Platte County girls take big lump in Suburban Blue loss to Kearney

Three timeouts already spent, Platte County coach Chris Stubbs finally relegated himself to his chair on the bench, unable to come up with the answer. The Pirates opened a key Suburban Conference Blue Division matchup by going without a made field goal for the first 12 minutes, 32 seconds. Kearney quickly built a double-digit lead and ended up with eight 3-pointers in a 57-17 blowout win Thursday, Jan. 28 at Platte County High School.

ROSS MARTIN/Citizen photo Platte County senior Lindsey Bogart, right, has her shot blocked in the Pirates game against Kearney on Thursday, Jan. 28 at Platte County High School.

Entering unbeaten in league play, Platte County suffered a major setback in the Blue Division chase, and the result became inevitable by early in the second quarter.

“I think if we utilize what we can and play basketball like we can, I think we can compete with them,” Platte County coach Chris Stubbs said. “Tonight, they were on fire. They’re a good basketball team.”

To make matters worse, Platte County senior Rachel Holden took another blow to the face and her already broken nose. Stubbs relegated her to the bench for the final three quarters, unwilling to risk her health with corrective surgery scheduled for the following day.

Kearney hit a pair of 3s early in the third quarter to extend its lead to 38-8, and Platte County freshman guard Jaycie Stubbs’ broke a 3-minute drought to start the second half with a layup. Jaycie Stubbs (team-high seven points) and Lindsey Bogart (five points) added a 3 each during the third quarter, but the Bulldogs were back out to a 30-point lead with a running clock for most of the fourth quarter. Platte County scored just one point in the final 8 minutes.

“We don’t run a whole lot of sets. I think I have about six plays,” Chris Stubbs said of the mindset while playing from so far behind. “We just tried running our plays and doing the best we could with them. They play such good defense it made some of our kids uncomfortable.”

Holden hit a free throw on Platte County’s first possession, but Kearney responded with its first 3-pointer.

At an 8-1 deficit, Chris Stubbs called his first timeout, and the Bulldogs’ run increased to 20-1 while extending into the second quarter. The Pirates spent three timeouts in the first quarter trying to quell the momentum with no success.

Rocky Chambers, a sophomore guard and Platte County’s leading scorer, stopped the 8-minute drought with another free throw then added a driving layup with 4:28 left in the half for the Pirates first made shot. Kearney answered with back-to-back baskets and then extended its lead to 32-8 on a 3-pointer at the buzzer.

Taylor Frizzell hit the shot from the left base-line after an offensive rebound kept the final possession of the first half alive.

Raymore-Peculiar 58, Platte County 32

The Pirates ran into another hot shooting opponent, allowing seven 3-pointers in a loss Monday, Feb. 1 in Raymore, Mo.

Raymore-Peculiar scored 22 points in the third quarter to pull away after limiting Platte County to just 12 points in the first half. Bogart led Platte County with nine points, including one of three 3s for the Pirates.

Park Hill South 50, Truman 49

Raquel Reid hit five 3-pointers in the third quarter, and the outburst led the Panthers to a Red Division win Thursday, Jan. 28 in Riverside, Mo.

Overall, Reid totaled a game-high 21 points. Grace Cunningham added one of her three 3s in the third quarter as well to help Park Hill South turn a two-point deficit into a nine-point lead. Truman closed the gap to two in the fourth quarter but never led after Reid hit her first 3-pointer early in the third quarter.

Cunningham finished with 11 points, and freshman forward Alecia Westbrook contributed 12 points and team-highs of 17 rebounds and six assists.

Park Hill 66, Ruskin 21

The Trojans ended up with four players in double-figure scoring and five with at least eight points in a blowout Thursday, Jan. 28 at Park Hill High School in Kansas City, Mo.

Gigi Hopkins and Alex Berger led the way with 12 apiece, while Amanda Alexander added 11. Taiya Shelby rounded out the double-digit scorers with 10, and Taiyia Bryant scored eight in extended minutes off the bench with Park Hill up big.

Park Hill led 37-8 at halftime and had a running clock for all of the fourth quarter. The Trojans made 30 field goals.