Louisburg junior Paige Buffington tries to get a shot up over a couple Paola defenders Thursday during the first round of the Class 4A-Division I substate tournament at Louisburg High School. Paola defeated Louisburg 67-39. 

It was a cliché performance for the Louisburg girls basketball team – but that was a good thing.

The Lady Cats squared off against No. 1 seed Paola in the first round of the Class 4A substate tournament Thursday and as the old cliché goes “they gave everything they had.”

However, sometimes that just isn’t enough – especially against one of the top teams in Class 4A-Division I.

Despite a competitive first half, Louisburg couldn’t keep up with Paola in a 67-39 loss at Louisburg High School. Paola would beat Spring Hill 52-36 in the substate championship game two days later, while the Lady Cats saw their season come to an end.

“We came into this game saying that we were going to leave it all on the table, we are going to give every ounce we have for every quarter and for every play,” Louisburg coach Shawn Lowry said. “For the most part, the effort and toughness was there and I can’t say enough about these kids.”

The Lady Cats weathered the storm early as they found themselves down 23-10 going into the second quarter and were having some problems slowing the Paola offense down. Louisburg slowed Paola down a little in the second and the Lady Cats even outscored the Panthers 15-14 to only trail by 12 points at halftime.

Louisburg senior Megan Lemke puts up a shot during Thursday’s substate tournament game in Louisburg.

Louisburg cut the deficit to eight points at one time early in the second quarter after back-to-back 3-pointers from Paige Buffington and Madisen Simpson. However, Paola’s Matti Morgan hit a 3-pointer with under a minute left to push the lead back up to double digits before halftime.

To start the second half, Louisburg junior Emalee Overbay hit a basket to make it a 10-point game, but shortly after is when Paola went on a tear. The Panthers proceeded to go on a 22-0 run and were 11-for-11 from the free-throw line during that span.

Paige Buffington led the Lady Cats in scoring with 12 points, and in her final game as a Lady Cat, senior Megan Lemke finished with 10 points and six rebounds.

“Megan Lemke has set a great example for her teammates by her work ethic, leadership and unselfishness and I can’t say enough what a big part it was for our team this year,” Lowry said. “It was hard in the locker room with her after the game, that is for sure. It is hard because you get so close to them.”

The Lady Cats also had several young players step up this season, including freshman Carson Buffington, who ended the Paola contest with 13 rebounds and averaged more than 10 rebounds a game.

Although Louisburg finished with a 3-18 record, it was the effort the team gave throughout the season – on and off the court – that left Lowry optimistic for the future.

“We talk about different expectations and things, but my expectation for them was what they gave out on the floor and the character that they did it with,” Lowry said. “It is such a success for me. When they leave this program, I hope that they look back and say they got more out of this than playing basketball.”

LOUISBURG                10           15           4             10 – 39

PAOLA                         23           14           22           8 – 67

LOUISBURG (3-18): Paige Buffington 4-8 1-2 12; Megan Lemke 4-13 2-4 10; Carson Buffington 3-8 0-0 7; Kennia Hankinson 1-4 0-2 3; Madisen Simpson 1-8 0-0 3; Emalee Overbay 1-1 0-0 2; Haven Turner 1-1 0-0 2. Totals: 15-53 3-11 39. 3-point field goals: 6, (P. Buffington 3, C. Buffington 1, Hankinson 1, Simpson 1)

Louisburg sophomore Dalton Ribordy puts up a shot against Paola during a game earlier this season in Louisburg. The Wildcats fell to Paola on Friday, 70-31.

PAOLA – The Louisburg High School boys basketball team had a big challenge of trying to stay with No. 3 ranked Paola on Friday at Paola High School.

Paola made it difficult on the Wildcats from the start.

The Panthers took an 18-point lead into the second quarter and the Louisburg offense didn’t have an answer as it fell 70-31. The Wildcats ended their regular season with a 6-14 record.

In the process, Paola captured their undefeated Frontier League title in front of its home crowd on senior night. Throw in two hall of fame inductions and it was a difficult environment for the Wildcats to play in.

