I am just going to come right out and say it, “I’m scared.”

Yeah, it is an unusual way to start out an opinion piece, but there is no two ways around it – I am petrified. But believe it or not, it is what keeps me going.

We have all had at least one point in our existence where our lives changed for better or worse. I have had more than a few of those in my life, but the latest one came on Jan. 9.

It started out like all the other Fridays over the last seven years. I reported to work, spent a few hours in the office getting ready for what was a busy weekend of prep coverage ahead. It was the first action after Christmas break and I was ready to get back into the swing of things.

That never took place.

My bosses came into my office early that afternoon to inform me I was being let go. The job of covering Louisburg athletics was no longer mine. I packed up my things, turned in my key, went home, punched the wall a couple times and cried.

I was scared.

After all the tears came the questions. How was I going to support my family? What am I going to do for a job? The list went on and on and I couldn’t come up with many answers.

As it turned out, one of the worst experiences of my life turned into one of the best.

Thanks to a lot of prayers, and support from family and friends, I decided to start Louisburg Sports Zone. Yep, that’s right, I went from being unemployed to starting my own business for the first time in my life.

Not exactly the best way to alleviate fears.

However, when I kicked off the site just a month later, I was overwhelmed with the amount of support from students at Louisburg High School, employees throughout the district, parents and several others who offered encouragement and supported my new venture.

I finished the last half of the winter season and all of the spring doing what I took for granted the previous seven years. I got the chance to cover Louisburg athletics again.

You know, this whole starting your own business thing might not have been a bad idea after all. I would have never had the courage to go out on my own had I not been pushed in that direction.

Fast forward to the present and I am still alive and kicking, ready to start my eighth season of roaming the Wildcat sidelines with camera in hand, waiting to tell that next story.

This fall brings a lot of story lines to the Wildcat programs. The football team is looking to improve off its 3-win season a year ago and find its way back to the playoffs with a veteran group returning.

Volleyball is primed and ready to make its fourth consecutive state tournament this year after placing in the top four in the last three years. The Lady Cats return five seniors that have a lot of state experience and that bodes well for another trip to Salina.

The Wildcat soccer team returns an experienced group from a year ago as they try to crack the top of the Frontier League standings. The cross country team also has several returning runners who will try and qualify for the state meet.

There is a lot to be excited about when it comes to Louisburg sports, but for me personally, I am just fortunate enough to still be a part of it in a small way.

I take a lot of pride in what I do and I hope that it shows when you read stories or look at pictures on this site. I started this business knowing that I will never be rich, but it gives me an opportunity to continue to do what I love.

Thanks to all those who have supported me and for the more than 23,000 views on the site in the last six months. I have said it before, but I am extremely blessed to live in a community that supports each other through good times and bad.

Every day I am fortunate enough to be able to go to work and support my family doing what I know how to do. That is all I have ever wanted, so thank you Louisburg for allowing me to do it.

I am still scared, though.

It is that fear that drives me to do the best I can in what I do in my job and in life. I don’t want what happened on that day in January to happen again and I will do everything to make sure it doesn’t.

Right now I am living the good life. I have the opportunity to work for myself, support my family and do what I enjoy. I can’t ask for any more.

I am living the American dream.

I just don’t want to wake up.

Louisburg’s Sam Guetterman (right) and Alex Seuferling battle for a loose ball during a team scrimmage Thursday at Louisburg High School. The Wildcat basketball team concluded their week-long team camp Friday and will continue workouts throughout the summer.

It was never easy for Louisburg boys basketball coach Jason Nelson or his team last season.

The Wildcats had six wins a season ago and dealt with injury problems most of the way. Those injuries forced younger players to play roles on the varsity level before they were ready and it all trickled down.

However, the Wildcats hope going through those rough times will pay off in a big way for this coming year. Louisburg went to work last week and held its annual team camp at the high school as they prepare for what could be an exciting season.

Louisburg will do so with two new coaches in the fold. Kyle Conley and Jason Friesen take over as assistants in the program and replace former coaches Kyle Wright and Brian Keegan who resigned their spots.

