Louisburg senior Carson Buffington drives toward the basket on Parsons’ Nena Taylor on Thursday during the Class 4A sub-state semifinal at Parsons High School.

PARSONS – Going into Thursday’s
Class 4A sub-state semifinal game, the Louisburg girls basketball team knew if it
was going to leave Parsons with a win, the Lady Cats were going to have to slow
down the Vikings’ best player – Nena Taylor.

As much as the Lady Cats tried,
there was no slowing Taylor and her Vikings teammates.

Mixed in with a slow start
offensively, Louisburg had a tough time containing Taylor as Parsons handed the
Lady Cats a 50-44 loss and ended their season one game short of a sub-state
championship.

“The one thing that is great about
it is that they are so disappointed,” Louisburg coach Shawn Lowry said. “They
didn’t want to be done. It says a lot about this group that they wanted to play
together for another game. They are disappointed, but at the same time they are
disappointed for the right reasons. It hurts for sure.”

Offensively, Louisburg struggled
to get going as it scored two points in the first quarter before picking up the
pace that led to a 22-point fourth quarter as it tried to rally. The rally, unfortunately
for the Lady Cats, came up short thanks to Taylor.

The Lady Cats had a tough time
keeping Taylor out of the lane as she scored a bulk of her game-high 34 points
around the basket or at the free-throw line. She also added 12 rebounds to her
line for the double-double.

“She is a great player and will be
a good player again next year,” Lowry said of Taylor. “She is really talented.
We tried to do some different things with her and I thought the girls battled
better in the second half with her, but she is going to do what she does.”

Louisburg stayed within striking
distance of Parsons for much of the game and trailed by just six points early
in the third thanks to back-to-back 3-pointers from senior Kennia Hankinson.

Next, it was Taylor’s turn to
answer as she went on a 10-0 run on her own and eventually helped give Parsons
a 15-point cushion heading into the fourth quarter.

The Lady Cats chipped away at the
Parsons lead and eventually cut it to six with 30 seconds left after a couple
baskets from sophomore Madilyn Melton, but Louisburg could get no closer.

Melton led the Lady Cats in
scoring with 19 points and also had a team-high seven rebounds. Hankinson was
next with nine points and senior Carson Buffington had seven points, five
rebounds, six deflections and four steals in her final game.

Sophomore Alyse Moore had a
team-high seven steals to lead the Lady Cats on defense and also had six
rebounds and five points. Junior Haley Cain had a team-high five assists to go
along with six rebounds.

“I knew they were going to
continue to battle,” Lowry said of his team’s rally. “What is great about it is
we have younger players that are battling their tails off and they are going to
be hungry coming back next year. I also can’t say enough about our leadership. I
can’t say enough about our captains Carson and Haley, and even our younger
players are starting to be leaders now like Alyse, Madilyn and Brooklyn
(Diederich). They turned into great leaders right in front of us here at the
end of the season. It is a result of what the program has done throughout the
years.”

Louisburg finished its season with
a 10-11 record and saw improvement from a year ago, but the end of the year is
always difficult, especially as Buffington and Hankinson played their final
game as Lady Cats.

“I thought we competed all year
and they did what I asked them to do,” Lowry said. “The personal and collective
growth of this group was fantastic and I can’t ask any more of the kids than
what they gave here at the end. I am proud to be their coach.”

LOU               2             10           10           22 – 44

PAR 12           10           15           13 – 50

LOUISBURG (10-11): Madilyn Melton
6-12 6-13 19; Kennia Hankinson 3-9 0-0 9; Carson Buffington 2-5 2-4 7; Alyse
Moore 2-8 1-2 5; Brooklyn Diederich 1-8 0-0 3; Haley Cain 0-5 1-2 1. Totals:
14-49 10-21 44. 3-point field goals: 6, (Hankinson 3, Buffington, Diederich,
Melton)

Louisburg senior Dylan DeShazer goes up for a shot Wednesday during the Class 4A sub-state semfinal game at Anderson County High School. DeShazer scored a team-high 16 points in the Wildcats’ 57-35 loss to Anderson County.

GARNETT – After a close first half during Wednesday’s Class 4A sub-state semifinal, the Louisburg boys basketball team was just 16 minutes from a shot at the sub-state championship game.

Louisburg, the No. 13 seed,
trailed No. 4 Anderson County by just one point at halftime, but the second
half provided a much different story – one that wasn’t a happy ending for
Louisburg.

The Wildcats scored just 10 second half points and watched as Anderson County ended their season with a 57-35 loss at Anderson County High School.

Much of the game was decided from
behind the 3-point line where the Bulldogs thrived with a 9-for-16 performance
and the Wildcats were just 2-for-18 and shot just 30 percent for the game.