Paola jumped out to a big lead and never looked back and it took a 26-8 advantage into the second quarter and led 38-14 at halftime.

Junior T.J. Dover helped the Wildcats offensively as he, and fellow junior Grant Harding, were the lone players to score in double figures. Dover led Louisburg with 12 points and Harding finished with 11, who also had eight rebounds in the loss.

Paola’s Mason McDow was one of four Paola players to score in double figures and led the Panthers with 23 points.

The postseason will now begin for the Wildcats as they will host the Class 4A substate basketball tournament, beginning Friday. Louisburg, the No. 4 seed, will face none other than Paola (18-2) again. Paola is the No. 1 seed and the game will tipoff at 7:30 p.m., on Friday

No. 2 Fort Scott (11-9) and No. 3 Spring Hill (10-10) will square off at 6 p.m. on Friday and the winners of the two games will meet in the championship at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday at Louisburg High School.

LOUISBURG                8             6             13           4 – 31

PAOLA                         26           12           20           12 – 70

LOUISBURG (6-14): T.J. Dover 6-12 0-1 12; Grant Harding 4-10 3-3 11; Korbin Hankinson 2-4 0-0 4; Alex Dunn 1-1 0-0 2; Dalton Ribordy 1-2 0-0 2. Totals: 14-43 3-6 31. 3-point field goals: none

Louisburg junior Emalee Overbay looks to get up a shot during the Lady Cats’ game with Paola earlier this season in Louisburg. The Lady Cats fell 74-30 to Paola on Friday at Paola High School.

PAOLA – Going on the road for an opposing team’s senior night is difficult for any program, but it is even more difficult when you are going up against a ranked opponent.

The Louisburg High School girls basketball team faced off with Paola, the No. 4 ranked team in Class 4A-Division I, on Friday in Paola and it was a challenge from the opening tip.

Paola was sharp from the start as it defeated Louisburg 74-30 and captured its fourth consecutive Frontier League title. As for the Lady Cats, it was hard to keep up with Paola as the Panthers connected on 11 3-pointers to pull away.

The Panthers jumped out to a 26-12 lead at the end of the first quarter and never looked back. Paola led 45-17 at halftime.

Louisburg junior Madisen Simpson was a bright spot offensively for the Lady Cats as she racked up 17 of the team’s 30 points, including four 3-pointeres.

Fellow junior Paige Buffington added seven points in the loss and freshman Carson Buffington led Louisburg in the rebounding department with a game-high 14 boards.

Although the regular season is now complete, it doesn’t get any easier for the Lady Cats, who will host the Class 4A substate tournament beginning on Thursday. Louisburg (3-17), the No. 4 seed, will meet up with No. 1 seed Paola (18-2) again at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday.

No. 2 Spring Hill (11-9) and No. 3 Fort Scott (7-13) will play at 6 p.m. on Thursday and the two winners will play in the championship game at 6 p.m. on Saturday.

LOUISBURG                12           5             11           2 – 30

PAOLA                         26           19           22           7 – 74

LOUISBURG (3-17): Madisen Simpson 5-13 3-4 17; Paige Buffington 2-7 2-2 7; Isabelle Holtzen 1-6 1-2 3; Haven Turner 1-1 0-0 2; Megan Lemke 0-8 1-2 1. Totals: 9-38 7-10 30. 3-point field goals: 5, (Simpson 4, Buffington 1)

Louisburg junior Sam Guetterman passes off to a teammate during Tuesday’s senior night contest against De Soto at Louisburg High School. The Wildcats nearly stopped their losing streak, but lost in overtime, 66-62.

For the second time in three games, the Louisburg High School boys basketball team had the ball in its hands in the final seconds with the chance to win.

And for the second time in three games, the Wildcats came up empty.

Louisburg had the opportunity to knock off De Soto at home Tuesday, but came up short in a 66-62 overtime loss in a contest in which the Wildcats rallied from seven points down in the fourth quarter to tie the game.

On a night that could have had a lot of celebration with the honoring of Alex Dunn, Jacob Welsh and Ben Brummel on senior night, or Grant Harding’s 33-point effort, instead ended in disappointment.

