The Platte County boys basketball team fell to its third consecutive defeat on Dec. 19, losing 50-47 against William Chrisman at Pirate Fieldhouse.
The game came down to the last possession, but Platte County was not opportunistic enough to take advantage of the extra life after a William Chrisman technical foul in the final minute. Trailing by four, Platte County senior Jayden Martin made three of his four free throws to bring the Pirates within a point.
Out of a timeout, William Chrisman got to the line twice and hit two of four free throws, making it 50-47 for the Bears. After William Chrisman missed their final free throw, the ball eventually was scrambled into the hands of junior Jacoby Keith for Platte County to take a timeout with 11.9 seconds remaining.
After drawing up a plan, William Chrisman used their last two fouls before putting the Pirates into bonus. On the in-bounds play from the side with 6.1 seconds left, the Pirates got the ball to Martin, but the ball was knocked out of bounds by William Chrisman as Martin collected himself for the potential game-tying 3-point attempt.
The Pirates still had an opportunity to tie it, using a timeout to draw up another in-bounds play with 1.7 seconds left. This time, Martin inbounded the ball to Keith, who returned it for Martin to shoot from deep, but once again, the stingy William Chrisman defense got in the way to deflect the shot away.
The deflection gave Platte County its second defeat on home court, falling to 2-4 on the season and 0-2 in conference play.
Perhaps the most frustrating part of the loss was the fact that they had trailed most of the first quarter before showing up big in the second quarter. After trailing by as many as five points late in the opening period, a buzzer-beater triple from Platte County junior Jordan Moore injected some life into the Pirates the rest of the half.
A 14-point first half from senior Jayden Martin helped Platte County into a 8-point halftime lead.
Moore helped get the Pirates their first lead of the evening with a pair of scores in the opening minute of the second quarter, a period in which they outscored the Bears 18-8. Keith added a 3-pointer and Martin scored 11 to give Platte County a 28-20 lead at halftime.
William Chrisman slowly cut into the deficit, making it a one-score game midway through the third period. The game remained close, with both teams exchanging leads late in the third until a couple of late scores gave the Pirates a 39-37 lead going into the fourth quarter.
The Bears eventually gained a firm hold of the lead in the fourth quarter, using a pair of 3-pointers to send the visitors in front 45-39. While Platte County managed to get back within a score, William Chrisman answered with another triple before their timely defense held the Pirates to just 8 points in the final frame to close out the 50-47 win.
Martin concluded the night with 21 points, the majority coming in the first half. Moore also reached double-figures, scoring 11 points across the first three quarters.
Platte County’s conference schedule opened with a 57-38 defeat at home on Dec. 12 against Raytown, then losing on the road 62-45 against Belton on Dec. 16. The Pirates will pick up their conference schedule after New Year’s, visiting Ruskin on Jan. 2 before hosting Truman on Jan. 9.