Louisburg junior Jillian Asher pulls up for a shot in the lane Thursday at Frontenac. Asher finished with a team-high 10 points in the Lady Cats’ loss at Frontenac.

FRONTENAC — The Louisburg girls basketball team is inching closer to that first win, but the Lady Cats will have to wait till after the holiday break to get it.

Louisburg put together its best offensive performance of the season Thursday at Frontenac, but came up just short in a 55-48 loss to the Raiders.

“It was nice to see some offense working in this game,” Louisburg coach Adrianne Lane said. “This is the most points we have scored and I hope the girls can build off this.”

Despite the good offensive performance, the Lady Cats had to play catch-up from the start as they had a tough first quarter and trailed 17-7. 

Louisburg put together a comeback as it scored 16 points in the second quarter and the Lady Cats got a spark from Jillian Asher. The junior guard scored seven of her team-high 10 points in the second quarter, including a runner at the buzzer to trim the lead to just five at halftime.

“We have been talking a lot about playing all four quarters, but we got off to a slow start last night with only 7 points in the first quarter, but then we played with them the rest of the game,” Lane said. “We just need to put together four good quarters. Jill hitting a couple shots did help us get some momentum going into the second half.”

The Lady Cats continued to chip away at the lead in the second half. This time, they pounded the ball inside.

Forwards Sabra Brueggen, Morgan Latham and McKenna Lohse each scored on the inside, while Latham had back-to-back buckets in the fourth quarter to tie the game at 42-all with five minutes left in the contest.

Latham was second on the team with eight points, while Brueggen and Lohse had seven and six points, respectively.

“I thought the posts had a big night for us,” Lane said. “Sabra did a great job fighting for position, causing a lot of havoc under the basket. Kenna came in and gave us some great minutes and Morgan did as well. The posts were not afraid to take the ball to the basket or even look for an outside shot. I was very proud of them and how they played. 

“I thought the guards did a great job forcing the ball inside at the end of the third quarter and beginning of the fourth. I feel like that is how we got back into the game.”

However, in the final five minutes, Frontenac pulled away as it did to start the game. The Raiders finished on a 13-6 run to hand the Lady Cats their fifth loss of the season.

Junior Ashlyn Kuhlman also finished with seven points to help the Lady Cat offense, while junior Sami Lane had a team-high seven rebounds. Junior Ally Brown and Asher tied for team-high three assists and Brown also added five boards.

Louisburg will try and turn things around after the holiday break as the Lady Cats travel to Eudora on Jan. 4 in their first game back.

LOU 7 16 13 12 — 48

FRON 17 11 12 15 — 55

LOUISBURG (0-5): Jillian Asher 4-7 0-0 10; Morgan Latham 4-6 0-0 8; Sabra Brueggen 2-3 3-6 7; Ashlyn Kuhlman 2-12 2-3 7; McKenna Lohse 3-7 0-0 6; Shylar Whiting 2-4 0-0 5; Ally Brown 1-6 0-0 3; Sami Lane 1-7 0-0 2. Totals: 19-53 5-9 48. 3-point field goals: 5, (Asher 2, Kuhlman, Whiting, Brown)

Lady Cats fall on road to Baldwin

BALDWIN CITY — Despite getting off to a slow start offensively, Louisburg found itself still in the game last Tuesday against Baldwin.

Unfortunately, a rough third quarter helped give Baldwin a 42-23 victory over the Lady Cats at Baldwin Jr. High School.

The Bulldogs outscored Louisburg 14-4 in the third quarter and took an 18-point lead that the Lady Cats couldn’t come back from.

Louisburg trailed by just four after the first quarter, but scored a combined five points in the next two.

Junior Shylar Whiting led the Lady Cats in scoring with nine points and Ashlyn Kuhlman finished with five in the loss. Kuhlman also finished with a team-high eight rebounds and three assists.

Morgan Latham had six rebounds, while Sami Lane and Ally Brown each finished with five. Brown also had a team-high three steals.