“It really stuck to the script as what a lot of the other games have been,” Louisburg coach Jason Nelson said. “We outrebounded them, we broke the press fine and all these little things that we are focusing on in practice, we are doing it. When we attacked the rim and run what we do, good things happened. It is what it is. It doesn’t matter who is on the court, all five guys want to be the best they can be, we just aren’t putting it altogether.”

Harding had his best night of the season offensively as the De Soto defenders couldn’t keep him out of the lane. He made eight field goals in the game, but Harding hurt De Soto at the free-throw line where was 15-for-19.

Despite all that, the Wildcats needed one more of Harding’s shots to go down at the end of regulation. With the game tied, and seconds remaining on the clock, Harding drove the lane but his shot bounced off the rim and the game then went into overtime.

Junior Grant Harding scores two of his 33 points on a dunk Tuesday against De Soto.

“Grant was superb,” Nelson said. “He shot great from the free-throw line and really everyone is doing what we need them to do. But when we have breakdowns, they come at the worst time. We have been in a lot of close games, but we just can’t seem to get those.”

Louisburg jumped out to 16-11 lead at the end of the first quarter when junior Jayce Geiman connected on a 3-pointer at the buzzer.

De Soto started to battle back and took one-point lead with under three minutes left in the first half. But the Wildcats got big baskets from Harding, Korbin Hankinson and a free throw from Dalton Ribordy to give them a 25-21 halftime lead.

Everything seemed to be going Louisburg’s way in the third quarter as it took an eight point lead with three minutes left in the period. Then things started to unravel.

The Wildcats (6-13) started missing shots and De Soto took advantage as it went on a 12-1 run to end the quarter with a 38-35 lead as it got forward Isaac Albert involved. Albert scored a team-high 26 points and was tough for the Wildcats to stop inside.

Louisburg nearly tied it up at the buzzer as Welsh heaved a three-quarter court shot that hit off the back of the rim and went out to end the third.

“It is ultimately on us, but we had some advantageous foul calls that took us out of our rhythm a little bit,” Nelson said. “But if we played inside-out like we are supposed to do, those things probably don’t matter.”

De Soto eventually built a seven point lead, but the Wildcats had another charge in them. Harding scored eight straight points in about a minute span get Louisburg back in it.

Harding converted a basket and was fouled for the traditional three-point play, hit two more free throws and then knocked down a 3-pointer to give the Wildcats the lead.

De Soto took the lead back, but a basket from Sam Guetterman, along with free throws from Harding and Welsh gave Louisburg a 53-52 lead with under a minute left. De Soto hit a free throw to tie the game with 21 seconds left, which gave the Wildcats one lost opportunity before overtime, but Harding’s drive to the basket rolled off.

That missed opportunity by Louisburg seemed to fuel De Soto as it opened the extra period on a 9-3 run to give it a 62-56 lead with 45 seconds left.

Welsh converted a traditional three-point play of his own to cut the lead to three, and after a De Soto basket, Harding answered with a 3-pointer with 13 seconds remaining. After the made basket, the Wildcats stole the ball from De Soto in backcourt with a chance to at least tie the game, but turned the ball over themselves.

De Soto sank two free throws with eight seconds left to seal the win.

Louisburg seniors (from left) Alex Dunn, Ben Brummel and Jacob Welsh were honored before the game during a senior night ceremony.

It was the final regular season home game for Louisburg’s three seniors as they were honored before the game during a senior night ceremony. Nelson knows those three brought a lot to the team this year.

“Welsh and Corbin Wertz (2015 grad) are two of the most intense defenders that I have had the opportunity to coach and Jacob is a hard worker,” Nelson said. “Alex couldn’t play last year with his knee, but he gives us some of the best minutes and he makes things happen. Brummel works hard and has a lot of natural ability and I wish I had him for four years. They are super kids.”

Louisburg will try and stop its 10-game losing skid tonight when the Wildcats travel to Paola for their final game of the regular season. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m.