“Camp was fantastic,” Louisburg coach Jason Nelson said. “We saw the evolution of our leaders and the beginning of our identity as a group. It further served as a great introduction for our new staff members for our group. We gain a great deal of knowledge and experience with our new assistant coaches and we couldn’t be more excited.“

Along with two new coaches, the Wildcats are also in the process of finding new leaders. Last season’s core of Corbin Wertz, Brady Lambeth and Nathan Moore graduated and Nelson is looking to this year’s junior class, along with seniors Mitchell McLellan and Alex Dunn to provide that departed leadership.

Louisburg boys basketball coach Jason Nelson looks on during the Wildcats’ week-long camp Thursday at the high school.

According to Nelson, juniors Grant Harding, Sam Guetterman and T.J. Dover are among the others who are looking to lead what is still a young team. In fact, Nelson is looking to Harding to lead the team on and off the floor this season.

Harding was an honorable mention all-Frontier League player a season ago and is the team’s top returning scorer. Harding averaged 11.1 points a game to go along with nine rebounds. He also averaged one block a contest.

“When Grant was a freshmen, we saw the potential in him,” Nelson said. “When he was a sophomore, we slowly integrated him into our plans so as to allow for a slow, steady evolution. As a junior, he’s ready to both lead by example and word.”

The Wildcats are putting in a lot of work in the offseason. Along with their team camp, they have workouts twice a week, weights twice a week and participate in a summer league at Rockhurst University to compete against several Kansas City area high school teams.

Nelson has already seen a growth from his team in summer league action, with a lot of it coming from his junior group.

“The junior class will most definitely reap the benefits of the experience they gained last year,” Nelson said. “The Frontier League is not conducive to a ‘trial by fire’ mentality, but all of our injuries from last year forced our hand. While it was wrought with difficulties, our then sophomores did a fantastic job overall and have the knowledge to step up without suffering from learning on the go.”

Louisburg High School girls basketball coach Shawn Lowry speaks to his team Friday at the conclusion of their week-long team camp. Lowry hopes this summer will help build leadership and team chemistry.

The season may be more than six months away, but the Louisburg High School girls basketball team is already preparing for what lies ahead.

Just two weeks after school was let out, the Lady Cats hit the hardwood for a week-long team camp last week in an effort to get better fundamentally and get their competition level back up to where it needs to be.

The Lady Cats were ready to get back to work and will try and replace three senior starters from a season ago. Louisburg had to say goodbye to all-Frontier League players Natalie Moore and Kirstin Lowry, along with the team’s best post player in Kallie O’Keefe.

Although they will have to make up for the production of those three players, Louisburg coach Shawn Lowry believes his team has gotten off to a good start.

“It has been a good week,” Lowry said. “We have had some good leadership. We lost some really good leadership last year and that was one of the things those three seniors that we lost left behind. They showed these guys how to be leaders.”

Senior Megan Lemke returns as one of the team leaders, along with juniors Madisen Simpson, Paige Buffington and Emalee Overbay. All four players saw significant varsity time last season and coach Lowry also had a new addition to the camp in senior Megan Roy, who also provided leadership.

It was those players who helped the incoming freshmen and underclassmen understand what their coach is looking for.

Savannah Reinhart tries to dribble past Megan Roy during the final day of the team camp Friday at Louisburg High School.

“Team camp week is really about an indoctrination of culture and mentality,” Lowry said. “That is what is most important. It is important to learn how to compete hard every day, especially for the younger kids and the older kids setting that example and shaping our team identity. That is the main thing we want to accomplish.

“This week also gives me a chance to see which kids have done some work before the summer and which ones haven’t. There have been quite a few kids that have done some work and that is really great to see coming in to start.”

Lowry likes what he has seen out of his returning players so far, but he has also been impressed with the nine freshmen that took part in the team camp.

“There are some kids that fit in pretty well,” he said. “There are some, that if they put in more work in the offseason, who knows where they can be at the start of the season. They are learning that the speed of this game is way different than where they have been. What I do like is they haven’t backed down when going up against some of these older kids and that is nice to see.”