LOU 7 1 4 11 — 23

BAL 11 5 14 12 — 42

LOUISBURG: Shylar Whiting 1-7 6-8 9; Ashlyn Kuhlman 1-8 2-4 5; Sabra Brueggen 1-2 0-2 2; Jillian Asher 1-3 0-0 2: Sami Lane 1-3 0-0 2; Morgan Latham 1-3 0-0 2; Ally Brown 0-7 1-2 1. Totals: 6-34 9-16 23. 3-point field goals: 2, (Kuhlman, Whiting)

Louisburg junior Sami Lane pressures an Anderson County player into a turnover Friday at home. The Lady Cats fell to the Bulldogs, 35-31.

It ended up being another close loss for the Louisburg girls basketball team Friday against Anderson County, but the progress was there for the Lady Cats.

Anderson County had a size advantage, played a zone defense and both were obstacles for Louisburg. Still, the Lady Cats found themselves in a tight game with the Bulldogs.

Although it ended with a 35-31 Louisburg loss, there were definite positives to build on.

“I thought overall we played hard and we battled till the end,” Louisburg coach Adrianne Lane said. “I do feel like we got better Friday. Our defense was great and we got some really good looks at the basket.”

Louisburg had to deal with Anderson County’s size underneath the basket, including that of Kylie Disbrow and Caitlyn Foltz. The Lady Cats held them to 13 and nine points, respectively.

They also held Anderson County to just 28 percent shooting and forced 19 turnovers. 

“I thought defensively we did great,” Lane said./ “Any time you can hold a team to 35 points is great. Our key was to double team (Foltz and Disbrow) when they caught the ball and the girls did a great job with this. Our rebounding was also big, we did a great job being physical and going and getting the ball.”

Offensively, the Lady Cats had to find a way to get going against the Anderson County 2-3 zone. Louisburg showed patience, and got good looks at times, but couldn’t get the shots to fall.

Louisburg shot 21 percent from the field, but did pull down 15 offensive rebounds in order to get extra chances.

“The girls did a good job running the offense and getting into the middle of the zone,” Lane said. “We wanted to make their girls work hard on defense so they would be tired on offense. I felt we were getting great shots of the offense, we just couldn’t get enough to fall.”

The Lady Cats took a 19-18 lead at halftime thanks to a 3-pointer from Ashlyn Kuhlman and a bucket from Zyleigh Melton late in the second quarter.

Anderson County built another lead in the second half, but the Lady Cats cut into the Bulldog lead again as Shylar Whiting hit a 3-pointer and knocked in a free throw late in the fourth to cut deficit to two.

It would be as close as the Lady Cats would get as the Bulldogs knocked down enough free throws to seal the win.

Kuhlman led Louisburg in scoring with 10 points to go along with a team-high five rebounds and three steals. Junior Sami Lane scored seven, all in the first quarter, to help get the Lady Cats get out to a good start. She also finished with four rebounds. 

Melton and Whiting each finished with five points and junior Sabra Brueggen added four points. Junior Ally Brown also tallied a team-high five rebounds and two assists.

Louisburg will try and pick up its first win today as the Lady Cats travel to Baldwin. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m.

LOU 11 8 4 8 — 31

AC 14 4 8 9 — 35

LOUISBURG (0-3): Ashlyn Kuhlman 3-14 2-2 10; Sami Lane 3-12 0-0 7; Shylar Whiting 1-5 2-6 5; Zyleigh Melton 2-2 0-1 5; Sabra Brueggen 2-10 0-2 4. Totals: 11-52 4-11 31. 3-point field goals: 5, (Kuhlman 2, Melton, Whiting, Lane)

Louisburg junior Nathan Parker pulls up for a shot Friday at home against Anderson County. Parker led the Wildcats in scoring with 10 points.

Just a couple days after its first loss of the season, Louisburg had a chance to quickly make amends Friday when it hosted Anderson County.

The Wildcats used a big second quarter to do just that.

