Platte County spent the past two seasons knocking on the door of program history behind a deep list of capable scorers, reliable defenders and determined leaders.
Platte County junior Judah Vignery takes a shot during a game last season at Platte County High School.
Now the task of making the recent results more tradition than fleeting history falls to an almost entirely new cast following the graduation of five accomplished seniors. The Pirates return only starter, but an important one in 6-foot-6 senior forward Chandavian Bradley, while counting on the emergence of seniors Boston Wahlert and Parker Amos and junior Judah Vignery from role players to key cogs.
Beyond the most experienced quartet, Platte County will have plenty of questions to answer and no reason to run from the obvious.
“We do not have the depth or the scoring potential of the last two seasons,” veteran head coach Rick Hodge said. “We hope to find other ways to instill our collective talents for the betterment of the team and improve on those as the season progresses.”
Platte County enters off of one of the two best two-year stretches in program history with Jarett Mueller, Jace Trimble, Brody Fulk, Isaac Havemeier and Eli Nelson huge contributors. Mueller became the first player for the Pirates to earn a spot on the Class 5 Missouri Basketball Coaches Association all-state team — and first to make any list since Freddie Manyawu in 2011 (Class 4), while Fulk (9.2 points per game), Trimble (12.2 points per game, team leader in assists and steals) and Havemeier (9.7 points and 10.8 rebounds per game) were starters and honorable mention All-Suburban Conference Blue Division honorees as seniors. The Pirates shared back-to-back conference titles while winning 20 games in 2020-21 and 22 more in 2021-22.
While Mueller led Platte County in scoring each of the past two seasons (15.0 as a junior and 18.0 as a senior), Bradley scored in double figures in all but one game in the 2022 portion of his junior season, rapidly developing into a multi-dimensional threat as first-year starter. The Division I football recruit committed to Tennessee averaged 13.7 points and 7.0 rebounds per game.
Platte County senior Boston Wahlert drives to the basket in a game against Grandview last season at Platte County High School.
Alongside Nelson as mostly a defensive specialist, Vignery played the most substantial bench role for Platte County, averaging 4.2 points per game while also providing a versatile guarding option as a sophomore. Wahlert showed flashes of scoring potential but averaged just 1.6 points per game, and Amos served as an outside shooting option and added 1.5 points per game.
Hodge also expects sophomore guard Jaden Peterson to take on a much expanded role after playing just bit minutes a year ago, and senior forwards Trevor Redding and Kai Oates will supply needed size alongside Bradley with junior guard Connor Currence the last piece of a smaller rotation.
“(We need to) continually improve as the season goes along,” Hodge said. “We will not be as good early in the season because of our lack of experience returning. We want to identify our style and build on that and not the identity of the previous two years.”
Indeed, Platte County spent the past two years as a well-rounded unit capable of scoring in bunches or defending in long stretches deepening on the opposition. Yet, the Pirates were twice denied just the sixth playoff appearance in program history and just the third since winning three in a span from 1954 to 1960. The others were in 2004 and 2010.
Kearney upset Platte County in the 2021 Class 5 District 16 championship game, and last season ended in uncharacteristic blowout fashion with second-seeded William Chrisman pulling away for a 78-49 victory over the top-seeded Pirates in the reconfigured Class 5 District 8 setup.
Platte County finished 22-5 last season and locked up the first back-to-back 20 win seasons for the program since since 2004 and 2005. The Pirates’ other four losses were by a combined 19 points with two of them coming in overtime — one in double overtime — to Ruskin that ultimately forced the share of the conference title.
The first look at Platte County’s retooled lineup comes in Tuesday’s Savannah Invitational opening-round game against Maryville with the semifinals and consolation semifinals scheduled for Thursday and place games on Saturday. The Pirates will also have a much different schedule this season after moving up to the White Division, which offers somewhat of a reprieve from recent years’ home-and-homes with the likes of Ruskin, Grandview, Raytown South, Kearney and Smithville.
Platte County will be grouped with Grain Valley, Raytown, Belton and, coincidentally, William Chrisman.