LOUISBURG                16           9             10           18           9 – 62

DE SOTO                     11           10           17           15           13 – 66

LOUISBURG (6-13): Grant Harding 8-14 15-19 33; Jayce Geiman 2-7 0-0 6; T.J. Dover 2-4 2-4 6; Jacob Welsh 1-4 3-3 5; Sam Guetterman 2-4 0-0 4; Dalton Ribordy 1-4 2-3 4; Alex Dunn 1-3 0-0 2; Korbin Hankinson 1-2 0-0 2. Totals: 18-42 22-31 62. 3-point field goals: 4, (Geiman 2, Harding 2)

Louisburg’s Megan Lemke (left) and Carson Buffington go up for a rebound during Tuesday’s home contest against De Soto. The Lady Cats came up short in a 55-31 loss on senior night.

In its first meeting with De Soto, the Louisburg girls basketball team had a hard time stopping De Soto’s inside game.

So when Tuesday’s contest came around, the Lady Cats took on the challenge to slow down De Soto’s post players – and they did. In doing so, however, Louisburg saw what the other half of the De Soto lineup can do.

De Soto connected on seven 3-pointers, many of which came in the second half and Louisburg didn’t have the offensive firepower to keep up in the 55-31 senior night loss.

“We defended it much better, but we just have to pick your poison with them,” Louisburg coach Shawn Lowry said. “They are a good young team and they are pretty solid.

“They hit those shots in the second half, but at the same time they had a couple big girls that we had to defend inside. The first half we kept it close, but in the second half they just hit some big shots.”

Following the game, two Lady Cats and their parents were honored during senior night ceremonies as Megan Lemke and Megan Roy played their final regular season home contest.

Seniors Megan Lemke (left) and Megan Roy were honored during a senior night ceremony following their game Tuesday against De Soto.

“I can’t say enough about both girls,” Lowry said. “Megan Roy has been hurt, but it was a situation where she was helping her team out and she got injured. I am so glad that she decided to come out and play again. She is an absolute pleasure to be around and such a great kid.

“This is Megan Lemke’s fourth year playing. She will be a four-year, three-sport athlete and she is our team captain. The girls follow her and love her to death. She is a great teammate and I am going to miss both of those girls a lot.”

As for the game, the Lady Cats (3-16) got off to a good start and held a 9-7 lead with under a minute remaining in the first quarter on a 3-pointer from Madisen Simpson, but De Soto rallied to take a 12-11 lead going into the second.

De Soto opened the second quarter with a mini 6-1 run, which led to a 23-16 halftime lead, but the Lady Cats were still in the game.

After halftime is when De Soto started to pull away. It went on a 10-0 run to start third quarter and outscored Louisburg 22-8 to lead 45-27 going into the fourth quarter.

“We came in with a game plan and for the most part our players did pretty well,” Lowry said. “There were a few breakdowns, but they did what we asked them to do. De Soto just hit shots. They are a good team.”

Simpson led the Lady Cats in scoring with 10 points, while Lemke added seven points, seven rebounds and a team-high three steals. Freshman Carson Buffington led Louisburg with 11 rebounds on the night.

Louisburg will end its regular season Friday when it travels to Paola in its final game before the substate tournament. Tipoff is set for approximately 6 p.m.

LOUISBURG                11           5             8             7 – 31

DE SOTO                     12           11           22           10 – 55

LOUISBURG (3-16): Madisen Simpson 2-10 4-4 10; Megan Lemke 1-6 5-8 7; Isabelle Holtzen 2-5 1-2 5; Carson Buffington 1-5 2-6 4; Kennia Hankinson 0-5 3-4 3; Haven Turner 1-2 0-0 2. Totals: 7-33 15-24 31. 3-point field goals: 2, (Simpson 2)

Louisburg junior Jake Hill puts up a shot between two Spring Hill defenders Friday at Louisburg High School. The Wildcats fell to Spring Hill 58-32 after the Broncos hit eight 3-pointers on the night.

During its losing streak, the Louisburg boys basketball team hasn’t caught many breaks.

Through much of the last nine games, the Wildcats have been trying to put a complete game together. There have been close losses, but some have been lopsided in nature.

Unfortunately, it was the latter for the Wildcats on Friday against Spring Hill at Louisburg High School.