Louisburg scored 18 points in the frame, which led to a big halftime lead and the Wildcats were able to hold on for a 44-37 victory over the Bulldogs.

Still down a couple players who were out with an injury, the Wildcats (2-1) made the best of a bad situation

“With the injuries that we have had, we are doing well so far,” Louisburg coach Ben Doll said. “I think once we get everyone healthy, I think we are going to be in pretty good shape. We have to get a lot better at things. We are playing some odd lineups, and we have some young guys in there right now that haven’t played varsity before. But it was good to see us bounce back from Tuesday’s loss.”

Louisburg took a 10-6 lead after one quarter of play, but the offense started to click in the second. The Wildcats outscored Anderson County 18-6 and took a 28-12 lead at halftime.

The lead ballooned to 20 early in the third quarter, before Anderson County started to chip away.

Anderson County deployed a zone defense to try and slow down the Wildcats — and while it worked early — Louisburg found a lot of success against it in the second quarter.

“We needed to do that, just for our confidence a little bit,” Doll said. “We struggled against a 1-3-1 earlier in the year, and then when they went zone, we started to play a little fast. However, once we started to calm down, things got better. Teams are going to see on film that we struggle with zone, so it was good to see our guys have success against it.”

The Wildcats got production from up and down their lineup as seven different players scored. Senior Nathan Parker led the way with 10 points and senior Brock Vohs added nine.

Louisburg also dominated in the rebounding department. Junior Conlee Hovey had a team-high 11 rebounds to go along with seven points, while junior Gavin Lohse had 10 rebounds — 8 offensive — and eight points.

Senior Jaymes Melton also came off the bench to pull down five rebounds.

Sophomore Derek Frederick played his first varsity minutes as he came off the bench to help the Wildcats on the perimeter. He also knocked down a 3-pointer.

Senior Brady Hickey also contributed a lot of minutes at the point and had a team-high three steals to go along with four rebounds and four points.

“We did some good stuff for a while, but we are just struggling right now in taking care of the basketball against certain kinds of pressure,” Doll said. “We are trying to play a little too fast. However, not having two perimeter guys all week certainly hasn’t helped. Still, we have had some other guys step up in Derek Frederick and we asked him to play some heavy minutes in there, especially on defense. 

“Brady has been a steady point guard since those other guys have been gone. We did some good things. We scored well at times, got a lot of rebounds and I was happy that a lot of our bigger guys like Conlee, Gavin, Jaymes and Brock were hitting the boards hard.”

Anderson County tried to make things interesting late as the Bulldogs outscored Louisburg 25-16 in the second half, but the Wildcats held on for their second win of the year.

“I think the guys were pretty tuned in to the game, but I don’t think we did a good job of valuing the ball very much,” Doll said. “When we’re sloppy, I don’t think it was a lack of focus or anything, I think we were just trying to do too much.”

Louisburg will have its toughest test of the season Tuesday when it travels to state-ranked Baldwin. The Bulldogs, who are 3-0 to start the year, are currently ranked No. 7 in Class 4A.

LOU 10 18 11 5 — 44

AC 6 6 14 11 — 37

LOUISBURG (2-1): Nathan Parker 3-14 2-2 10; Brock Vohs 4-7 0-1 9; Gavin Lohse 4-13 0-0 8; Conlee Hovey 2-5 3-4 7; Brady Hickey 2-4 0-2 4; Jaymes Melton 1-4 1-2 3; Derek Frederick 1-1 0-0 3. Totals: 17-51 6-11 44. 3-point field goals: 4, (Parker 2, Vohs, Frederick)

Louisburg senior Brady Hickey pulls up for a shot Tuesday at Burlington. Hickey scored a team-high 12 points in the Wildcats’ 63-51 loss.

BURLINGTON — Before Louisburg tipped off with Burlington on Tuesday, the Wildcats were faced with a little bit of adversity.

Louisburg found itself down a starter and a main player off the bench, and the Wildcats found themselves a little short-handed for their first road tilt of the season.