Along with the team camp, the Lady Cats will have a busy summer. They have a weights session twice a week and also have open gym workouts two days a week.

The varsity players will also compete in tournaments throughout the summer at Piper in Kansas City, along with stops in Girard and Emporia. The younger players will participate in a league throughout the summer that will be held at Baker University in Baldwin City.

“When you have to work hard together, it brings you together,” Lowry said. “We don’t want to win games this summer necessarily, we want to prepare to win games this summer for when it counts.”

Summer camps at Louisburg High School aren’t too far away and here is some information if you are interested in signing up.

FOOTBALL

LHS football coach Kyle Littrell is holding his team camp on June 15 through 19 on the team’s practice field just outside the high school. The cost for the high school camp is $45 and includes insurance, a T-shirt and shorts.

Littrell will also conduct a middle school and elementary school camp. The seventh and eighth-grade camp will run from 10 a.m. to noon on June 15 through 18 and will cost $35. There will also be an elementary camp from 8:30 to 10 a.m. on June 15-17 for grades 3-6 and will cost $25. Both camp fees include a T-shirts.

For more information, contact Littrell at 837-1720 or littrellk@usd416.org.

BOYS BASKETBALL

Head boys basketball coach Jason Nelson is conducting his team camp from 2 to 4:30 p.m. on June 8 through 12 in the LHS gymnasium. The cost for the high school camp is $50 and includes a T-shirt.

Nelson will also hold a junior high and elementary school camp as well. The session for sixth through eighth-grade will run from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on June 8 through 11 and the cost is $45. The third through fifth-grade camp will run from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. on June 8 through 10 and is $40. Both camps include a T-shirt.

All three camps will have a heavy emphasis on fundamentals. The due date to sign up is May 23. For more information, contact Nelson at (913) 963-8421 or nelsonj@usd416.org.

VOLLEYBALL

LHS head volleyball coach Jessica Compliment will hold camps from fifth-grade on up through high school this July.

On July 13 through 17, Compliment will conduct the high school camp from 1 to 4 p.m. and the cost is $45. The seventh and eighth-grade camp will run from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on July 13 through 16 and costs $35. The fifth and sixth-grade session will go from 8:30 a.m. to 10 a.m. on July 13 through 15 and costs $30.

Deadline to sign-up for the camps is May 15 and all costs include a camp T-shirt. For more information, contact Compliment at (785) 766-3758 or complimentj@usd416.org.

WRESTLING

LHS head wrestling coach Bobby Bovaird will conduct a beginners and advanced camp on June 22 through June 25 in the LHS gymnasium

The beginners camp is for novice and youth wrestlers and will run from 5 to 7 p.m. each day. The minimum age is 6-years-old. Children who will be in kindergarten or first grade must have adult supervision.

The advanced camp will run from 7 to 9:15 p.m. for high school, middle school and experienced youth wrestlers. The cost for both camps is $35 and includes a T-shirt. Deadline to register is June 1.

For more information, contact Bovaird at (913) 424-0999 or bovairdr@usd416.org

GIRLS SOCCER

The LHS girls soccer program will prepare for its inaugural season this summer. Head coach Kyle Conley is holding a high school camp from 10 a.m. to noon on June 15 through 19 along with assistant coach Michael Pickman.

The cost for the camp is $40, which includes a T-shirt. Campers will need to bring shin-guards and a water bottle. Deadline to sign-up is May 15. For more information contact Conley at conleyk@usd416.org.

BOYS SOCCER

Head coach Ben York will be conducting his high school team camp on July 13 through 17. The cost for the camp is $50. For more information, contact York at benyork13@gmail.com.

The Harlem Wizards will be invading Louisburg in early May and they will be doing so in hopes for raising money for the Louisburg Elementary Parent-Teacher Organization.

Instead of the PTO’s normal CLASS Dinner & Auction they host every March, the organization decided to change things up and try to get the whole community involved. The Wizards will be taking on a group of community “all-star” players at 3 p.m. on May 3 at Louisburg High School.

