It may have been just a fifth-place finish, but the end to the Spring Hill Invitational was exactly what the Louisburg boys’ basketball team was looking for.

After the Jan. 17 opening round loss to Osawatomie, the Wildcats were in the midst of a seven-game losing streak with not much light at the end of the tunnel.

Then the Wildcats started to turn it around.

In the consolation semifinals Thursday, Louisburg edged out Metro Academy with a 42-38 victory, thanks to a late 3-point play from Garrett Griffin, and then responded to down Piper on Friday by almost the same score, 42-39.

“This was a lot of fun and we really needed this,” Louisburg coach Chad Harvey said. “For awhile we really weren’t having a lot of fun, and these last two games have gone a long way. We need to start having fun and getting excited about the little things and maybe that will turn into some big victories for us.”

Against either team, the win certainly didn’t come easy.

In the victory over Piper, Louisburg kept building a lead only to see the Pirates come back to make it a game. Piper eventually tied the game at 39-all with 47 seconds left, but freshman Corbin Wertz converted two free throws to take the lead back.

On Piper’s next possession, it was Wertz who stole the ball and was fouled. He made one of two free throws and put the game away with 14 seconds left.

“Corbin is a smart basketball player, especially for a freshman,” Harvey said. “He did the little things for us to help us win as did guys like Will Garza, who was asked to play a bigger role since Garrett (Griffin) was here.”

Junior John Stambaugh provided a calming influence for the Wildcats as he led Louisburg with 10 points, and fellow junior Adam Daugherty finished with nine.

For the tournament, Stambaugh made it count at the free-throw line with a 15-for-17 performance.

Against Metro Academy, it was free throws that almost prevented the Wildcats from winning the game. Louisburg missed several free throws down the stretch and Metro eventually came back and tied what was an eight-point advantage for the Wildcats.

With 40 seconds left in the contest, senior Garrett Griffin scored underneath the basket and was fouled. He converted the three-point play and gave the Wildcats a spot in the fifth-place game.

Griffin led all scorers with 16 points and was active on both ends of the floor. Stambaugh finished the game with nine points. Wertz added eight.

Louisburg will travel to Spring Hill on Friday to face the Broncos in a Frontier League affair. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m.

“It was great to actually do a little celebrating in the locker room,” Harvey said. “We haven’t done much of that this year, and it was good to see the guys excited. I know it is only fifth-place, but it feels really good.”

LOU 9 9 13 11 — 42

PIP 8 7 11 13 — 39

LOUISBURG (4-7): John Stambaugh 10, Adam Daugherty 9, Will Garza 6, Corbin Wertz 5, Garrett Lesher 5, Dylan York 4, E.R. Steffy 3. 3-point field goals: 3, (Lesher, Steffy, York)

LOU 12 8 11 11 — 42

MA 11 7 6 14 — 38

LOUISBURG: Garrett Griffin 16, John Stambaugh 9, Corbin Wertz 8, Adam Daugherty 4, Will Garza 3, Garrett Lesher 2. 3-point field goals: 1, (Garza)