Not being at full strength, and some foul trouble, hurt the Wildcats as they fell, 63-51, to Burlington.

“We missed two of our ball handlers and that was evident, especially when we got into foul trouble when they were pressuring us,” Louisburg coach Ben Doll said. “Our biggest thing was we just didn’t play a very tough style of basketball when there were 50-50 balls or rebounds that we needed to get. We had plenty of moments where we got it to 10 or under, but then they would get a bucket and we can’t win that way.”

In the absence of Luke Hill and Myles Vohs, who were out with an injury and illness, a pair of Louisburg seniors stepped up. Brady Hickey and Brock Vohs played all 32 minutes and were scoring options for the Wildcats.

Hickey finished with a team-high 12 points and Vohs added 11 points to go along with six rebounds.

“Brady did a good job and I don’t think he ever came out of the game and I don’t think Brock did either,” Doll said. “We used some timeouts to try and get them a break, but there was never a moment where they were gassing and saying they needed to come out. That was awesome to see and they played tough. Once we are at full strength, it will be fun to see how good those guys can be when they get a little bit of a break.”

Burlington started out strong offensively as it scored 21 points in the first quarter and never looked back. Louisburg found itself down 34-22 at halftime.

The Wildcats tried to make a couple different runs in the second half, as it trimmed the Burlington lead to under 10, but Burlington had an answer on every occasion.

Burlington’s Sage Fejfar scored 19 points to lead the Wildcats and was one of four players to score in double figures.

“Part of the problem that they gave us was they just hit open shots,” Doll said. “(Fejfar) was solid and we knew they were going to run stuff for him. But then when we focused on him, we lost track of a few of their others guys and they hit open jumpers. At this level, playing varsity basketball, that is something you should do. Our rotations weren’t good and a lot of things just hit us.”

For Louisburg, senior Nathan Parker just missed double figures in scoring as he finished with nine points, to go along with five rebounds and three assists.

Junior Conlee Hovey finished with seven points and seven rebounds, while junior Gavin Lohse registered a team-high nine rebounds.

Louisburg will try and bounce back tonight when it hosts Anderson County. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m.

LOU 13 9 15 14 — 51

BUR 21 13 11 18 — 63

LOUISBURG (1-1): Brady Hickey 4-11 2-2 12; Brock Vohs 5-10 1-3 11; Nathan Parker 4-15 0-0 9; Conlee Hovey 3-5 1-2 7; Gavin Lohse 3-7 0-3 6; Bristol Barbour 1-3 1-2 3; Ethan Kush 1-4 0-0 3. Totals: 21-56 5-12 51. 3-point field goals: 4, (Hickey 2, Parker, Kush)

Louisburg junior Addy Stohs goes up for a basket during Tuesday’s road contest at Burlington. The Lady Cats fell 43-38.

BURLINGTON — For one quarter, anyway, the Louisburg girls basketball team had everything working.

It was the kind of start the Lady Cats were hoping for after a disappointing loss in its opener. Louisburg nearly had a double-digit lead on Burlington in the first quarter Tuesday, but couldn’t hang on.

Burlington eventually surpassed the Lady Cats and handed Louisburg a 43-38 setback.

“I thought our team saw a huge improvement from our first game,” Louisburg coach Adrianne Lane said. “They seemed to play more confident overall and I felt like they played more as a unit versus individuals.”

The Lady Cats jumped out to an 8-0 lead on back-to-back 3-pointers from Ashlyn Kuhlman and Ally Brown, and a basket by Shylar Whiting. Louisburg went up 11-2 after a 3-point play by Sabra Brueggen.

Burlington started to claw its way back, but the Lady Cats still led 16-11 after the first quarter. Unfortunately for Louisburg, the offense didn’t carry over to the second.

The Lady Cats scored just two points in the second quarter and Burlington was able to tie the game at halftime.