The Wizards is a traveling basketball organization that creates fundraiser events for schools and nonprofits. Last season, playing in over 400 communities across the United States, the Wizards raised more than $2 million for schools, charities and nonprofits.

The event is being put together thanks to several local businesses, including Vohs Pharmacy, which is partnering with the LES PTO.

“This is the first time a fundraiser of this type has been done,” LES PTO co-president Amy Jo Jamison said. “We are very excited to bring the Harlem Wizards to the Louisburg area. We have received a ton of support from local businesses and all the Louisburg schools. Not only do we have a great group of Louisburg teachers/principals and local community members that have stepped up to play on our Louisburg All-Star Team, as well as our six LHS seniors, we have over 30 LES teachers/staff volunteering at the event too. The money we raise from this fundraiser will go directly to our elementary schools.”

Doors will open at 2 p,m., and the meet and greet that the Courtside Plus ticket holders get is at 2:15. Warm-ups start at 2:30 as several students have purchased jerseys to warm up with the Wizards, which was limited to 50 students. The game goes until 5 p.m., and the Wizards will also put on a halftime show.

Reserve and general admission tickets are still available. General admission tickets can be purchased at www.harlemwizards.com or reserved tickets can be purchased at the schools.

“It promises to be a fun-filled event that is great for kids and adults and will guarantee to put a smile on your face,” Jamison said. “Fans will witness amazing basketball talent combined with hilarious comedy.”

Those community members playing are: Broadmoor principal Chris McLean, Rockville principal Becky Bowes, Cindy Apple, Joel McGhee, Melanie Elliott, Melissa Gage, Megan Harris, Arianne Seidl, Jeff Lohse, Brian Keegan, Shava Vohs, Jeremy Holloway, Amy Goode, Mark Williams, Shelley Haines, Kevin Vohs, Ryan Dansel and USD 416 superintendent Dr. Brian Biermann.

Also participating are Louisburg High School seniors Brady Lambeth, Nathan Moore, Corbin Wertz, Kirstin Lowry, Natalie Moore and Kallie O’Keefe.

The teachers/principals/community members will play the first, second and fourth quarters, while the LHS seniors will play in the third.

Louisburg seniors (from left) Nathan Moore, Corbin Wertz and Brady Lambeth were honored, along with the rest of their teammates, during the Wildcats’ postseason basketball banquet Thursday at Louisburg High School.

It wasn’t an easy time for the Louisburg boys basketball team this season, but that didn’t mean the Wildcats didn’t have their successes and good memories.

Those were all shared Thursday during the team’s annual postseason banquet at Louisburg High School. Louisburg finished with a 6-15 record on the season, but head coach Jason Nelson knew his team was better than its overall mark.

“I think there was probably six games or so this year where we were leading in the fourth quarter and we ended up losing,” Nelson said. “Whether it was injuries or whatever, we just couldn’t win those games. As the year went on, we kept getting better and we won a couple of those games late in the year.”

Nelson pointed to the fact that his team had to play with a lot of youth on his side as the varsity roster featured up to seven sophomores and only three seniors. Corbin Wertz, Brady Lambeth and Nathan Moore provided that senior leadership throughout the season, while Wertz, the team’s leading scorer, was out a few weeks with an injury and others had to pick up the slack.

However, Nelson knows his three seniors are key for his program, even though their Wildcat playing days are over.

“They displayed to this group of underclassmen what it takes to lead and the kind of character you need to have,” Nelson said. “This senior group is so special to me and was one of the reasons I took the job a couple years ago. They did everything we asked of them and more. I will definitely miss them.”

Two Wildcats were recognized for their postseason accolades on the all-Frontier League team

Wertz earned second team all-league honors while sophomore Grant Harding found his way on the team for the first time as he was awarded an honorable mention spot.

Wertz averaged 17.2 points a game to go along with 6.3 rebounds and four assists. Harding averaged 11.1 points a game to go along with nine rebounds. He also averaged one block.

