Morrison’s late free throws cinch 2nd conference win of season

Anthony Morrison seemingly used his eyes to direct the first of two critical free throws through the net.

After at the kind roll around the rim, Platte County’s junior guard left no doubt on the second to re-establish a two-possession. Belton’s final possession in the closing minute resulted in a turnover, and Platte County senior guard Connor Currence dribbled out the final seconds of a 58-54 Suburban Conference White Division victory Friday night at Pirate Fieldhouse.

“The first one was rolling, and I was like, ‘I’m about to miss this,'” said Morrison, who finished with a career-high 20 points off the bench. “I knew (the second one) was going in.”

Morrison and junior forward Jaden Peterson (20 points) kept Platte County’s offense afloat for a critical scoreless stretch for leading scorer Judah Vignery, a senior guard who entered averaging just under 25 points per game. He went nearly 16 frustrating minutes before hitting a tough baseline fadeaway jumper in the third quarter to put Platte County up 34-27.

After a scoreless possession from Belton, Morrison converted a three-point play, and Platte County’s lead eventually hit a game-best 12 at 39-27.

“With Judah not scoring, we had to find some other guys,” Platte County coach Rick Hodge said. “Jaden did a really good job getting to the block and finding ways through the offense to get into the paint and kept us going. Anthony has that ability to give us some scoring.”

Belton quickly closed the gap with back-to-back 3-pointers, the second a make for JW Johnson while drawing a foul. He missed the resulting free throw, but Belton grabbed an offensive rebound and drew another foul with Caleb Campbell splitting a pair of free throws to cut the deficit to 39-34 with 2 minutes, 44 seconds left in the third quarter.

Vignery scored six of his 13 points in the frame to help keep Platte County in front even with Currence going to the bench with his fourth foul. That pushed emerging sophomore Jayden Martin into increased playing time.

Going into the fourth quarter up just 45-41, Platte County’s next five points came from Vignery on another difficult mid-range fadeaway and his only 3-pointer.

“Judah hitting some shots got us some separation,” Hodge said. “That four-point possession that cut it down was really frustrating.”

Belton would close within 50-48 before Vignery and Morrison provided back to buckets and Peterson split a pair of free throws to make it 55-48 with just under 3 minutes left. However, Platte County continued to struggle with containing lightning-quick guard Kordell Williams, who finished with a game-high 21 points. He split a pair of free throws with 50.6 seconds left to again pull Belton within two at 56-54.

Platte County senior Isaac Dittrick missed two from the line at the other end, and Belton had two good looks at a tying basket.

Both rolled off the rim, and Vignery broke out of the pack and dribbled to the other end. He nearly lost possession, but officials granted Hodge a timeout with 11.7 seconds left. Morrison ended up with the ball and went to the line with 10.6 seconds left for what ended up the game-clinching free throws.

Morrison finished in double-figures for the third time this season and topped the career-high of 13 he set in this year’s season-opening win over Savannah.

“Definitely means a lot,” Morrison said. “I work every day during practice, and it paid off. I was just knocking down shots.”

Only four players scored for Platte County with Peterson taking early advantage of Belton’s focus on limiting touches for Vignery, while senior guard Brady Wetzel scored all five of his points in the first half.

Belton went scoreless for nearly the first four minutes, but a pair of 3s and a free throw made up a 7-0 run that gave the visiting Pirates their first lead at 12-11 late in the first quarter. Morrison splashed in a 3 with under a minute to play to put Platte County up going to the second quarter.

However, Vignery and Peterson went to the bench for regular rest, and Platte County endured a nearly 3-minute scoreless stretch that saw Belton go back up 17-13. Peterson scored the next six in what became a 12-3 run, and Platte County didn’t trail again even as fouls mounted and led to Belton attempting 20 free throws.

“That was one of the big issues that we talked about before the game: you have to reduce fouls,” Hodge said. “They just drive it and drive it and drive it.”

Morrison and Peterson added 3-pointers late in the second quarter, and Platte County found a way to improve to 6-4 overall in the type of game that derailed last season. Last year, a series of tight losses pile up in an ultimately disappointing 8-18 season that included a winless conference campaign. The Pirates are now 2-1 in White Division play and continuing to build momentum with a deep but inexperienced roster.

Vignery is the only returning starter and Currence the only other player to have received significant minutes last season.

“They have confidence. They have a lot of confidence,” Hodge said. “They want to win; they expect to win.”

Raytown 73, Platte County 56

The Pirates went into the Belton matchup off of their first conference loss Wednesday in Raytown.

Platte County fell into a big hole in the first quarter but played nearly even from that point. Vignery posted a double-double of 25 points and 11 rebounds, while Peterson added 19 points and seven rebounds in the loss.

Raytown led 25-8 after the first quarter and then regained some momentum with a 3-pointer at the halftime buzzer.

Vignery led a modest push back in the second half with 16 of his game-high total of points. Eleven players saw the floor for Platte County, and the other scorers included Dittrick (three), junior Hayden Schultz (three), Currence (two), Morrison (two) and Wetzel (two).

Raytown currently leads the White Division at 3-0.