“It was so important to get out and score early, more so for our confidence and team morale than anything,” Lane said. “It showed the girls that we can score.

“Only scoring two points in the second quarter hurt us. I felt like we stopped taking chances on defense, which led to a slow down on the offensive end of the court. We are best when we get out in transition. We need to continue to get out and run and try and catch the defense off guard.”

The game was still tied at 27-all going into the fourth quarter, but Burlington took a four-point lead to start the final frame. A basket by Addy Stohs, a 3-pointer from Kuhlman and a running shot by Brown brought the Burlington lead back to one.

Junior Jillian Asher hit a free throw to tie the game at 35-all with 3 minutes left, but Burlington would end the game on a 8-3 run to seal the win.

Kuhlman led the Lady Cats in scoring with nine points and two blocked shots. 

Stohs and Brown each finished with seven, including a team-high seven rebounds each. Stohs also added a team-high two blocks, while Brown and Asher each finished with a team-best three assists.

Sophomore Morgan Latham came off the bench for Louisburg and also tied for a team lead seven rebounds. Brueggen finished with six rebounds. Whiting and Sami Lane finished with five and four points, respectively.

The Lady Cats will try for that first win Friday when they host Anderson County. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m.

LOU 16 2 9 11 — 38

BUR 11 7 9 16 — 43

LOUISBURG (0-2): Ashlyn Kuhlman 3-11 0-0 9; Addy Stohs 3-5 1-2 7; Ally Brown 3-6 0-0 7; Shylar Whiting 1-4 3-4 5; Sami Lane 2-7 0-0 4; Jillian Asher 0-9 3-6 3; Sabra Brueggen 1-5 1-1 3. Totals: 13-51 8-13 38. 3-point field goals: 4, (Kuhlman 3, Brown)

Here is the Louisburg Sports Zone Athlete of the Week for week one of the winter sports season, sponsored by Edward Jones-Craig Holtzen.

MYLES VOHS, JUNIOR, BASKETBALL

Louisburg junior Myles Vohs came up big for the Louisburg boys basketball team Friday in its season opener against Tonganoxie. The Wildcats scored only four points in the fourth quarter, but all four were big points from Vohs.

The biggest shot of the game came with 15 seconds left as Vohs hit a game-winner to give the Wildcats a 53-51 victory over Tonganoxie. Vohs was 4-for-4 from the field and had nine points on the night, including two steals.

The athlete of the week award is announced every Wednesday morning during the winter season and the winner is selected by Louisburg Sports Zone with the help of nominations from coaches.

Louisburg junior Ashlyn Kuhlman pulls up for a shot Friday during the Lady Cats’ season opener against Tonganoxie.

It was not the ideal scenario for the Louisburg girls basketball team going into its season debut Friday against Tonganoxie.

Louisburg struggled to get going offensively early, and couldn’t play catch-up in a 48-28 loss to the Chieftains. All of the Lady Cat players saw their first significant varsity minutes on what is a senior-less team.

“I would say on Friday all of us were a little nervous — well a lot nervous,” Louisburg coach Adrianne Lane said. “I think Tongie has a tough team this year and I bet they win a lot more games this year than they did last year. Our team had a rough start and Tongie started off super fast. We never got into our game because we were playing catch up.”

Tonganoxie jumped out to a big lead early as the Chieftains outscored the Lady Cats 18-3 in the first quarter and took a 20-point lead into halftime.

Although the Lady Cats faced a big deficit, Louisburg did its best chip away at the Tonganoxie lead as it scored 19 second half points.

“I think a positive is the girls never quit,” Lane said. “I felt like they played hard the whole game and every girl that got in the game came in off the bench and played hard. I also thought they played together. We kept running offense and working together.”

Junior Ashlyn Kuhlman led the Lady Cats in three different categories. Kuhlman scored a team-high eight points to go along with eight rebounds and three blocked shots.

Ally Brown and Jillian Asher were each second on the team with five points. Sami Lane finished with six rebounds and a team-high three assists.