Nelson also announced his varsity letterwinners for the season. The winners are:

Seniors: Corbin Wertz, Nathan Moore and Brady Lambeth

Juniors: Mitchell McLellan and Jacob Welsh

Sophomores: T.J. Dover, Jayce Geiman, Sam Guetterman, Korbin Hankinson, Grant Harding and Jake Hill

Louisburg seniors (from left) Kallie O’Keefe, Natalie Moore and Kirstin Lowry were all smiles Wednesday during the team’s postseason awards banquet at Louisburg High School. All three players were recognized for their postseason honors

It was a bittersweet moment for the Louisburg girls basketball team Wednesday when it held its annual postseason banquet at Louisburg High School.

The team came together to relive some good memories from its 11-11 season and talk about the improvement the Lady Cats made from the start of the season till the end. However, it also meant saying goodbye to a few players.

Seniors Natalie Moore, Kirstin Lowry and Kallie O’Keefe were recognized for their achievements, not only this season, but for what they have accomplished in their four years. This season, the Lady Cats won their home invitational and advanced to the substate championship game for the second straight year.

“They have shown these younger kids what the expectations of this program are,” Louisburg coach Shawn Lowry said. “They have shown them how to lead, the character we expect and how to play. They will all three be missed.”

Coach Lowry revealed all of the postseason honors to his team, in which all of them went to the three seniors.

Moore was named first team all-Frontier League, was second team all-state in Class 4A by Sports I Kansas. She also received honorable mention all-state honors from The Wichita Eagle and The Topeka Capital-Journal.

She was also the Co-Player of the Year and first team on the Tri-County Spotlight squad. She finished her career with 898 points.

Moore averaged 17.4 points a game and also made a living at the free-throw line. Moore had 204 free-throw attempts on the season and made 73 percent.

She also averaged 5.5 rebounds a game to go along with 4.6 assists. She had 27 steals on the year and shot 44 percent from the floor.

Kirstin Lowry was also honored as she was a second team all-Frontier League and was also second team Tri-County Spotlight. Lowry was second on the team in scoring at nine points a game and shot better than 40 percent from behind the 3-point line.

O’Keefe, who averaged eight points and seven rebounds a game, also earned second team all-Tri County Spotlight.

Members of the Lady Cats who earned varsity letters are:

Seniors: Natalie Moore, Kirstin Lowry and Kallie O’Keefe

Juniors: Megan Lemke

Sophomores: Zoie Gilliland, Paige Buffington, Emalee Overbay and Madisen Simpson

Freshman: Isabelle Holtzen and Sarah Wilson

Louisburg senior Corbin Wertz was one of two Wildcats to be named to the all-Frontier League basketball team. Wertz earned second team honors after he averaged 17 points a game.

The talent in the Frontier League for boys basketball was at its usual high caliber this season and Louisburg found itself in the mix of it all.

Louisburg put two players from its six-win team on the squad. Senior Corbin Wertz earned second team all-league honors while sophomore Grant Harding found his way on the team for the first time as he was awarded an honorable mention spot.

“I felt our team was well represented granted the adversity we had with injury and the quality nature of our league,” Louisburg coach Jason Nelson said. “Any coach would want more representation or kids placing higher than they do, but that’s the nature of the job itself.”

Injury might have been the only thing that kept Wertz off the first-team in his final season as a Wildcat. He missed several games with a hamstring injury, but he had first-team type numbers for Louisburg.

Wertz averaged 17.2 points a game to go along with 6.3 rebounds and four assists a contest in a tough league schedule.

“For Corbin to receive second team, despite missing four league games to injury, is a testament to his ability and the respect he’s earned among the coaches around the league,” Nelson said. “He leaves behind a legacy that all younger players will benefit from, be it next year, or four years down the road.”

Louisburg sophomore Grant Harding was recently selected to the all-Frontier League basketball team as an honorable mention.

With Wertz out for part of the season, it was up to several sophomores to pick up the scoring load and Harding took on the challenge. Harding nearly averaged a double-double in his first full season on the varsity level.