Spring Hill caught fire from the outside as it connected on eight 3-pointers on the night and ran away with a 58-32 victory over Louisburg.

“We rebounded well, we pushed the ball well, but we can’t let a couple of small bits of adversity take us out of our game plan,” Louisburg coach Jason Nelson said. “We made our first three shots to start the game, we are assertive, going through our offense and then we go through a little bit of adversity and it takes us out of what we practice all the time. I guess I need to do a better job of prepping them.”

Senior Alex Dunn dives on the floor for a loose ball with teammate Dalton Ribordy on Friday.

The Wildcats (6-12) had a good idea the Broncos shot well from the outside. Even when Louisburg defenders got hands in the face of the Spring Hill shooters, they still found the bottom of the net.

Spring Hill pulled away in the second quarter as it hit six 3-pointers in the frame and took a 35-15 lead into halftime.

“Those definitely hurt because they were making shots and guys were doing what they were supposed to be doing,” Nelson said. “We were closing out, there were a few instances where our help-side defense wasn’t there, and that was unacceptable, but I thought we did ok. Coming out in the second half, we were assertive and got the looks we want, which is 15 feet and in. They just didn’t fall.”

Louisburg actually jumped out to an early lead as it scored on its first three possessions of the game, including two baskets from junior Sam Guetterman. From there, the Broncos went on a 12-2 run to take a 14-8 lead.

Then came a tough second quarter and the third quarter didn’t get much better as Spring Hill scored 19 more points to all but seal the win.

Junior Jayce Geiman led the Wildcats in scoring with eight points and junior Grant Harding added seven in the loss. Spring Hill’s Ivan Hughes led all scorers with game-high 22 points.

The Wildcats will try and snap their nine-game losing streak tonight when they host De Soto. Louisburg defeated De Soto earlier in the season and it hopes to end its regular season home schedule on a good note.

It will also be senior night for Louisburg as it will honor seniors Jacob Welsh, Alex Dunn and Ben Brummel. Tipoff for the game is set for approximately 7:30 p.m.

 LOUISBURG               8             7             11           4 – 32

SPRING HILL               14           21           19           4 – 58

LOUISBURG (6-12): Jayce Geiman 3-7 0-0 8, Grant Harding 3-9 1-2 7, Jacob Welsh 2-5 2-2 6, Sam Guetterman 2-4 0-0 4, Alex Dunn 1-2 2-2 4, Dalton Ribordy 1-1 0-0 2, Jake Hill 0-2 1-2 1. Totals: 12-36 6-8 32. 3-point field goals: 2, (Geiman 2)

Louisburg junior Madisen Simpson puts up a shot in the lane during Friday’s home contest against Spring Hill. The Lady Cats rallied from 14 points down in the third quarter, but came up just short in a 49-44 loss.

For the first 24 minutes, things looked bleak for the Louisburg girls basketball team.

During Friday’s home contest against Spring Hill, the Lady Cats scored just 23 points through three quarters and were down 14 points going into the final eight minutes of the game.

Nothing foretold what was going to happen next.

Louisburg’s offense came to life in the final period as it scored 21 points in the frame and cut a double-digit deficit to just two with under two minutes remaining. Despite the furious comeback, the Lady Cats couldn’t quite get over the hump in the 49-44 loss.

Still, the comeback left a positive impression in the Louisburg locker room.

“This was probably one of our most unselfish efforts on offense and defense,” Louisburg coach Shawn Lowry said. “Everyone was doing their job and it was fun to watch.”

A lot of things came together in the fourth quarter for Louisburg. Defensively, the Lady Cats held the Broncos to just one field goal, and offensively they saw shots start to fall thanks to work on the offensive glass.

The Lady Cats (3-15) pulled down 15 offensive rebounds on the night, including several in the fourth. Freshman Carson Buffington led the Lady Cats with 15 total rebounds for the game and senior Megan Lemke added seven.

Louisburg junior Emalee Overbay stretches out for a rebound during Friday’s home game against Spring Hill.

Louisburg also shot well from the outside, which started the Lady Cats’ comeback. Junior Madisen Simpson hit two 3-pointers in the first three minutes of the quarter and sophomore Isabelle Holtzen also made key shots late in the game.

