West Platte hung close but couldn’t quite spring the upset to stay alive in the KCI Conference Tournament.
Lathrop held on for a 47-43 win in a consolation semifinal Monday, Dec. 4 in Plattsburg, Mo. For the second straight season, West Platte went 0-2 in the league bracket.
West Platte entered with the No. 8 seed, and after a blowout loss to top-seeded Hamilton, the Bluejays hung with the fifth-seeded Mules. Noah Johnson, a junior, continued his fast start for West Platte, hitting a pair of 3s on his way to a team-high 13 points, and Truman Gillis added 11 points.
After the first quarter, West Platte led 13-12 behind five of Johnson’s points, but the Bluejays scored just seven points in the second quarter to fall behind 22-20 at the break. Johnson and Grant Eagen hit 3-pointers in the third quarter.
West Platte dropped to 1-3 on the season.
East Buchanan 55, North Platte 23
The Panthers caught the wrong side of a team upset in the first round.
East Buchanan, seeded third, won a consolation semifinal Monday, Dec. 4 after limiting North Platte to just two points in the first quarter. Hunter Hendricks scored the lone points in the first eight minutes on two free throws, and Jesse Martin’s two field goals in the second quarter were the only ones for the Panthers in the first half.
East Buchanan led 34-7 at the break. Martin finished with a team-high seven points, and Hendricks added six — his first game out of double digits on the season.
North Platte dropped to 1-3 overall with a third straight loss and failed to place at KCI for a second straight season.
Hamilton 73, West Platte 43
The Bluejays couldn’t keep pace in a first round matchup with the top seed Saturday, Dec. 2 in Plattsburg, Mo.
In an encouraging start, West Platte received 3s from Phillip Pattison and Johnson and trailed only 15-11. Hamilton limited the Bluejays to just two field goals in the second quarter and went into halftime up 37-20.
West Platte did manage five 3s — two apiece for Johnson and Brayden Cogan — to account for nearly half of 12 field goals. The Bluejays also shot 14 of 18 on free throws with Pattison leading the way at 5 of 6 on his way to 10 points.
Johnson also scored 10 and Cogan added eight.
Mid-Buchanan 63, North Platte 37
The Panthers were bounced into the consolation bracket with a first round loss Saturday, Dec. 2 in Plattsburg, Mo.
Hendricks sneaked into double figures for the third straight game with 10 points but managed just two after halftime for North Platte. Martin totaled eight points off the bench, all in the first half.
Mid-Buchanan held a 35-22 lead at halftime but limited North Platte to just 15 points after the break to turn the matchup into a blowout.
OTHER GAMES
Southwest Livingston 58, North Platte 55
The Panthers were undone at the free throw line in a regular season game heading into the KCI tournament.
Southwest Livingston shot 29 free throws and made 18, going 10 for 14 at the line in the fourth quarter to hold on for the win. North Platte shot just nine free throws total, and senior Corbin Green fouled out with six points as the whistles piled up.
Hendricks (16 points) and senior Austin Snook (15 points, three 3s) did most of the scoring for North Platte, while Martin added eight off the bench.
North Andrew 81, West Platte 39
The Bluejays went into the KCI tournament off of a loss to a Class 1 powerhouse Thursday, Nov. 30 in Rosendale, Mo.
North Andrew scored 32 points in the third quarter to pull away after leading 35-20 at halftime. Eagen led West Platte with 10 points, hitting two of the Bluejays’ four 3-pointers.
West Platte 62, Orrick 42
The Bluejays earned their first win of the season Tuesday, Oct. 28 in Weston, Mo.
Orrick went scoreless in the first quarter and didn’t recover, and West Platte pulled away with 25 points in the fourth quarter. Cogan put up seven of his team-high 12 points in the final eight minutes.
West Platte featured a balanced offense with 10 different scorers. Gillis also posted double-figures, finishing with 10 points — all in the second and third quarters. Cogan and Miles DeMayo hit a pair of 3-pointers each.
Orrick trailed 29-13 at halftime and scored 22 in the third quarter to close the gap but managed just seven points the rest of the way.