Morgan Latham tallied five rebounds, Addy Stohs had four and Shylar Whiting had a team-high two steals. Sabra Brueggen had two rebounds, two assists and a steal in the loss.

Louisburg had a tough time containing Tongie point guard Alyssa Schoeneck as she tallied a double-double with 18 points, 10 rebounds and also had five steals.

The Lady Cats will try and bounce back tonight as they travel to Burlington. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m.

LOU 3 6 10 9 — 28

TON 18 11 14 5 — 48

LOUISBURG (0-1): Ashlyn Kuhlman 3-13 2-2 8; Jillian Asher 2-3 0-0 5; Ally Brown 2-8 1-3 5; Shylar Whiting 1-5 2-4 4; Morgan Latham 2-4 0-0 4; Sami Lane 0-6 2-2 2. Totals: 10-47 7-13 28. 3-point field goals: 1, (Asher)

Louisburg junior Myles Vohs drives in for a basket Friday during the Wildcats’ season opener against Tonganoxie.

The Louisburg boys basketball team couldn’t have asked for a better start to its season. 

Louisburg jumped out to a fast start, took a big halftime lead and everything was primed for a big celebration after the game was over. The Wildcats still got to celebrate, but getting the win Friday over Tonganoxie wasn’t easy.

The Chieftains rallied from a double digit deficit to tie the game in the second half, but Louisburg junior Myles Vohs hit a runner with under 15 seconds left to give the Wildcats a 53-51 victory.

“I am really proud of them,” Louisburg coach Ben Doll said. “There is definitely stuff we can learn from. However, we would definitely rather learn from a win than a loss, so we will take it.”

Not only did the Wildcats open with a victory, Doll, who is in his first season as Louisburg’s head coach, earned his first varsity win after spending 20-plus years as an assistant coach at Blue Valley North and Lansing.

Throw in a dramatic game-winner and the Wildcats had plenty to celebrate in their season season opener.

“It is awesome,” Doll said. “I have been an assistant coach for a long time and have had a lot of big wins, so this one feels like a lot of those. It never seemed like the situation was overwhelming, but at the same time I had my family there and everyone was telling me congratulations and that is different from other big wins that I have had. 

“It was a lot more special, especially for a game in December and not one in March. I told the guys after the game that I thank them. You only get one first win and it is with these guys, so I really appreciate how hard they played and how they stayed within the game.”

Louisburg struggled offensively in the second half and scored just four points in the fourth quarter, but those two baskets — both by Vohs — were in big moments.

With the game tied at 49-all, Vohs drove the lane for a basket to give Louisburg a 51-49 lead midway though the quarter. Then, the game was tied at 51-all, and after the Wildcats worked the ball around, Vohs found an opening in the Chieftain zone and hit a runner with 15 seconds left.

Tonganoxie tried to win the game, but the 3-point attempt at the buzzer rolled off the front of the rim and the Wildcats were able to survive.

“It was obviously huge,” Doll said of Vohs’ game-winner. “He did a good job of penetrating the zone and trying to get guys to collapse. On that possession, we did a really good job of doing that, especially Myles. It was a big shot by him and he was clutch.”

Louisburg jumped on Tonganoxie in the first half as the Wildcats scored 12 unanswered points to start the game and eventually took a 39-26 lead into halftime.

The Wildcats were scoring at a frantic pace and Tonganoxie needed to try something to slow them down. The Chieftains put in a 1-3-1 zone and the Wildcats scored just 14 second half points.

“It is really tough to adjust to that after playing like we were, and that was great coaching by them,” Doll said. “As a coach you reach a point sometimes where you have to throw a change-up and see if it works. It worked really well on us. Our goal was not to turnover the ball and that isn’t a great way to play offense. It is just something we have to work on.

“The one positive about going against that zone is I think we got better at attacking it as the game went on. We had to play against it for much of the second half and I think that enabled us to attack it better.”