“We had some big boards,” Lowry said. “Carson having 15 rebounds and Megan had seven and all of those were big for us and keeping balls alive. Isabelle really made some key shots for us there toward the end. She has been struggling with her shot recently, so to see her hit those was great. She has worked a lot on that. Emalee (Overbay) also did some great things defensively and did a better job rebounding as well.”

Three minutes into the fourth quarter, the Lady Cats trimmed a 14-point deficit to six after Simpson’s two 3-pointers and a jumper from Holtzen.

Down eight points, Overbay went to the free-throw line for Louisburg and made the first. The second attempt rolled off, but Buffington pulled down the offensive rebound and Lemke hit a shot to make it 42-36, Spring Hill.

Holtzen hit another jumper at the 2 minute and 40 second mark, then Buffington followed with a putback with 1:47 left to cut it to two. The Lady Cats could get no closer as they sent the Broncos to the line and they converted free throws down the stretch.

Louisburg had to play from behind from the start as Spring Hill opened the game with a 12-3 run to take a 16-7 lead after the first quarter. The Lady Cats were able to stay with the Broncos for the final three quarters, which set up the fourth quarter comeback.

“After the first quarter, I think we were able to settle down and figure some things out defensively,” Lowry said. “We talked a lot more and we were helping each other out in getting people where they were supposed to be. Once they did that, they started to click. It was good to see.”

Simpson led the Lady Cats in scoring with 13 points, including three 3-pointers. Lemke was next with nine points to go along with her seven rebounds and Holtzen finished with eight.

Louisburg will play in its final regular season home game Tuesday when it hosts De Soto. The Lady Cats will also honor seniors Megan Lemke and Megan Roy during senior night ceremonies.

Tipoff for the game is set for 6 p.m., and Lowry hopes his team can show the same kind of fight to finish out the year.

“That is what this group is – they don’t ever quit,” Lowry said. “They are going to keep playing and battling. Especially at this point in the season, games are getting fewer and they are going to make it count.”

LOUISBURG                7             10           6             21 – 44

SPRING HILL               16           13           8             12 – 49

LOUISBURG (3-15): Madisen Simpson 4-16 2-2 13; Megan Lemke 3-8 2-2 9; Isabelle Holtzen 4-11 0-0 8; Emalee Overbay 2-7 2-6 6; Carson Buffington 1-6 2-3 4; Paige Buffington 1-4 2-2 4. Totals: 15-59 8-15 44. 3-point field goals: 4, (Simpson 3, Lemke)

Louisburg junior Jayce Geiman passes the ball off to teammate Korbin Hankinson during Tuesday’s league game against Baldwin. Geiman finished with a game-high 18 points, including six 3-pointers in the 60-59 loss.

With six seconds left and time ticking away, Grant Harding drove the lane, rose up for a shot and let it go.

If it goes in, Louisburg completes a comeback to beat Baldwin and snaps a seven-game losing skid in the process.

“I thought it was going in,” Louisburg coach Jason Nelson said. “Whenever any of the guys put up a shot, I always think it is going in.”

Instead, Harding’s shot bounced off the rim as time expired and the Wildcats suffered a 60-59 loss to Baldwin on Tuesday at Louisburg High School. The loss made it tough for a lot of the players and coaches as they still continue to search for the elusive win to stop the streak.

“The perseverance thing is the key for all of us for when we are going to get out of this tailspin,” Nelson said. “We are so close in putting everything together. I would put these kids up against anyone in the world in practice as far as effort. We know what we need to fix, but it is about me getting everyone on the same page and driving it home.”

The Wildcats (6-11) shot well from the field as they hit on 54 percent of their shots, but the problem was Baldwin did as well. The Bulldogs connected on 10 3-pointers and held the lead from a minute left in the first quarter to the 1 minute and 42 second mark of the fourth quarter.

Louisburg was constantly trying to play catch up as it found itself down 10 points going into the fourth quarter and the Wildcats trailed by eight points with just under three minutes left in the game.

Korbin Hankinson goes up for a shot Tuesday against Baldwin at Louisburg High School.

