The faces and names have changed — even as siblings have rolled through the program in the past half decade.
Platte County junior Wyatt Beeson prepares to hit a shot in the Class 2 District 8 championship dual against St. Pius X on Thursday at Platte County High School.
Platte County’s consistency and resolve might receive an occasional test, but moments have rarely been too big in the postseason. The Pirates came through again in Thursday’s Class 2 District 8 championship dual, overcoming a deficit coming out of doubles to beat St. Pius X 5-3 at Platte County High School and earning a fourth straight playoff berth.
The effort took seven total players with five factoring into at least one of the victories for Platte County (15-9), which advances to play Lebanon (17-6) at home in Monday’s Class 2 quarterfinal round. Another win would send the Pirates back to the state semifinals for a third consecutive season.
However, St. Pius X, with senior No. 1 and four-time state qualifier Justin Janasz at the top of the lineup, provided a worthy challenge.
Platte County needed singles victories from juniors Owen Behne (No. 3), Wyatt Beeson (No. 4) and Jacoby Keith (No. 5) and senior Jack Hokanson (No. 6) to complete the comeback after St. Pius X won two of the three doubles matches. The Warriors finished as state runnerup in Class 1 last season but moved up and deepened this district bracket due to the small school success multiplier.
“St. Pius X as well-prepared, aggressive, and played like they had nothing to lose,” Platte County coach Zach Keith said. “Credit to them for going on the road, playing fearless, and playing like they deserved to be district champs. That being said, I was so proud of the way our guys responded to some legitimate adversity today. If I’m being honest, we haven’t always done that this season, and this was a real test to see what we were made of, and we passed.”
Platte County junior Mitchel McBratney hits a shot during the Class 2 District 8 championship dual against St. Pius X on Thursday at Platte County High School.
Indeed, Janasz teamed with St. Pius X junior No. 4 Zach Quintero for a well-earned 8-6 victory at No. 1 doubles.
Platte County’s only win came from Jacoby Keith and freshman Lincoln Keith at No. 3 with the brother tandem having the most decisive result in that portion of the dual at 8-2. That left six players, four of them playing in the postseason for the first time, to come up with better than a split of six singles matches to keep the season alive.
Previously, only Platte County junior No. 1 Mitchel McBratney, making the daunting move from No. 6 to No. 1 this season, and Jacoby Keith played in a postseason dual. Jacoby Keith did so as a substitute in a non-competitive matchup last year.
Even more uniquely, Platte County started to use Lincoln Keith in doubles only with Hokanson playing at No. 6 singles. He survived late to avoid a third set in a 6-0, 7-5 victory, while Beeson importantly took a second-set tiebreaker to sweep his match 6-0, 7-6 (3). Hokanson trailed 5-2 in the second set of his match before winning five straight to close out the result.
Notably, Platte County sophomore Jackson Kluck at No. 2 trailed his match that did not finish, but he led 5-4 in the second set after losing a tiebreaker in the first. Behne fought through calf cramps in singles, while Beeson closed out the dual after just missing out a similar opportunity against Grain Valley, which staged a comeback to win that matchup and earn the Suburban Conference White Division title.
Platte County senior Jack Hokanson hits a shot during the Class 2 District 8 championship dual against St. Pius X on Thursday at Platte County High School.
“It was the classic ‘tough’ win for us,” Zach Keith said. “We didn’t play well in doubles — unusual for us lately) — and had to really fight hard in singles, which we did really well) and managed to win all the tough singles matches.”
Platte County earned the No. 1 seed for districts and received a first-round bye before dispatching William Chrisman in a 5-0 shutout Tuesday at Platte County High School. Inclement weather forced the postponement of St. Pius X’s match that day, a 5-1 win over Lincoln Prep, and the championship ended up shifted back to Thursday.
The two teams accounted for all four of the idinvidiual qualifiers to the Class 2 MSHSAA Tennis Championships from the districts. Janasz and senior James Green advanced in singles, while Platte County’s teams of McBratney/Kluck and Jacoby Keith/Beeson earned the doubles berths. The Pirates’ depth eventually won out in the dual in what has become an ongoing program-defining stretch of success since advancing to the playoffs for the first time in 2023.
Platte County’s first quarterfinal resulted in a loss to Helias, but each of the past two seasons have ended with Class 2 state trophies. The Pirates were runnersup in 2024 and fourth-place last season.
Regardless of result Monday against Lebanon, Platte County’s season continues with the doubles teams competing at state Friday in Springfield and possibly Saturday with enough victories.