“That was the difference in the
game,” Louisburg coach Ty Pfannenstiel said. “It was just a cold night for us.
We shot too many 3’s probably in the first half and should have looked to get
the ball inside more. It wasn’t that they went on a big, fast run, it was just
more methodical and we just couldn’t find a way to score. They just slowly
stretched their lead and that is how the game goes sometimes.”

The two teams were involved in a close game back in December when the Wildcats traveled to Garnett and lost an 80-74 game in overtime.

Louisburg did better defensively this time around, but the Wildcats couldn’t get the offense to follow suit. Louisburg trailed 26-25 at halftime, but Anderson County knocked down several shots in the third quarter that led to a 19-6 run.

The Wildcats (9-12) had a tough
time containing Anderson County senior Justin Rockers as he knocked down three
3-pointers during that stretch and made six overall. Rockers also scored a
game-high 20 points and was one of three Bulldogs to score in double figures.

“Our guys were confident coming into the game and we knew this was a great opportunity for us,” Pfannenstiel said. “We were excited about coming back to Anderson County because we knew we had a shot. If we said going in that we would hold them to 57 points, I thought we would win because they are a high-flying team that really pushes the ball. We controlled the tempo for a while, but we just couldn’t score, especially in the second half.

“I was frustrated the very first
possession because our game plan was to know where (Carter Powelson) and (Kass
Allnutt) are and also know where (Rockers) is because if he gets his feet set he
is going to hit it. We let Rockers get a wide open look on the first possession
of the game and he knocked it down. He had a big night and we knew he was
capable of that. Despite that, we played good enough defensively but we just
couldn’t score.”

Louisburg senior Dylan DeShazer
didn’t have a problem scoring as he put together one of his best efforts of the
season. DeShazer finished with a game-high 16 points to go along with seven
rebounds and was the lone Wildcat to score in double figures.

Senior Brayden Gage was next on
the team in scoring with six points and junior Madden Rutherford led the
Wildcats with nine rebounds.

“Dylan was really good,”
Pfannenstiel said. “He was tough in there and he was really smooth and confident
shooting the ball. He had a big game for us and he almost single-handedly kept
us in the game there in the first half. Every time they went on a little run he
made some big shots and I was proud of him.”

Although the Wildcats saw their
season come to a close, they saw a big improvement from a year ago, including
in the win column as they jumped from two last season to nine this year.

It also marked the final game for
Wildcat seniors Kohl Vogel, Noah Hill, Gage and DeShazer and Pfannenstiel
appreciates what they gave to the program.

“I was very proud of what we have
done,” he said. “Our league was just incredible this year. When you add Piper
and Bonner Springs, two of the best teams in the state, that just added to our schedule.
The Frontier League is just a beast night in and night out. We thought we could
get a winning record, which was our goal, but we were close to getting there.
Wins and losses aren’t the only deciding factor in moving our program forward.

“I told our kids that it starts during the summer with all the workouts that they did. We did shooting workouts five days a week for the first month-and-a-half of summer because we need to develop as shooters. I knew it would be popular at first, but figured numbers would drop off as the summer went on, but every day I flipped on the lights and there were 20 dudes there waiting on me. That got me excited because I knew they cared about getting better and they had all bought in. The work ethic and leadership that these seniors displayed is going to carry on for a long time, a lot more than the wins and losses.”

LOU               10           15           6             4 – 35

AC                  13           13           19           12 – 57

LOUISBURG (9-12): Dylan DeShazer
7-11 2-4 16; Brayden Gage 2-4 2-2 6; Kohl Vogel 2-11 0-2 4; Ben Guetterman 1-5
0-0 3; Michael Waldron 1-4 0-0 3; Julian Margrave 1-3 0-0 2; Weston Guetterman
0-4 1-2 1. Totals: 14-47 5-10 35. 3-point field goals: 2, (B. Guetterman,
Waldron)              

Louisburg senior guard Brayden Gage passes the ball off to senior teammate Kohl Vogel during the Wildcats’ Senior Night game with Paola on Friday. The Wildcats rolled to a 51-33 victory.

The Louisburg boys basketball team
had a chance to sweep rival Paola last Friday during its Senior Night contest.

The Wildcats took full advantage.

Louisburg held Paola to just two
points in the first quarter and the Wildcats never let up in the 51-33 victory.
The win gave seniors Brayden Gage, Kohl Vogel, Dylan DeShazer and Noah Hill
some bragging rights as they played their final home game.

“It was definitely one of our
goals was to beat Paola and it meant everything with them being our rivals,”
Vogel said. “All of the seniors were ready to compete and that is what we did.”

Although they were able to pull
away offensively, the Wildcats (9-11) won the game on the defensive end as they
forced 28 Paola turnovers and Louisburg scored 20 points off of those mistakes.

