Louise out of playoffs with loss
By KRIS BAGLEY sports@leader-news.com

A loss to Moulton means no playoffs for Louise's girls basketball team.

The Lady Hornets fell to the Bobkittens 66-29 and were officially eliminated from post-season contention Tuesday.

Struggles were expected for Louise this year as the Lady Hornets entered a transitional year. With only one senior, Lauren Gresham, to lead the team, Louise fielded a squad of mostly underclassmen.

Though a playoff appearance was the goal of Head Coach Bryan Branch, experience gained through the year with budding young talent will help bring Louise closer to the post-season in the future.

"We only have one senior and with Lauren, I appreciate everything that she's done," Branch said. "With one senior, it's not like there's not improvement to be made. I told the girls at practice that basically what we're spending this last week doing is almost having camp. (I am) giving them some things that they can work on - on their own and throughout the summer - to get better."

Branch's goal is to address a few areas the team can improve on so his team can come back ready for conten- tion next year.

"Our number-one problem is that we're not very good at handling the ball and, obviously by our scores, we have a hard time shooting," Branch said. "Our inability to handle a basketball and dribble a basketball under pressure with our head up and see the open person is hurting us real bad. What we're doing right now in practice is just showing them some things they can work on, so when they come in next year, they're better at that."

The Lady Hornets will play their last game of the season Tuesday against Shiner on their home court.

Branch said he still thinks his team can pull away with a win over the Lady Comanches.

"We're still trying to finish up on a positive note," he said. "I think we can beat Shiner. That's the team we're the most competitive with. We're still going to try to win that game. We have a shot to have some momentum coming into the next year."