The Louisburg eighth-grade middle school basketball team had an up and down week as they took on Spring Hill and Ottawa.

The week ended on a higher note Thursday as the Wildcats defeated Ottawa 28-23 after falling to Spring Hill on Jan. 17, 44-26.

Against Ottawa, the Wildcats used a big second quarter to propel them to a sizeable halftime lead. Up 4-2 in the first, the Wildcats went on a 10-4 run to take a 14-6 lead at halftime and widened that lead to nine in the third quarter.

Jacob Welsh led Louisburg in scoring with seven points, while Austin Terry finished with six. Alex Dunn scored five points. Jordan Crowder and Jarod Woodward each added four. Lane Mecum finished with two.

“Our defense was very solid,” Louisburg coach John Ozier said. “We had some positive spurts on offense and improvements continue to emerge with our passing game and shot selection.”

Louisburg was just overmatched against Spring Hill, which took an eight-point halftime lead and turned it into a 37-24 deficit in the third quarter.

Marshall Rooney led the Louisburg scorers with seven points, and Woodward added six. Terry finished the game with five, and Welsh scored four.

Cole Kramer and Mecum scored two points, and Austin Henderson finished with one.

“Spring Hill was able to dictate the pace of the game,” Ozier said. “Their full-court pressure kept us out of rhythm the entire game.”

On the junior varsity side, the Wildcats were able to go 2-0 on the week with a 42-11 win over Ottawa and a 30-29 victory over Spring Hill.

Against Ottawa, Crowder led Louisburg with 15 points. Jesse Wickersham added eight. Riley McKinley also scored seven in the win.

Mitchell McLellan led Louisburg in the win over Spring Hill with 12 points. McKinley added six.

Seventh-graders lose two

The seventh-grade basketball team had the opposite week of the eighth-grade as the Wildcats fell to Ottawa on Thursday and defeated Spring Hill on Jan. 17.

Louisburg lost to a tough Ottawa squad, 56-21, that couldn’t continue its winning ways after a 43-23 win over Spring Hill.

The junior varsity also fell to Ottawa, 23-21, and beat Spring Hill in overtime, 33-30.