Gage and Vogel and made things
difficult on the Panther offense as they consistently trapped the Paola ball
handlers at the top of the key and those steals led to several runouts.

For the game, Gage finished with a
team-high eight deflections and had four steals, while Vogel had a team-high
five steals to go along with a game-high 17 points.

“You could tell our kids had
something to play for and that the end of the season is near because we played
with that energy and really just made a lot of plays,” Louisburg Ty
Pfannenstiel said. “We started off slow, and with both teams playing zone,
sometimes that can happen, but our defense really sparked our offense. We got a
lot of steals, a lot of deflections and once we got confidence things really
kept going for us.”

Three of the four seniors got the Wildcats off to a good start as Hill started the game with four points, and in-between there was a Madden Rutherford 3-pointer to put Louisburg up 7-2. Vogel went on to hit a 3-pointer of his own, along with a pair of free throws and Gage hit a basket to give the Wildcats a 14-2 lead going into the second quarter.

The Wildcats expanded their lead
to 30-8 late in the second quarter after a basket from DeShazer and free throws
from Vogel, who went to the free-throw line 13 times for the game. Louisburg
went on to take a 31-13 halftime lead.

Along with the seniors, the Wildcats also got a good performance from sophomore guard Weston Guetterman as he joined Vogel in double figures with 11 points.

“It was a great team effort,”
Pfannenstiel said. “We talked the other day about everyone having their role
and they all have things that they do well. We just really stress that and
playing as a team and playing unselfish. Our energy was good and I thought
everyone was playing unselfish basketball. We don’t have any individual stars,
so it will take a great team effort to win and that was perfect heading into
postseason.”

Louisburg expanded its lead to 22 points at the end of the third quarter and the Wildcats were able to empty their bench in the fourth quarter to give their four seniors a nice ovation as they said their farewells.

“It was big to beat Paola on
Senior Night,” Gage said. “It is good to be able to say I was undefeated
against them my senior year in all sports. As for the other seniors, I think
they feel the same way and it was special that all four of us stepped up on
Senior Night and got the win.”

Postseason play now begins for the Wildcats as they are the No. 13 seed in the sub-state tournament and will travel to No. 4 Anderson County (14-5) for a 7 p.m., tipoff on Wednesday.

The winner of that game will play the winner of No. 5 Eudora (11-7) and No. 12 Tonganoxie (9-11) on Friday in the sub-state championship. Louisburg has played all three teams this season and have wins over Eudora and Tonganoxie and an overtime loss to Anderson County early in the season.

“They are familiar opponents, but
it has been awhile since we have played Anderson County and that is our only
focus right now,” Pfannenstiel said. “We have a little different look to us
now. We have added a little bit of depth. We were down DeShazer in that game
and I don’t think we went more than six deep at that time. It will be an
up-tempo game. They like to run and pressure, so we have to be able to play at
that tempo, but also know when it is time to be patient.”

LOU               14           17           14           6 – 51

PAO               2             11           10           10 – 33

LOUISBURG (9-11): Kohl Vogel 3-7
9-13 17; Weston Guetterman 4-5 1-2 11; Brayden Gage 3-8 0-1 6; Dylan DeShazer
1-4 3-6 5; Noah Hill 1-3 2-3 4; Ben Guetterman 1-3 0-0 3; Madden Rutherford 1-2
0-0 3; Julian Margrave 1-2 0-0 2. Totals: 15-37 15-29 51. 3-point field goals:
6, (Vogel 2, W. Guetterman 2, B. Guetterman, Rutherford)

The Louisburg girls basketball team celebrates following its 54-48 victory over rival Paola on Friday in Louisburg. The Lady Cats are now 10-10 on the season.

The Louisburg girls basketball
team squared off with Paola on Friday and the Lady Cats wanted to honor their
two seniors – Carson Buffington and Kennia Hankinson – with a win in their
final home game.

Louisburg didn’t disappoint its
two seniors as it ended the regular season with a 54-48 win over Paola and
avenged a close loss from earlier in the season. It all culminated in what was
a special night for everyone involved.

“It was the best feeling for me,”
Buffington said. “Paola has always been our rival, but to beat them for the
final time that we will ever play them is just really special.

“It was really emotional out
there. There was a lot going on, but we just had to remain level-headed and
keep believing in ourselves. Even when Kennia and I both got into foul trouble,
we just had to keep moving forward.”

The Lady Cats (10-10) started and
finished the game strong as they got out to a big lead, gave it up, but put
together a good rally in the second half to get back in the game.

Louisburg jumped out to a 13-4 lead in the first quarter thanks to seven points from sophomore Madilyn Melton, but the Panthers responded to the run. Paola held Louisburg to just six points in the second quarter as the Lady Cats battled foul problems.