Harding averaged 11.1 points a game to go along with nine rebounds. He also averaged one block a contest.

“For Grant to be recognized despite being only a sophomore is a great honor for him,” Nelson said. “He progressed in the manner his staff wanted throughout the year and deserved to be recognized.”

Underclassmen were littered all over the all-league team. The first team featured four underclassmen and one senior.

Eudora sophomore Mitchell Ballock headed the first team along with junior teammate Austin Downing. Paola junior Mason McDow, Ottawa sophomore Isaac McCullough and Ottawa senior Quentin Blaue rounded out the list.

Ottawa led the way with four all-league selections, while Eudora and Paola followed with three each.

2015 All-Frontier League Boys Basketball

First team

Austin Downing, Eudora, junior

Isaac McCullough, Ottawa, sophomore

Mason McDow, Paola, junior

Mitchell Ballock, Eudora, sophomore

Quentin Blaue, Ottawa, senior

Second team

Christian Gaylord, Baldwin, senior

Corbin Wertz, Louisburg, senior

Danny Hodge, Spring Hill, senior

Ivan Hughes, Spring Hill, junior

Justin Criddle, Paola, junior

Honorable mention

Alex Wilson, Paola, junior

Grant Harding, Louisburg, sophomore

Jake Matney, Ottawa, senior

Jomain Rouser, Eudora, junior

Nick Mullen, De Soto, senior

Tyler Smith, Ottawa, senior

Louisburg senior Natalie Moore was named to the all-Frontier League first team for the second year in a row. Moore was joined by teammate Kirstin Lowry, who earned second team honors.

According to the Frontier League coaches, the Louisburg girls basketball team has two of the best players in a league that featured to two state runner-up teams.

Louisburg senior Natalie Moore was one of the league’s top scorers and she was recognized for it. For the second year in a row, Moore was named to the all-league first team and was joined by one of her senior teammates.

Kirstin Lowry was named to the all-Frontier League second team as she was one of the top 3-point threats in the league. Lowry was an honorable mention a season ago.

“Natalie and Kirstin were really great leaders for our team in the offseason and during the season,” Louisburg coach Shawn Lowry said. “They always set the tone with how hard they worked and the positive, encouraging attitudes they brought every day.

“I think most coaches would always like more representation, particularly with players that may not fill up a stat sheet but are really good defensively or play unselfish. However, our league had an exceptional senior class this year.”

Louisburg senior Kirstin Lowry was recently selected to the all-Frontier League second team.

Baldwin, the Class 4A-Division II state runner-up, led the league with five selections. Paola, the Class 4A-Division I state runner-up, finished with four.

Joining Moore on the first team was Ottawa’s Corie Fischer, De Soto’s Megan Bonar, Paola’s Morgan Laudan and Baldwin’s Maddie Ogle.

Teams had a hard time keeping Moore, the Lady Cats’ point guard, out of the lane as she averaged 17.4 points a game and also made a living at the free-throw line. Moore had 204 free-throw attempts on the season and made 73 percent.

Moore also averaged 5.5 rebounds a game to go along with 4.6 assists. She also had 27 steals on the year and shot 44 percent from the floor.

“It’s hard to express just how good Natalie was this year in arguably one of the toughest leagues in a 4A class with so many exceptional players,” coach Lowry said. “This season was the culmination of so many years of hard work for Nat and we were very fortunate to get to share in this journey.”

Kirstin Lowry was second on the Lady Cats in scoring. She averaged nine points a game and shot over 40 percent from behind the 3-point line.

The Louisburg senior was one of the team’s better defenders and also had to the opportunity to have her dad as the head coach the last two seasons.

“Kirstin had a very good year shooting the ball from behind the 3-point line, but I’m most proud of her defensive effort and the passion she played with,” coach Lowry said.

“You’d be hard pressed to find one player that would want to have traded places with Kirstin all these years with me as her coach. I am amazed how she handled everything and I am so proud of the strong young lady she has grown into and the great values she has.”

