Platte County builds big lead, holds on late to earn coveted spot in district title game

Platte County didn’t have the optimal start and finish to Saturday’s Class 5 District 8 semifinal but did more than enough in between to earn a coveted opportunity with a 46-35 victory at Pirate Fieldhouse.

Smithville cut a 22-point lead to eight on three different occasions in the fourth quarter. The Pirates fended off the charge with some clutch free throw shooting from senior guards Lauren Stone and Haley Barlow.

Platte County (17-8) advanced back to the district title game for the second time in three seasons after suffering an upset loss in the same round a year ago. The Pirates now have a chance to end a playoff drought of nearly two decades with a win against top-seeded St. Teresa’s Academy (18-5) on Tuesday back at Pirate Fieldhouse.

“It means a lot,” Platte County senior forward Haley Schank said. “The seniors have been in this position before, and for our last year, we really want to go out with a bang. So at least making it to the championship game is what we wanted, and hopefully, we can keep continuing on.”

Four different players combined to hit six 3-pointers for second-seeded Platte County against Smithville, and the last from junior forward Rylee Carr put the Pirates up 36-14 in the final minute of the third quarter. The Warriors trailed by 20 going to the fourth quarter and then found some momentum after struggling on offense while playing without senior point guard Kylee Bollinger, who recently suffered a season-ending injury.

Third-seeded Smithville (20-8) saw the final basket of the third quarter start what became 14 unanswered points.

Platte County’s lead dwindled to 36-28 after the Pirates went nearly 8 minutes without scoring. Barlow finally broke the drought with a runout layup off of a steal from senior center Addy Schlake with 2 minutes, 16 seconds left in regulation.

“It sure helped to have the lead we had going into that point, but yeah, we’ve got to try to avoid those (stretches) at any point from now on,” Platte County coach Eric Mitchell said. “Every team you play is a quality team, so you have to limit those and make those as small as possible.”

Stone (12 points) and Barlow (11 points) combined to go 6-for-6 on free throws down the stretch to keep Smithville from ever drawing within three possessions. The Warriors hit three 3s in the fourth quarter — one each from senior forward Peyton Wohlford (game-high 13 points), senior guard Molly Sanders and sophomore guard Rylee Miller.

Platte County made just two shots from the floor in the final 8 minutes.

“It’s hard to play four complete quarters of perfect basketball, and I try to remind the girls of that,” Mitchell said. “The key is to limit our stretches of not playing good, quality basketball.”

Both teams struggled on offense early in a frenetic, high-intensity start in front of energetic crowds for the afternoon rivalry matchup.

Barlow, who finished with five assists and three steals, scored the first basket on a driving layup more than a minute and a half into the first quarter to put Platte County ahead before Wohlford answered with a 3-pointer. Smithville led 5-2 but couldn’t take advantage of the Pirates’ struggles, which included a scoring drought of nearly 4 minutes.

Schlake finally converted inside baskets on back-to-back possessions, and Platte County went into the second quarter up 6-5 and didn’t trail again. She finished with eight points, 12 rebounds, three steals, two blocks and two assists.

“I think a little bit of (the early struggles) was we had a nice crowd from both sides,” Mitchell said. “I think it was just the atmosphere got everybody’s intensity up, and they just had to settle in and play.”

Platte County’s one-point lead held until Schank hit a wide-open 3 from the left corner with 5:51 left before halftime. Smithville immediately committed a turnover on the ensuing inbounds and then called a timeout to regroup.

Schank averages 2.9 points per game and hit just her sixth 3 of the season in a big spot.

“I don’t usually hit a lot of my shots, but I’ve been becoming more confident to take my shots,” Schank said.

However, the 9-5 lead remained in place until Smithville finally hit a shot at the 4:08 mark of the second quarter.

Stone then made the first of her three 3s — two in the closing stretch of the first half — and Wohlford answered with her second. The Warriors wouldn’t score again before halftime and trailed 23-10 at the break.

Platte County’s closing 11-0 run included 3-pointers from Stone and reserve junior guard Addie Ayers plus a three-point play from Barlow, who ended up scoring in double-figures for the fourth time this season and set a season-high after totaling 10 on the first three occasions while adding a team-high five assists and three steals. The Pirates scored 15 unanswered extending into the second half before Smithville senior Reese Foster ended another scoring drought.

A three-point play from Carr started a 9-2 run that included a second 3 from Ayers, who finished with six points and gave an big pump of her fist after extending Platte County’s lead to 19 with 2:16 left in the third quarter.

“When we go on those big runs, we gain a lot of energy,” Schank said.

Carr, who scored all six of her points in the third quarter while adding six rebounds and three steals, added her 3 shortly after in what ended up an insurmountable lead.

After the second 3-pointer of the first half, Wohlford didn’t score again until the fourth quarter. Schank often drew the assignment shadowing Smithville’s versatile 6-foot sharpshooter headed to play Division I at Wyoming. She finished 3 of 9 on 3-pointers, and the Warriors shot just 31 percent from the floor overall and attempted only eight free throws while struggling to consistently start offensive sets minus the primary ballhandler.

“I’m just making sure I stay locked in and that I’m focused on getting my job done, which was stopping (Wohlford),” Schank said. “I think I did a pretty good job.”

Platte County shot just 6 of 25 on 3-pointers but avoided a repeat of last year’s low-scoring loss in the district semifinals. Kearney flustered the 2024 top-seeded Pirates into an upset loss and then went on to lose to Smithville in the title game. The Warriors advanced to state and finished fourth in Class 5.

Two years ago, Platte County reached the District 8 championship game in Mitchell’s first season but lost to Lincoln Prep. The Pirates won 20 games last season but remained without a playoff berth since winning the Class 4 state title in 2009.

St. Teresa’s Academy moved over to District 8 this season after reaching the playoffs out of District 7 last season and losing to Smithville in the state quarterfinals.

Platte County 58, Van Horn 28

The Pirates overcame a slow start to record a dominating first round win Thursday at Pirate Fieldhouse.

Entering Class 5 District 8 play off of two unexpected losses in the final four games of the regular season, Platte County rolled after solving Van Horn’s determined interior defense in the opening segments. Stone hit two of her three 3-pointers and scored 10 of her game-high 22 points in the first quarter, and the Pirates led 16-13 going to the second.

The lead hit double digits before halftime, and Platte County ended up with six 3s with Stone and Ayers (nine points) splitting them evenly.

Van Horn’s effort to limit Schlake ultimately ended up with mixed results. She posted 10 points, 12 rebounds and five assists, while Barlow (eight points, three assists) and Carr (six points, five rebounds, three assists) were big parts of a strong third quarter that saw Platte County outscore the Falcons 23-3.

Platte County sophomore reserve forward Amani Harlin also scored three points — all in the second half — to round out the scoring. The Pirates have heavily relied on the four seniors and shortened the rotations for Harlin and freshman point guard Kinleigh Howren off the bench so far in the postseason.