Buffington had to sit for much of the second quarter with foul trouble, and during that time, Paola jumped out to a 23-19 halftime lead.

Foul problems got even worse in
the third quarter when the team’s leading scorers, Buffington and Melton, along
with Hankinson, all picked up four fouls.

The Lady Cat bench responded and kept the game close as Brooklyn Diederich swished 3-pointer to give Louisburg a 31-30 lead, but Paola would take the lead back until the final seconds of the third.

Hankinson knocked down a 3-pointer
at the buzzer to give the Lady Cats a 36-35 lead going into the fourth quarter
and gave her team some much needed confidence.

“It was huge, but I thought our
bench was really good all night and the energy they brought,” Louisburg coach
Shawn Lowry said. “Different girls were making plays and our bench was so
excited and happy for their teammates that were on the floor and they were
feeding off that. When Kennia hit that shot, it was a boost of adrenaline for
everyone and it led into our fourth quarter.”

Paola either had the lead or the game was tied for half of the fourth quarter, but the Lady Cats went in front on a Buffington 3-pointer. Paola tied it again, but junior Haley Cain broke the game open with a 3-pointer with 3 minutes and 47 seconds left in the game to give Louisburg the lead back and it wouldn’t relinquish it.

“It was a deep a three for sure,”
Lowry said of the shot. “It was just another kid stepping up when we needed it.
I was just so proud of their togetherness and how special that is.

“A lot of different girls had to
step up. Whether it was Brooklyn working her tail off on defense, or Sydni (Keagle)
coming off the bench and gave the minutes that she gave. They continue to
battle and push. No matter what was happening, the girls refused to lose this
game on Senior Night for those two seniors. It was awesome to see and great to
be a part of.”

Buffington was then able to ice
the game at the free-throw line as she knocked down 3 of 4 attempts to help put
the game away.

Buffington made a lasting memory
for the Wildcat crowd as she led all scorers with 18 points to go along with
eight rebounds and a team-high four steals.

“You talk about leadership and
putting the team on her shoulders, Carson provided all of that for us,” Lowry
said. “We needed the ball to be in her hands and she made some big free throws
there down the stretch.  That is what she
is and what a great way for both seniors to finish out their career on their
home floor. You can’t draw it up any better.”

Melton also scored in double
figures for the Lady Cats as she finished with 14 points, while sophomore Alyse
Moore had seven points and a team-high nine rebounds and four steals. Diederich
also had a team-high six deflections and Cain led Louisburg with five assists.

“It felt pretty amazing,
especially since everyone contributed to it and we all just came together and
came out with a lot of energy and we were able to get the win,” Hankinson said.

Postseason play now begins for the
Lady Cats as they earned the No. 11 seed and will travel to No. 6 Parsons (14-6)
for a 7 p.m. tipoff on Thursday. The winner of that game will face the winner
between No. 3 Baldwin (17-1) and No. 14 Atchison (7-13) on Saturday for the
sub-state championship.

“We are going to take a road trip
down to Parsons and they have a really nice player and a really nice team,”
Lowry said. “It will be a challenge, but we just want a shot to get in the
sub-state championship game and hopefully we can go down there and play well.”

LOU               13           6             17           18 – 54

PAO               8             15           12           13 – 48

LOUISBURG (10-10): Carson
Buffington 5-6 7-8 18; Madilyn Melton 5-14 4-9 14; Alyse Moore 1-6 5-9 7; Haley
Cain 2-6 1-3 6; Kennia Hankinson 1-9 0-2 3; Brooklyn Diederich 1-5 0-0 3; Sydni
Keagle 1-4 0-0 2; Erin Lemke 0-0 1-2 1. Totals: 16-51 18-33 54. 3-point field
goals: 4, (Buffington, Hankinson, Cain, Diederich)

Freshman Delaney Wright drives to the basket on a Metro Academy defender last Tuesday in Louisburg.

It wasn’t a typical game for the
Louisburg girls basketball team last Tuesday as it prepared for its next to
last game of the season against rival Paola.

The Lady Cats hosted Metro
Academy, an Olathe school that is not part of the Kansas State High School
Activities Association, and one the team wasn’t familiar with.

Louisburg coach Shawn Lowry
decided to use that opportunity to go down deeper into his bench to get players
some varsity time ahead of postseason play. Several Lady Cats made an impact on
the game as they came away with a 46-36 win and picked up their second straight
victory in the process.

Lowry subbed in five players at a
time through most of the game and the Lady Cats were able to wear down Metro
Academy.

“It was an opportunity for us to
look at some different lineups or rotations for postseason looks,” Lowry said. “It
wasn’t our Senior Night and it was a different opponent than we are used to. It
allowed us to do some different things and gave girls an opportunity to show
what they can do.”

