North Platte, West Platte boys ousted from districts

Mid-Buchanan snuffed out North Platte’s season on the way to the Class 2 District 16 title, hitting big shots to pull away in a semifinal matchup Thursday, Feb. 26 at Albany High School in Albany, Mo. North Platte held a 9-7 lead on the top seed and unbeaten KCI Conference champions after the first quarter, but Mid-Buchanan finished with 11 3-pointers — six for Braydn Kemper (game-high 21 points) to pull away. The Panthers (7-18) were within seven points at halftime but allowed 40 in the final 16 minutes.

Austin Shanks led North Platte with 18 points — one of three seniors to play his final game.

North Platte scored an opening-round win against Maysville to reach the semifinals, hitting eight 3-pointers in the first half on the way to a 61-38 win on Tuesday, Feb. 24. The Panthers finished with 10 treys total.

Seeded fifth, North Platte bolted to a 33-15 halftime lead, and junior guard Andrew Roberts finished with 23 points on his way to making the all-district team. He hit back-to-back 3s to put the Panthers up 6-4 after facing an early 4-0 deficit.

Kyle Bledsoe, another senior, hit a 3 late in the first quarter to help make it an 11-0 run, and triples from Shanks and Hernandez plus two more from Roberts pushed the lead to double figures.

North Platte led by as much as 22 points in the second half and didn’t let the deficit fall back to single digits after the strong finish to the first half.

Wellington Napoleon 69, West Platte 42

Wellington Napoleon ended the Bluejays’ season with a win on Thursday, Feb. 26 at Wellington Napoleon High School in Wellington, Mo. The Tigers led 36-20 at halftime and pulled away after the break to earn their spot in the district championship game.