Despite battling some foul trouble, senior Nathan Parker provided the Wildcats with a spark on offense as he scored a game-high 13 points, including 6 of 7 from the free-throw line. 

Senior Luke Hill also found a lot of success from the outside as he finished with 10 points, including three 3-pointers. 

The Wildcats did a lot of work on the glass as they outrebounded Tonganoxie 36-20, including 15 offensive rebounds, which led to 12 second chance points.

Senior Brock Vohs did a little bit of everything for the Wildcats as he finished with six points, six rebounds and six assists.

Junior Gavin Lohse had a team-high eight rebounds and junior Conlee Hovey had seven.

Louisburg will try for back to back wins Tuesday as the Wildcats travel to Burlington for their first game of the season. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m.

LOU 20 19 10 4 — 53

TON 13 13 17 8 — 51

LOUISBURG (1-0): Nathan Parker 3-10 6-7 13, Luke Hill 3-9 1-4 10; Myles Vohs 4-4 0-2 9; Brock Vohs 3-8 0-0 6; Conlee Hovey 3-5 0-2 6; Gavin Lohse 1-5 3-6 5; Brady Hickey 1-5 0-0 2; Jaymes Melton 0-1 2-2 2. Totals: 18-47 12-23 53. 3-point field goals: 5, (Hill 3, Parker, Vohs)

Louisburg’s Luke Hill is one of five seniors on the Wildcat basketball team this season as they open play at home tonight against Tonganoxie.

The Louisburg boys basketball team will have a little different look to it this season after losing its leading scorer and rebounder from a year ago.

The Wildcats will also have a new leader on the bench in head coach Ben Doll. Despite some of those changes, Louisburg returns nine players that either started, or saw major varsity minutes a season ago.

It is that experience that has helped Doll’s transition be a smooth one so far.

“It has been really good,” Doll said. “We started by not having to make any cuts on the JV and varsity level, which was good. We were able to get into practice sooner and they have done really well so far. We have thrown a lot at them because it is a new system. We have had some really good practices and the jamboree we had was good for us too. I feel pretty good and I am hopeful we can get off to a good start before the break.”

The Wildcats feature five seniors that will help lead the way this season as they try to improve off an 8-13 finish a year ago. Guards Luke Hill, Brady Hickey, Nathan Parker, along with forwards Brock Vohs and Jaymes Melton, will look to help the Wildcats get off to a good start.

Doll, who took over from former coach Ty Pfannenstiel, has liked what he has seen out of his senior class so far.

“They are going to be really important,” Doll said of his seniors. “We have the right number of seniors and we are going to rely on them. Luke is recovered from his injury, and even though he hasn’t really played high level basketball for 11 months, he has done a really good job at practice. Excited about all of them and we have a really good junior class as well. It really helped when Coach Pfannenstiel gave a lot of those JV guys some varsity minutes last year so they know what to expect.”

Juniors Conlee Hovey and Gavin Lohse will give the Wildcats some big minutes underneath the basket, while guards Myles Vohs and Luke Schultz will also play significant minutes throughout the season.

Although many players will be returning, the team will look a little bit different offensively as they have to replace an all-league player in Colyer Wingfield, who was their leading scorer last season. 

“The basic offense stuff is about the same,” Doll said. “Last year they had a really good player (Wingfield) that could score in a bunch of different ways, but we aren’t going to have that this year and we don’t need to have one guy do all that. That has been a little bit of an adjustment for them. 

“It wasn’t a bad thing for them last year because he was a really good player. The guys this year realize that we need to move the ball a little bit more and we will be better when we screen and come off screens, rather than just get the ball in our hands and create things that we don’t want.”

As important as the offense is, Doll knows the defensive end of the floor is just as important — if not more early on.

“Before the break, offenses won’t be very advanced and most teams will have some inexperience out there,” Doll said. “We need to be up in people’s business and pressure defensively and create offense off turnovers. I think defenses will be ahead of offenses and we have to be good defensively in order to take advantage of that. We want to play fast and be able to run. People enjoy watching an up and down game and players like that. We are going to go 9-10 deep to start the year, so that will allow us to pressure more and guys can get more minutes.”