Junior Madilyn Melton was a force
inside for the Lady Cats as she finished with a game-high 18 points, including
an 8 for 9 performance from the free-throw line, and also had a team-high four
steals.

Junior Sydni Keagle came off the
bench and was second on the team in scoring, along with sophomore Brooklyn
Diederich, who each finished with six points.

Freshman Delaney Wright also
helped Louisburg defensively with four steals and senior Carson Buffington had
a team-high seven rebounds and four assists. Juniors Erin Lemke and Ashley
Moore, sophomores Madison Quinn and Megan Foote and freshman Jordan Mynsted
also gave the Lady Cats good minutes

“I am extremely proud of those girls
that came in off the bench,” Lowry said. “I think they were a little
shell-shocked at first, but once they settled in, I thought their defense was
really good, they caused turnovers, were active and did a really nice job.”

It was a back and forth game for
much of the first half, but the Lady Cats ended the second quarter strong as
they went on an 11-0 run thanks to baskets from Melton, Diederich, Quinn and
Mynsted to take a 27-19 halftime lead.

Metro Academy cut the Louisburg
lead to one early in the fourth quarter, but the Lady Cats went on another 8-2
run to put the game away.

“As a coach, I need to see those
starters or regular players show a little more intensity,” Lowry said. “We have
to get more intensity and that is on our captains to set the tone for us and
they will do that. They have a done it all year. It was a little different
night and had so many distractions, but now it is time to get dialed in.”

LOU               9             18           6             12 – 46

MA                11           8             10           7 – 36

LOUISBURG: Madilyn Melton 5-10 8-9
18; Brooklyn Diederich 2-4 0-0 6; Sydni Keagle 1-1 3-4 6; Erin Lemke 2-4 0-0 5;
Jordan Mynsted 2-5 0-0 4; Delaney Wright 1-4 2-3 4; Madison Quinn 0-2 2-2 2;
Carson Buffington 0-2 1-2 1. Totals: 13-45 16-20 46. 3-point field goals: 4,
(Diederich 2, Keagle, Lemke)

Louisburg sophomore Weston Guetterman drives to the basket during the second half of Tuesday’s game with Metro Academy.

Louisburg boys basketball coach Ty
Pfannenstiel was a little conflicted Tuesday following the Wildcats’ game with
Metro Academy.

On one hand, his team rallied from
25 points down to cut the Metro Academy lead to one late in Louisburg’s 63-60
loss. Pfannenstiel was more than pleased with his team’s fight.

However, as pleased as he was with
how his team finished, the Louisburg coach was just as frustrated with the start
as the Wildcats managed just 15 first half points and were on the verge of
having a running clock in the second half.

“That was a really good comeback,” Pfannenstiel said. “I wasn’t sure if we should be excited that we fought all the way back or that we should be mad that we came out so flat. I think it was disappointing how we started the game, but I thought we did a lot of nice things to get back in it and had a lot of guys that sparked us. We went with the hot hand and that group in the fourth quarter really carried us.

“We struggled to score early and
sometimes our energy is sparked when we see the ball go through the hoop and
sometimes it is getting the right guys on the court at the same time.”

The Wildcat underclassmen gave the
team the spark they were looking for as several of them made big baskets down
the stretch to get Louisburg back in it.

Junior Michael Waldron led the
Wildcats in scoring with 14 points, including four 3-pointers, as he keyed the
Wildcat comeback along with a few others. Freshman Julian Margrave came off the
bench to also finish in double figures with 13.

Madden Rutherford was able to help the Wildcats on both sides of the ball as he finished with eight points and had team-highs in rebounds (eight) and assists (four). Sophomores Ben Guetterman and Weston Guetterman added seven and six points, respectively.

Early in the contest, the Wildcats
weren’t able to get in a rhythm offensively and Metro Academy took advantage.
Metro knocked down eight 3-pointers in the contest, many of those coming in the
first half, and took a 32-15 halftime lead.

“We were standing around and
watching, not crashing the board and not moving without the ball,” Pfannenstiel
said. “I thought we were better in the second half. The gym was completely
quiet early on and we didn’t do a good job of communicating early. There were
times where I didn’t know what offense we were in because the guards weren’t getting
us set up. It was a weird start to it that is for sure, but those things add
up.”

The Wildcats will try and end
their regular season on a good night tonight when they host Paola. It is also
Senior Night for Louisburg as the Wildcats will honor Brayden Gage, Noah Hill,
Dylan DeShazer and Kohl Vogel for their time with the program.

“Our kids always get up for the
Paola game and they are going to be excited,” Pfannenstiel said. “Winning this
game is important because we want to send our seniors out on a good note, but also
to have some momentum going into sub-state. We want to enter the postseason
with as much confidence as we can.”

