Drake Ramsay/Special to the Citizen
The North Platte Panthers made school history over the weekend in Columbia, MO, finishing third place at the Show-Me Showdown, the highest finish in the history of the boys’ basketball program.
North Platte opened the state semifinals against Miller Career Academy on Friday, March 13, and battled. Isaac Wright scored the Panthers’ first basket with a shot under the hoop to tie the game at 2-2, and Brendan Matt answered another Miller Career Academy basket with a score inside to keep things even.
Isaac Wright goes up for a basket against Miller Career Academy in the Class 3 semifinal.
The two teams traded baskets throughout the opening quarter. Wright continued to find success in the paint, Dylan Armstrong added a bucket underneath, and Jase Smith drilled a three-pointer to tie the game at 11. Smith later knocked down two free throws to give North Platte its first lead at 15-13.
The back-and-forth pace continued through the first quarter, which ended with Miller Career Academy holding a 22-21 advantage.
In the second quarter, Smith connected on another three-pointer to push North Platte ahead 24-22, and Matt converted a pair of free throws to stretch the Panthers’ lead to 26-22. Miller Career Academy answered with a run, however, eventually reclaiming the lead.
Wright helped keep North Platte within reach late in the half with a basket inside as the Panthers trailed 34-33 at halftime.
Miller Career Academy pulled away in the second half, building a double-digit lead midway through the third quarter. North Platte continued to fight as Smith knocked down another three-pointer, Matt added a three of his own, and Wright converted a putback inside.
A fast-break bucket by Smith off a pass from Armstrong cut the deficit to 50-44, but Miller Career Academy continued to extend its lead down the stretch. Wright added another basket late, but Miller Career Academy secured a 75-56 victory, sending North Platte to the third-place game.
The Panthers responded on Saturday, March 14, in the third-place matchup against Liberty (Mountain View) with a thrilling comeback victory.
Liberty scored first, but Hunter Palmer quickly answered with a layup, and Wright followed with a basket to give North Platte a 4-2 lead. Armstrong sparked the Panthers early from beyond the arc, knocking down a three-pointer to make it 7-2 North Platte.
Armstrong continued his hot shooting with two more three-pointers in the first half, while Matt added a three of his own as the Panthers stayed within striking distance. Liberty held a 29-26 lead at halftime.
The Eagles extended their advantage early in the second half, eventually building a 40-26 lead, their largest of the game.
“Our guys knew that this was it, for many of them, it would be their last chance to play in the North Platte uniform,” North Platte head coach Braydn Kemper said. “I took a timeout to calm them down and said just play, that was the easy part for me as a coach all season. I knew how explosive our offense could be and showed it to be in various parts of the season. No lead is safe against this group and we showed that again.”
North Platte began chipping away in the third quarter. Armstrong buried another three-pointer, Wright converted inside and drew a foul, and Matt knocked down a deep three to cut the deficit to 43-42 heading into the fourth quarter.
The final quarter turned into a dramatic battle.
North Platte senior Brenden Matt goes for a layup against Liberty (Mountain View) in the Panthers’ third-place win, finishing his Panther career with a 29-point performance.
Smith made two free throws to cut the Liberty lead to one before Matt scored inside to give North Platte a 46-45 lead. Liberty briefly took the lead back before Matt delivered a clutch moment, drawing a foul on a three-point attempt and making all three free throws to put North Platte ahead 50-48.
Liberty regained the lead moments later, but Matt responded again with an and-one conversion to put the Panthers back in front.
With under a minute remaining, Smith calmly sank two free throws to extend the Panthers’ lead to 57-54. Liberty was forced to foul in the closing seconds, and Matt sealed the victory at the free throw line.
Liberty connected on a three-pointer with 1.8 seconds left, but North Platte held on for the 61-57 win.
“It was extra special to get to send the seniors out with a win,” Kemper said. “Only two teams in our class in the entire state get to do so. I was happy with the ending. We went toe-to-toe with a very good Miller Career team. The final score was not indicative of how competitive that game was. I was also proud after looking at the enrollments of the other schools, we were the smallest team down there by quite a bit, so it felt even more special to represent our community in that way.”
Matt led the Panthers with 29 points against Liberty, while Armstrong finished with 12, Wright added 10, Smith scored 8, and Palmer contributed 2.
With the victory, North Platte secured third place at the Show-Me Showdown, marking the best finish in school history for the Panthers’ boys basketball program and capping off a memorable season.
“It was the best boys season here at North Platte in school history and that is just a truly special statement to make,” Kemper said. “I am so proud of the trust these boys and this community put in this coaching staff to lead this group. It was a truly special season.”
North Platte will graduate a senior class from the boys basketball program that led the Panthers to heights they had never seen before. They each played a pivotal role in the journey of not just this season, but the years building up as well.
“This senior class laid the framework on how to make a deep postseason run,” Kemper said. “The four of them bought into the system, and culture of the team. Brenden (Matt) put in hours of work to perfect his game. (Hunter) Palmer, (Spencer) Hyde, and (Dylan) Armstrong put in many hours during the summer to lead to this season.”
“This will be a group I can always talk about and refer to when talking with future North Platte teams. You can’t be a great player without putting in work. You can’t score 2,000 points, hit all the threes, and lead teams to Columbia without putting in hard work,” Kemper said.
North Platte ended the season with a final record of 27-5. The final stretch of the season, where the team went 14-1, gave the Panthers some memories they will cherish for many years ahead.
“There isn’t enough ‘thank you’ that I can say to the community,” Kemper said. “We had so many people step up to help out for the boys and we still have community members offering to buy us dinner for the season we had. The pride the community showed was off the charts and I will be forever thankful. I just hope we were able to provide a team that the community was proud to stand behind.”
The North Platte boys basketball team brought back its first-ever state plaque after a comeback effort defeated Liberty (Mountain View) in the third-place game on March 14 at Mizzou Arena.