.

“It was a great win,” Margrave
said. “We were able to come back thanks to a great effort from a lot of guys.
Pfannenstiel gave us a good talk at halftime and you could tell he was pretty
serious. That really gave us motivation for the second half.

“We needed everyone and everyone
showed out, whether it was a big offensive rebound, a defensive rebound, a
steal or even just great defense that doesn’t go in the stat book. That is the
stuff that helps us win and it is not always about points.”

Ben Guetterman had a big game for
the Wildcats despite picking up four fouls in the first half. Ben played
sparingly in the third quarter, but finished the game with 19 points and six
rebounds.

Margrave and Guetterman were later
named to the All-Tournament Team for their performance in their three games at
Baldwin.

Weston Guetterman also scored in
double figures with 13 points, six rebounds and five assists as he and Margrave
played nearly the entire game. Rolofson was three assists away from a
triple-double for the Wildcats as he finished with 10 points and a team-high 10
rebounds and seven assists.

“In the first half we had decent
looks, but the ball just wasn’t going in the basket,” Pfannenstiel said. “We
had to execute better in the second half and I thought we did that. Julian was
big for us and Ben played really well, especially having to play with some
fouls. Overall, I think everyone played to their role and it was a good team
win.”

Louisburg has another busy week
ahead of itself and it begins today when it travels to Eudora for a make-up
contest. The Wildcats will then play Spring Hill and Baldwin on Friday and
Saturday, respectively.

LOU               15           6             21           16           12 – 70

SEA                17           17           13           11           5 – 63

LOUISBURG (5-5): Julian Margrave
8-12 7-8 26; Ben Guetterman 7-18 2-2 19; Weston Guetterman 4-10 5-7 13; Garrett
Rolofson 5-8 0-2 10; Charlie Peters 1-1 0-0 2. Totals: 25-56 14-21 70. 3-point
field goals: 6, (B. Guetterman 3, Margrave 3)

Wildcats fall to state-ranked Harmon

Louisburg knew it was going to
have its hands full against Harmon, the No. 3-ranked team in Class 6A, in the
semifinals Saturday morning in the Baldwin Invitational.

Harmon showed why it is considered
one of the best teams in the state.

The Wildcats fell behind early and
could never catch back up as they fell 68-46. Augusta would go on to beat
Harmon in the championship game, 54-46.

Harmon jumped out to a 21-7 lead at
the end of the first quarter and led 36-15 at halftime. It was a start the
Wildcats couldn’t recover from.

Sophomore Julian Margrave led Louisburg
in scoring with 18 points, four rebounds and two steals. Senior Michael Waldron
and junior Charlie Peters each finished with eight points, while Peters had a
team-high seven rebounds.

LOU               7             8             16           15 – 46

HAR               21           15           17           15 – 68

LOUISBURG: Julian Margrave 8-18
0-0 18; Michael Waldron 4-5 1-1 8; Charlie Peters 4-5 0-0 8; Weston Guetterman
2-9 2-2 6; Michael Seuferling 1-3 0-0 2; Maverick Rockers 1-2 0-1 2; Ben
Guetterman 1-9 0-0 2. Totals: 20-59 3-4 46. 3-point field goals: 3, (Margrave
2, Waldron)

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)