LOU               9             6             19           26 – 60

MA                20           12           16           15 – 63

LOUISBURG (8-11): Michael Waldron
4-8 2-2 14; Julian Margrave 6-11 0-0 13; Madden Rutherford 2-6 3-3 8; Ben
Guetterman 2-4 3-3 7; Weston Guetterman 1-4 4-5 6; Kohl Vogel 2-12 0-0 4;
Brayden Gage 2-4 0-0 4; Noah Hill 1-1 2-4 4. Totals: 20-54 14-17 60. 3-point
field goals: 6, (Waldron 4, Rutherford, Margrave)

Louisburg senior Kohl Vogel splits the Bonner Springs defense to put up a shot Thursday during the Wildcats’ game in Louisburg.

The Louisburg boys basketball team
knew it was going to be a difficult task Thursday when the Wildcats hosted
Bonner Springs, the No. 4-ranked team in Class 5A.

As it turned out, the Wildcats
were up for the challenge and even took a lead into the second quarter.
Unfortunately for Louisburg, Bonner Springs’ speed and athleticism won out in
the long run.

The Braves scored 48 points in the
second and third quarters as they downed Louisburg, 69-49, but the Wildcats
showed a lot of fight down the stretch despite being down double-digits in the
fourth quarter.

“I think we did some good things,
especially in the first half, before they were able to stretch the lead out a
little bit,” Louisburg coach Ty Pfannenstiel said. “We got out of our
triangle-and-2 and tried to give them a little different look, but those kids
just really know how to score. They play really well and move without the ball
and find the weaknesses in your defense.

“I thought our kids executed
really well and made it tough on them, especially early on. We were playing
against some really quick guards and really good athletes, so there were a lot of
good things we could take away from this.”

Louisburg (8-10) slowed the game
down in the first quarter and eventually built a 12-10 lead going into the
second period before the Braves outscored the Wildcats 48-22 in the next two quarters.

The Wildcats had a tough time
containing the Braves’ trio of Alan Watson, Keyon Thomas and Rishaud Dockery.
Watson led all scorers with 23 points, while Thomas and Dockery scored 14 and
12 points, respectively.

Bonner Springs scored 29 points
off Wildcat turnovers and were able to score a lot of points in transition.

Louisburg senior Kohl Vogel led
the Wildcats in scoring with 11 points and sophomore Ben Guetterman also scored
in double figures with 10. Freshman Julian Margrave and junior Madden
Rutherford added eight and seven points, respectively.

The Wildcats have two final games
remaining before postseason basketball arrives. Louisburg will host Metro
Academy at 6:30 p.m. tonight before ending the regular season at home against
Paola for Senior Night.

Pfannenstiel believes this game,
along with the Wildcats’ win over Eudora before that, will give his team some
confidence heading into an important part of their season.

“We played a complete game against
Eudora earlier in the week, but this was a different speed and style of game,”
he said. “But we needed a game like this as a toughness factor because you have
to be strong with the ball and be quick and look ahead. If we can play with
that same fight and intensity in these next two games, I think we will be in
good shape.”

LOU               12           14           8             15 – 49

BON              10           26           22           11 – 69

LOUISBURG (8-10): Kohl Vogel 5-10
0-0 11; Ben Guetterman 3-7 2-2 10; Julian Margrave 3-4 0-0 8; Madden Rutherford
3-4 0-1 7; Dylan DeShazer 2-4 1-4 5; Michael Waldron 1-5 1-3 3; Weston
Guetterman 1-3 0-0 2; Noah Hill 0-1 2-4 2; Brayden Gage 0-3 1-2 1. Totals:
18-42 7-16 49. 3-point field goals: 6, (B. Guetterman 2, Margrave 2, Vogel,
Rutherford)

Louisburg senior guard Kennia Hankinson pushes the ball up the floor Thursday during the Lady Cats’ game with Bonner Springs in Louisburg.

It was a frustrating first half
for both Louisburg and Bonner Springs on Thursday at Louisburg High School.

The two teams combined for just 16 points offensively, and neither squad could get in any kind of rhythm.

As for the second half, Louisburg
was able to work out its kinks on offense and still made it difficult on Bonner
Springs. The Lady Cats scored 35 points in the second half and rolled to a
47-21 win as they got a nice victory heading into their final week of the
season.

“They were playing hard and our
defense set the tone for us,” Louisburg coach Shawn Lowry said. “Our defense
can be really good and we are able to make adjustments out of it. I am not sure
this group knows how good they can be if they can clean up some things like
finishing at the rim, free throws and some discipline things like with our
passing. They will grind it out and work their tails off defensively, but we
have to get more offense out of our defense.”