A new rule for the high school level this year is the elimination of 1-and-1 opportunities at the free throw line. The new rule states each team will be given five fouls a quarter, and after that, each team will shoot two free throws and the team fouls will be reset after each quarter.

That change had led to different ways teams have approached those free shots going into the season.

“We have focused more on free throws in practice than we normally do at this point in the year,” Doll said. “Free throws are one of those things where you tell them they are important, but don’t do a lot with them in practice and you expect them to work on that on their own. We have had about 1 or 2 parts of every practice where we are doing different free throw type drills. I like to do them after we do something hard when they are tired. If we are up there hitting just 1 of 2 or 0 of 2, that is glaring and costly. You have to make free throws and I think a lot of teams around the state are treating them more seriously.”

Louisburg will try and get in the win column to start the season tonight as the Wildcats host Tonganoxie in a Frontier League matchup. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m. and Doll is knows his team has the potential to do good things this year.

“I just want to them to compete in every game,” Doll said. “There will be games where we are down, but we are going to have to keep fighting. I told them this at one of our team meetings recently, is that you just have to be playing your best at the end. You obviously want to win every game, but it is a process and we are trying to build something.”

Louisburg guard Jillian Asher is one of seven juniors who will lead the Lady Cats this season.

There aren’t many years when a varsity basketball team will feature a totally different look to it going into a new season.

However, it is one of those years for the Louisburg girls basketball team.

The Lady Cats return zero starters from a season ago — and have no players who logged any significant varsity minutes in the 22-23 campaign.

On the other hand, Louisburg will feature a group of seven juniors who are looking forward to putting their fingerprints on the program.

“In my nine years of coaching I have never started a season with zero seniors, and not only that, but zero players with little to no varsity experience,” Louisburg coach Adrianne Lane said. “Of course this is a challenge, but with the group of juniors that I have I know they are ready to step up and give this program all they have. These group of juniors are very competitive and they will battle every game.”

Louisburg reached the sub-state championship game a season ago, but the Lady Cats had to say goodbye to a big class of seven seniors and now they will have a new group looking making their own mark.

With a lot of new players, practice has been important to start the season and Lane has liked what she has seen so far.

“Practice has been going well,” Lane said. “They are hard workers and they bring a lot of energy every day. We have practiced together with all teams a lot so far this season. The freshman group is strong so they make practice very competitive.”

Juniors Jillian Asher, Ally Brown, Sabra Brueggen, Ashlyn Kuhlman, Sami Lane, Addy Stohs and Shylar Whiting will get a bulk of the minutes for the Lady Cats this season, but it is a group that has played together for awhile.

After a solid junior varsity season a year ago, they are looking to find success at the varsity level with the help of some sophomores off the bench. Although they logged a few varsity minutes at times last season, it will be their first opportunity as varsity leaders.

“This group works extremely hard, they have come every day with a positive attitude and they are willing to learn,” coach Lane said. “If they can keep team first, I do believe they will have a successful season.”

Asher will serve as the team’s point guard, while Brown, Sami Lane and Whiting will play on the wing. Kuhlman will split time on the wing and in the post, while Brueggen and Stohs will play underneath the basket.

“They have played together for many, many years, they know each other and they know where each other will be on the court,” coach Lane said. “I think we will be quick and be able to transition well on offense and defense. The program as a whole is strong, our freshmen come in with a lot of talent and there are several JV players who are very strong as well.”

Like most seasons, the Lady Cats will have a difficult schedule, including matchups against Frontier League programs. Louisburg opens its season Friday at home against Tonganoxie.

“I think the Frontier League is tough,” coach Lane said. “I believe Baldwin will be one of the top teams this year. They will be quick and tough. Ottawa will also be a strong team. They are always physical and play extremely hard. Spring Hill will be tough again this year, as they have several returning starters from last year.”