ALL-FRONTIER LEAGUE GIRLS BASKETBALL

FIRST TEAM

Corie Fischer, Ottawa, senior

Megan Bonar, De Soto, senior

Morgan Laudan, Paola, junior

Natalie Moore, Louisburg, senior

Maddie Ogle, Baldwin, senior

SECOND TEAM

Brette Moore, Ottawa, senior

Tiana Moala, Paola, senior

Lyndsee Johnson, Paola, senior

Kirstin Lowry, Louisburg, senior

Tori Marshall, De Soto, senior

HONORABLE MENTION

Corey Valentine, Baldwin, senior

Madeline Neufeld, Baldwin, junior

Makaila Garcia, Eudora, senior

Taylor Williams, Paola, junior

Alexia Stein, Baldwin, senior

Kyna Smith, Baldwin, junior

Louisburg senior Corbin Wertz goes up for a basket Thursday during the semifinals of the Class 4A Division I substate tournament at Paola High School. The Wildcats fell 65-49 to Fort Scott.

PAOLA – For one half anyway, the Louisburg boys basketball team went toe-to-toe with No. 1 seed Fort Scott.

The second half was a different story.

Fort Scott found its stroke and used a big third quarter to eliminate Louisburg 65-49 on Thursday in the Class 4A Division I substate semifinals at Paola High School. The Wildcats ended their season with a 6-15 record.

“We played as well as we’ve played all year in the first half,” Louisburg coach Jason Nelson said. “We were hitting out shots, contesting theirs and limiting their second chance opportunities.

“In the second half, we weren’t hitting our shots as well as we had in the first half, and they went on a little spurt where they hit three contested 3-pointers. To further complicate matters, we had a little foul trouble and consequently our rotation was a little off defensively which led to us not being as aggressive on the boards.”

The two teams traded leads in the first half and Louisburg held a 20-18 advantage with under three minutes left in the second quarter. Fort Scott went on a mini 5-0 run before halftime to grab the lead back.

Louisburg senior Nathan Moore made it just a one-point halftime deficit when he hit a runner in the lane with five seconds left to give the Wildcats a little momentum.

Fort Scott didn’t waste much time in the third quarter as it went on a 13-4 run to start and the Wildcats all of a sudden found themselves down double digits four minutes into the second half.

Sophomore Jayce Geiman came off the bench to hit two 3-pointers late in the third and Louisburg trailed by 12 points going into the final quarter. It was as close as the Wildcats would get.

Fort Scott defeated Paola in the championship game Saturday to move on to the state tournament.

Senior Corbin Wertz led the Wildcats in scoring with 19 points and Moore, another senior, finished with eight. Wertz, Moore and senior Brady Lambeth all played their final game for the Wildcats.

“Corbin, Nathan and Brady exemplified this program for the two years I’ve been responsible for it,” Nelson said. “They worked to improve, imparted their knowledge on their younger teammates and always believed in the progress of our program. They will be missed tremendously but their legacy will be seen through the progress and effort of next years and the teams that follow.”

It was an up and down season for the Wildcats as they finished with six wins that could have turned into even more. However, Nelson saw a lot of progress from his team despite several obstacles put in its way.

“When the season started, if you’d have told anybody on our staff that we’d have a broken leg, broken toe and a severely pulled hamstring which led to six sophomores on our varsity roster we would have been mortified,” Nelson said. “Once this happened, it turned into one of the most enjoyable experiences of my professional career.  We had a young roster that grew leaps and bounds by being forced into an adverse situation and through the frustration, the yelling from the coaches, and uncertainty, each and every one of them improved dramatically.”

LOUISBURG                14           8             11           16 – 49

FORT SCOTT               15           8             22           20 – 65

LOUISBURG (6-15): Corbin Wertz 19; Nathan Moore 8; Grant Harding 7; Jayce Geiman 6; Brady Lambeth 5; T.J. Dover 2; Sam Guetterman 2. Totals: 20 6-8 49. 3-point field goals: 3, (Geiman 2, Lambeth)