Louisburg held Bonner Springs to
just four first half points, and while the Braves were able to score a bit more
in the second half, the Lady Cats’ defense still set the tone and it started
with junior Haley Cain.

Cain had the assignment of
shadowing Bonner Springs forward Kim Whetstone, who is the Braves’ main scoring
threat on the inside. Cain and the Lady Cats held Whetstone to just three
points and made it difficult for the Braves to score.

“I have to give credit to Haley
for that,” Lowry said. “I had her shadow (Whetstone) most of the night and she
did a good job of being physical with her and moving her out of place. Haley
has been that good defensively all year for us. Sometimes it won’t show up on
the stat sheet, but what she does is really good for our team.”

The Lady Cats (8-10) took a 12-4
lead into halftime and struggled offensively with leading scorer Madilyn Melton
in foul trouble for most of the first half with three fouls.

Louisburg picked it up in the
second half and it started with senior Carson Buffington, who was all over the
floor for the Lady Cats. Buffington was one rebound and three steals away from
recording a triple-double as she affected the game on both sides of the floor.

Buffington finished the game with
a team-high in points (16) and rebounds (nine). Defensively, she was a force as
well with 10 deflections that led to seven steals.

“This is what she has been since
she came here as a freshman,” Lowry said of Buffington. “No one will out work
her and no one will be tougher than she is. She will be that way until she
walks off that floor in her last game.”

Melton came back from foul trouble
in the second half to finish with 15 points and junior Sydni Keagle came off
the bench to finish with seven. Keagle gave the Lady Cats’ some nice minutes
with Melton on the bench in the first half.

“Our defense will hold us
together, even if we have one or two players go out with foul trouble,” Lowry
said. “I thought Sydni did a nice job for us coming off the bench and again she
plugs right in and defensively she knows where she needs to be and offensively
she gave us a boost too.”

Louisburg will try and make it two
wins in a row tonight when it hosts Metro Academy for a 5 p.m. tipoff.

LOU               4             8             14           21 – 47

BON              2             2             7             10 – 21

LOUISBURG (8-10): Carson
Buffington, 5-10 5-5 16; Madilyn Melton 5-8 5-7 15; Sydni Keagle 2-4 2-5 7;
Alyse Moore 2-11 0-0 4; Jordan Mynsted 0-0 2-3 2; Kennia Hankinson 1-10 0-0 2;
Ashley Moore 0-0 1-4 1. Totals: 15-56 15-25 47. 3-point field goals: 2,
(Buffington, Keagle).

Louisburg senior Brayden Gage glides to the basket for two points Tuesday during the Wildcats’ home win Tuesday over Eudora.

For the better part of a decade,
the Louisburg boys basketball team has found zero success against Eudora.

Wins have been impossible to come
by against the Cardinals and that included Louisburg’s 28-point loss to Eudora
earlier in the season.

Mission impossible became possible for the Wildcats.

Louisburg held Eudora to just four
points in the third quarter and put together an consistent offensive effort in
its 49-39 victory Tuesday at Louisburg High School. The win improved the
Wildcats’ record to 8-9 on the season and left for a happy locker room when it
was all over.

“For us to lose the way we did
against them the first time, we got it put on us pretty good, so it was a great
win for sure,” Louisburg coach Ty Pfannenstiel said. “Obviously they are
missing their key guy, but they are still a really good team. Their bigs are
tough inside and they get really good position and are well-coached. It was important
for us to get a win and it was a signature win that our program needed. Our
kids are excited, for sure. That was a good basketball game.”

It was a back and forth first half
that ended with a three-point Louisburg lead at halftime after senior Kohl
Vogel knocked down a 3-pointer and freshman Julian Margrave made two free
throws.

Louisburg’s defense stepped it up in the third quarter as it held the Cardinals’ offense in check and Vogel stepped up on the offensive end. Vogel scored five straight points and sophomore Ben Guetterman knocked down a 3-pointer to give Louisburg a nine-point lead.

Senior Brayden Gage made a runner
in the lane late in the period, and Margrave knocked down a 3-pointer to put
Louisburg up 12 going into the fourth quarter.

Vogel was a spark offensively for the Wildcats as he finished with a game-high 18 points and seven rebounds, while Margrave was next with eight points. Senior Dylan DeShazer and Gage each added seven points.

Junior Madden Rutherford also
finished with seven rebounds and a team-high four assists.

“Kohl is our consistent offensive
threat, for sure,” Pfannenstiel said. “He just finds ways to slash and score. I
thought he was really good. We need him to score 16 to 20 points a game for us
to be successful. The guys did a good job of getting the ball to him. We went
back to wanting to push the ball a little bit more and I think that helps us
out. I think that is Kohl’s game is getting out in transition.”