Junior Jayce Geiman kept the game close as he put together one of his best shooting performances of the season. Geiman made six 3-pointers, including one that gave the Wildcats the lead late, and scored a team-high 18 points.

The Wildcats also had some success underneath the basket. Forward T.J. Dover added 14 points in the loss and had a team-high six rebounds. Harding finished with 13 points

“Jayce was fantastic,” Nelson said. “He had a couple good takes in the first half and two of them I thought he got fouled on. His shots were coming off free and easy. We don’t mind good 3’s. We talk about bad 3’s a lot about being one pass and shoot, or dribble down and just shoot.

“When Jayce got hot, we were going through progressions, T.J. and Dalton (Ribordy) got touches inside and we were working inside-out. That left a lot of open looks for Jayce and Grant. Those two can bury open shots.”

Those two players did that late in the fourth quarter to help get the Wildcats back in the game. With 2:47 left, and Louisburg down by eight, Harding hit back-to-back 3-pointers in a span of 20 seconds to cut the Baldwin lead to two.

Geiman put Louisburg in front with a 3-pointer of his own with 1:42 left and gave the Wildcats their first lead in three quarters. Baldwin took the lead back on a basket with 45 seconds left.

Dover hit a jumper to put the Wildcats up one with 17 seconds remaining, but Baldwin drove the ball down the floor and was fouled with 11 seconds left. Baldwin’s Austin Ward hit both free throws, which set up one final opportunity for Louisburg with six seconds remaining and Harding with the ball at the top of the key.

“We were coming to set a screen and T.J. was going to slide down from the block and Jayce was going to slide to the corner so that gave us three different options,” Nelson said. “There was six seconds left so that was enough time to get something. I always think it is going in with these kids, but it just didn’t this time.”

Louisburg will get another chance to stop its losing streak Friday when it hosts Spring Hill. Tipoff is set for approximately 7:30 p.m.

LOUISBURG                10           14           15           20 – 59

BALDWIN                    16           13           20           11 – 60

LOUISBURG (6-11): Jayce Geiman 6-11 0-1 18; T.J. Dover 7-8 0-0 14; Grant Harding 5-13 1-4 13; Korbin Hankinson 3-5 0-0 6; Dalton Ribordy 2-3 0-0 4; Sam Guetterman 1-2 0-0 2; Alex Dunn 1-2 0-0 2. Totals: 25-46 1-5 59. 3-point field goals: 8, (Geiman 6, Harding 2)

Louisburg sophomore Isabelle Holtzen dribbles past a Baldwin defender during Tuesday’s contest at Louisburg High School. The Lady Cats fell to No. 5 ranked Baldwin 62-34.

The Louisburg girls basketball team knew Baldwin was one of the better teams in the state coming into Tuesday’s contest.

Baldwin didn’t do anything that changed the Lady Cats’ mind.

The Bulldogs, the No. 5 team in Class 4A Division II, showed why they had the high ranking as they defeated Louisburg 62-34 at Louisburg High School.

“They are a good team,” Louisburg coach Shawn Lowry said. “They have some really nice players, but they work really hard and give a lot of effort. It is hard to not watch them and like how they play the game. Hats off to (Baldwin coach) Bob (Martin) and those guys, they do a really nice job.”

Louisburg (3-14) had a tough time breaking Baldwin’s full-court press, and in turn, the Bulldogs were able to score several points off Lady Cat turnovers. Baldwin jumped out to a 13-3 lead after the first quarter and scored 24 points in the second to build a 37-12 halftime.

Baldwin was also able to connect from the outside as it hit eight 3-pointers on the night.

“We weren’t very strong with the ball and you have to give credit to Baldwin,” Lowry said. “They made some adjustments to their press since the first time that we played, so that flustered us early on a little.”

The Lady Cats offense was able to get going in the third quarter as they scored more points in the one frame than they did the entire first half. Louisburg put up 14 points in the third to finish out the game with some positives.

Junior Madisen Simpson led the Lady Cats in scoring with 12 points and sophomore Isabelle Holtzen added seven in the loss. Freshman forward Carson Buffington led Louisburg with 11 rebounds on the night to go along with six points.

