Peterson battles to reach 1,000 career points in season-ending loss

The pieces never all came together at the right times.

Platte County’s disjointed season came to an end Wednesday with a 67-53 loss to Pemberoke Hill in a Class 5 District 8 first round matchup in Kansas City. The Pirates went into the matchup shorthanded, never led and ended up turning the fourth quarter into senior forward Jaden Peterson’s quest for a milestone at Pembroke Hill School.

Peterson scored 12 of a game-high 21 points in the final 8 minutes of the loss. With a running floater in the closing seconds, he went over 1,000 points for his career and became just the ninth in program history to hit that mark.

Peterson and fellow seniors Hayden Schultz, Anthony Morrison, Brett Mueller, Cobe Pollard played their final games for Platte County, which finished 10-17 overall and didn’t win more than two in a row at any point.

“We had a difficult time piecing a lot of different things together,” Platte County coach Rick Hodge said. “When offense wasn’t there, defense was. Then we focus on offense and give up too many points. The kids got better in a lot of different areas, but you’re right. As the season kept going on, I held out more and more hope with these guys, and unfortunately, it was difficult for this group to put it altogether in long stretches, whether it was in a game or for the season itself.”

The No. 3 seed, Pembroke Hill (15-13) went into the fourth quarter with a 50-37 lead and held on from there.

Platte County didn’t come closer than eight at any point in the second half, and Peterson became the obvious focal point in the closing minutes. The Pirates’ leading scorer all season, he hit a pair of free throws near the 2-minute mark and then made two field goals late to finish at 1,0003 points for his career.

Peterson needed a career-high 41 points in the final home game of his career and then 40 more combined in the next two games to hit the mark. He joins David Bridger (1977), Brian Boekhout (1990), C.J. Fulk (1992), Ryan Nichols (2000), Brandon Gutshall (2001), Lorenzo Riley (2005), Kirk Stegeman (2005) and Judah Vignery (2024) in the Pirates’ exclusive 1,000-point club.

“I’m very happy for Jaden because that’s a career accomplishment,” Hodge said. “He had a heck of a year; he had a heck of a senior year. I knew that was coming because he had a great summer with us, and he scored in so many ways.

“Jaden did this in a number of different ways, and he was our most consistent player throughout the season.”

Pembroke Hill used lanky 6-foot-4 senior Langston Smith to shadow Peterson early and help limit his touches.

Platte County immediately fell behind 8-0 with Raiders senior forward Brayden James scoring six of his team-high 16 in the opening stretch. Morrison, a starter down the stretch each of the past two seasons, ended the Pirates’ drought with a running floater and then hit a 3-pointer on the next possession to close the gap to three.

Pembroke Hill went cold but still went into the second quarter up 16-8 after 3-pointers from juniors Zach Grant and Bobby Nonemaker.

“We were getting what we wanted,” Hodge said. “The ball kept going down on the block, which is where we need it. We got open 3s and even got to the foul line. We weren’t connecting. Once we get there, we were playing from behind.”

With Peterson limited to just two points in the first half, Platte County stayed within striking distance with pivotal shots from Morrison and juniors Braiden Stevens and Brennan McLaughlin, who all finished with nine points and combined for seven 3-pointers.

Pembroke Hill went up double digits right at the start of the second quarter, and the advantage hit 26-11 on a layup for junior Morris McLiney off one of Platte County’s 11 turnovers. He drew a foul on the play and converted the free throw with 6 minutes, 24 seconds left in the first half on the other side of a timeout.

Stevens answered with back-to-back 3-pointers to put Platte County within nine, and McLaughlin hit another late in the second quarter to trim Pembroke Hill’s lead to 30-20. The Raiders went into halftime up 33-20 after another triple from Nonemaker and despite a turnover on their final possession.

Nonemaker scored 14 points off the bench.

“When we cut it closer, they would stick the shot they needed to,” Hodge said. “When that happens, you have to give the other team credit. They did hit the shot or free throws that we didn’t.”

Pembroke Hill junior Mav Hawkins, who finished with 12 points, hit a 3 right out of halftime, to give the Raiders their biggest lead at 36-20.

Platte County scored back-to-back layups for Morrison and Mueller, who started at point guard and finished with two points. Peterson’s three-point play near the midway point of the third quarter brought the Pirates within 10, and Stevens’ third and final 3 trimmed the deficit to 43-35.

Pembroke Hill answered with a three-point play opportunity for James, who missed the free throw. The Raiders didn’t score off of an offensive rebound but still managed to stretch the lead back to 50-37 going into the fourth quarter.

At that point, Peterson had just nine points, and Platte County’s other scorers, including junior forward Jack Utz (one point), seemingly provided the type of support that could’ve helped spring an upset.

“If anything until the end of the second half, Jaden Peterson was the one not putting up a whole lot of points,” Hodge said. “The others were connecting and keeping us in it, but we were trying to get him going. Once we did, it was too late.”

Pembroke Hill won the previous meeting between the two teams 59-53 in late January and pulled away to for a double-digit victory in the rematch. The Raiders went on to beat No. 2 seed Kearney in Saturday’s semifinals and play top-seeded Winnetonka on Monday for the Class 5 District 8 championship.

With back-to-back-to-back first round exits, Platte County hasn’t won a district game since reaching playing for the title and finishing as runnerup in 2022.

Schultz scored his only two points in the fourth quarter to go with Platte County’s team-highs of eight rebounds and two assists, while Morrison hit a pair of free throws for the final two points of his career. Peterson took the majority of shots and also finished with six rebounds and two steals.

Those three started along with Mueller and McLaughlin with junior point guard Jayden Martin not at the game and unavailable for undisclosed reasons. He started the first 26 games, and the absence created the final obstacle to the Pirates’ challenging season.

Peterson’s path to 1,000 points started as a deep bench option as a sophomore before serving as the complementary scorer to Vignery a year ago when Platte County’s season also ended in the first round of districts. Vignery did not play in that game due to illness.

A second-year contributor, Schultz started all season, while Morrison went back and forth each of the past two years. He earned a starting role in the second half of his junior season and opened this year in the same role and then returned to that spot after Stevens started to struggle on offense in late January. Mueller saw increased opportunity early with members of the football team late to start to practice while leading the Pirates to a Class 5 state championship and became a key cog off the bench as secondary ballhandler.

Pollard came back to Platte County’s roster after a year away and played the most minutes of his career, mostly as a defensive specialist off the bench.