Eudora made things interesting in the
fourth quarter as it cut the Wildcat lead to six and Louisburg had to call a
couple different timeouts during that stretch. Louisburg would knock down its
free throws in the final minutes as Gage converted a 3-point play and sophomore
Weston Guetterman also hit a bucket to seal the win.

“It is almost like we got a little
lead and then we started to relax a little bit,” Pfannenstiel said. “We have to
learn play with a lead and the reason we got that lead to begin with was
because we are disciplined fundamentally. I was proud of the way we responded
because there have been times where things have gone downhill and they have
continued to go downhill.”

Louisburg returns to action tonight
when it host Bonner Springs in what is its first of three straight games at
home to end the season. The game was moved from Friday due to weather concerns.
Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m.

LOU               10           14           13           12 – 49

EUD               11           10           4             14 – 39

LOUISBURG (8-9): Kohl Vogel 7-11
1-1 18; Julian Margrave 2-2 2-2 8; Brayden Gage 3-4 1-1 7; Dylan DeShazer 2-5
2-2 7; Ben Guetterman 1-5 0-0 3; Weston Guetterman 1-3 0-2 2; Noah Hill 1-2 0-0
2; Madden Rutherford 0-3 2-4 2. Totals: 17-37 8-12 49. 3-point field goals: 7,
(Vogel 3, Margrave 2, DeShazer, B. Guetterman)

Louisburg’s (from left) Brooklyn Diederich, Haley Cain and Madilyn Melton try and trap a Eudora player for a steal Tuesday in Louisburg.

The last time the Louisburg girls
basketball team squared off with Eudora, the Lady Cats walked off the court
after a 23-point loss.

It was a different game Tuesday
when Louisburg hosted Eudora in its first of four straight home contests. The Lady
Cats trailed by just six points early in the fourth quarter and were within
striking distance of the No. 9-ranked team in the state.

Instead, foul trouble and
turnovers hampered the Lady Cats in their comeback effort as they fell 49-39
and are now 7-10 on the season.

“We have to find ways to finish plays,”
Louisburg coach Shawn Lowry said. “Defensively we are doing a good job, but we
are killing ourselves right now with turnovers, not finishing and those are
things that are on us. No one is doing that stuff to us, we are doing it to
ourselves.

“The good things is, those are
things we can fix, but it just about the focus and discipline to be able to do
it. This group wants to do the right thing, but it is just understanding and
getting execution part right.”

Louisburg trailed just 13-12 after
a back-and-forth first quarter and was down 24-19 despite seniors Carson
Buffington and Kennia Hankinson picking up three fouls. Buffington would go on
to pick up her fourth in the third quarter and the Lady Cats managed just five
points in the third.

The Lady Cats committed 24 turnovers against the Eudora zone defense and also sent the Cardinals to the free-throw line 30 times as they converted 19 of them. Louisburg made it to the line just seven times.

Eudora’s Riley Hiebert caused
Louisburg problems all night as she finished with a game-high 22 points. Harper
Schreiner added 13 and Reagan Hiebert added 11 in the win. The three Eudora
players combined for 46 of the team’s 49 points.

“We did a fairly good job at times
against the zone,” Lowry said. “Eudora has some nice players that present some
issues, in particular with their outside shooting. We didn’t contain on the drive
very well and that is some things we need to clean up on. Part of it was we did
some different defensive stuff with a 3-2, but we just got together (Tuesday) after
having no practices or school for a while, but we have to be ready either way.”

Louisburg sophomore Madilyn Melton
led Louisburg in scoring with 14 points and also had a team-high eight rebounds
in the loss. Hankinson also finished in double figures with 11 and junior Haley
Cain added seven.

Sophomore Alyse Moore and
Buffington each ended the game with six rebounds and Buffington also had a
team-high six assists.

The Lady Cats will try and get
back on track tonight when it hosts Bonner Springs. The game was originally
scheduled for Friday, but was moved up to due inclement weather. Tipoff is set
for 6 p.m.

“It is not necessarily about wins
or losses, but we need to have three good games going into postseason play,”
Lowry said. “We are going to hammer on that. It is all about how we want to
finish. How do the seniors want to finish this journey? How do their teammates
want to finish this ride together? It has to be the work we do in practice and
having a high intensity level in games.”

LOU               12           7             5             15 – 39

EUD               13           11           9             16 – 49

LOUISBURG (7-10): Madilyn Melton
6-13 2-2 14; Kennia Hankinson 3-11 2-2 11; Haley Cain 3-4 0-0 7; Alyse Moore
1-3 1-2 4; Brooklyn Diederich 1-7 0-0 3. Totals: 14-42 5-7 39. 3-point field
goals: 6, (Hankinson 3, Cain, Diederich, Moore).