Louisburg will try and get back on track Friday when it hosts Spring Hill in its next-to-last home game. Tipoff is set for approximately 6 p.m.

“We are going to keep working hard and come back to practice and work on some things,” Lowry said. “I need some of our leaders to step up and set the tone for the rest of this season, which they will do. I believe in these girls.”

LOUISBURG                3             9             14           8 – 34

BALDWIN                    13           24           17           8 – 62

LOUISBURG (3-14): Madisen Simpson 3-13 4-4 12; Isabelle Holtzen 2-3 1-2 7; Carson Buffington 3-5 0-2 6; Emalee Overbay 2-2 0-0 4; Julianne Finley 1-1 0-0 2; Bailey Kern 0-3 2-3 2; Paige Buffington 0-4 1-2 1. Totals: 12-38 7-11 34. 3-point field goals: 3, (Simpson 2, Holtzen)

Louisburg senior Alex Dunn tries to get a shot up despite the outstretched arms of an Ottawa defender Friday at Ottawa High School. The Wildcats fell to the Cyclones 50-33 to move to 6-10 on the season.

OTTAWA – Throughout its lengthy losing streak, the one thing the Louisburg boys basketball team has done was get off to good starts.

The Wildcats have put together solid first quarters, only to see the other team pull away later in the game. It was the exact opposite Friday in Ottawa.

Louisburg couldn’t cool off the Cyclones in the first quarter as Ottawa used a big run to pull away from the Wildcats in a 50-33 win. The loss was the seventh in a row for Louisburg.

“They were definitely on fire,” Louisburg coach Jason Nelson said of Ottawa. “We executed after that first three minutes or so. That first couple minutes, we knew was coming, and we dug our feet in to get back in it. We just couldn’t get the ball in the hole.”

The Cyclones opened the game on a 16-2 run and the Wildcats were not able to recover. Louisburg was able to keep the game within reach as it closed the gap to 10 points at the end of the quarter after a pair of baskets from senior Jacob Welsh.

Senior Ben Brummel goes up for a shot and gets fouled during Friday’s game in Ottawa.

Senior Alex Dunn cut the Ottawa lead to eight with a basket to start the second quarter, but the Cyclones went on a mini 7-0 run to push the lead back out and led 28-16 at halftime.

Although the Wildcats were able to settle the game down defensively, they couldn’t get the offense to match. Louisburg shot just 32 percent from the field and made only 7 of 24 free throw attempts.

The Wildcats (6-10) had plenty of chances as they were able to pull down 10 offensive rebounds for the contest, but their shots wouldn’t fall.

“The goals we established to get out of the rut was to outrebound them, like we always work on in practice,” Nelson said. “We can’t turn the ball over and we did a good job of handling their press and to push the ball offensively. When we did that we did OK. Those shooting numbers aren’t going to get it done. A lot of those were pretty solid looks.”

Ottawa opened the second half on a 12-2 run to push the lead to 20 and the Wildcats weren’t able to catch up.

Junior T.J. Dover led the Wildcats in scoring with nine points and Welsh was second on the team with eight. Guard Sam Guetterman led Louisburg with eight rebounds.

“We took a big step forward mentally,” Nelson said. “We always practice well, but we had a good week this week. Offensively we just have to get ours. We are really close, but it was just one of those nights. We have to find the hot hand.”

Louisburg will try and break its losing skid tonight when it hosts Baldwin. The Wildcats have defeated the Bulldogs twice this season. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m. at Louisburg High School.

LOUISBURG                11           5             8             9 – 33

OTTAWA                     21           7             12           10 – 50

LOUISBURG (6-10): T.J. Dover 3-7 2-7 9; Jacob Welsh 4-6 0-3 8; Grant Harding 2-10 2-5 6; Jayce Geiman 1-4 0-0 3; Ben Brummel 1-1 1-3 3; Sam Guetterman 0-4 2-4 2; Alex Dunn 1-3 0-0 2. Totals: 12-37 7-24 33. 3-point field goals: 2, (Geiman, Dover)