Drew Aggus
Special to the Citizen
The West Platte Bluejays trounced the South Holt Knights 70-49 in a game played in Weston on Thursday, Jan. 9.
The Bluejays came out scorching hot, especially senior Miles DeMayo. DeMayo knocked down five straight 3-pointers in the first six minutes of the game.
“It was just clicking, and once it’s clicking, I’ve just got to keep shooting,” DeMayo said. “I looked at the bottom of the net every time. Before it even left my hands, I knew it was going through.”
The Knights scored just 15 points in the first quarter – the equivalent to DeMayo – and thanks to another 3-pointer from freshman Xavier Reynolds, along with a couple of other baskets, the Bluejays held a 22-15 advantage at the end of the first.
Bluejays head coach Ryan Nichols was thrilled with his team’s hot start to the contest.
“Tonight was one of those nights where they were going in, and as a coach, that feels pretty good,” Nichols said.
Following DeMayo’s phenomenal first-quarter performance, senior Phillip Pattison took the game into his hands, scoring eight of the Bluejays’ 19 second-quarter points. The Knights were only able to muster up a measly seven points in the second quarter, and the Bluejays took a 41-22 lead to half.
“I thought it was our offense that kept the separation,” Nichols said. “We really wanted to set the tone as far as pace goes. We wanted to play fast and get it up-tempo.”
In the second half, it was more of the same, and the Bluejays would hold on for the 21-point victory.
After a two-week break, Nichols was impressed with how well-prepared his team was to come into this matchup.
“I’m excited to see us come out of the break playing as solid as we are,” Nichols said. “These guys have really prepared well over the break, and they came out and played well.”
Knights junior Drew Quinlin finished the matchup with a game-high 28 points — over half of his team’s 47. DeMayo led the Bluejays with 19 of his own, while Pattison poured in 16 and senior Brayden Cogan dropped in 15.
North Andrew 41, North Platte 38
The Cardinals rallied in the second half to pick up a win on Wednesday, Jan. 8 in Dearborn.
North Platte took an 18-14 lead at the break behind eight points from Caine Huffman and six by Cameron Leupold, who had three baskets in the second quarter.
North Andrew added 13 in the third quarter, behind six points each from Jaden Baker and Tanner McDaniel.
Each team scored 11 points in the fourth and North Platte couldn’t overcome the 30-26 deficit heading into the fourth.
Leupold scored a season-high 16 points for North Platte.
West Platte 73, Northland Christian 32
The Bluejays scored one less point in the second quarter than they allowed all game to pick up a win on Tuesday, Jan. 7 in non-conference action in Weston.
West Platte got over the .500 mark at the win, moving to 5-4 on the season with the blowout victory.
The victory started out with a 22-point first quarter, giving the hosts a 16-point lead.
Mason Montez and Miles DeMayo each had a basket and 3-pointer, while Phillip Pattison scored six points.
West Platte followed that up by scoring 30 points in the second quarter, getting nine of those from Montez, who scored a game-high 20 points. The Bluejays led 52-15 at halftime against the Blazers (4-7).
Pattison had 13, while Brayden Cogan added 10 points for West Platte. Carson Starnes led Northland Christian with 12 points, nine coming in the first half.