With the disappointment fresh, Platte County’s fourth-place finish in the Class 2 MSHSAA Tennis Championships seemed an unfitting end to a memorable run. However, the reality might look a lot different in the long run.
Platte County senior Paul Havemeier prepares to hit a backhand during a doubles match in the Class 2 MSHSAA Tennis Championships third-place dual with Warrensburg on Friday at Cooper Tennis Complex in Springfield.
Platte County’s season finished with a 5-0 loss in a state semifinal to powerhouse MICDS on Thursday at Cooper Tennis Complex, and a day later, a lead after doubles gave way to a 5-3 loss to Warrensburg in the third-place match. The Pirates a bit begrudgingly accepted the second state trophy in team history, yet still continued the best run of success for a program founded in 2008-2009.
Making a third straight playoff appearance, Platte County (12-9) lost four of the seven players from last year’s Class 2 state runnerup, and the new contributors included first-year seniors Will Kimlinger and Jake Diano.
“The slight disappointment in (the loss to Warrensburg) goes away pretty quickly when you put the entire season in perspective and realize what these guys have accomplished,” Platte County coach Zach Keith said. “To stand at center court and receive a team state trophy is pretty incredible. It’s an experience that I certainly don’t take for granted, and I’m very thankful these guys all got to experience it.”
Platte County seniors Paul Havemeier, Jack Bralley and Hayden Cook were involved for a second straight year. The Pirates quickly rebuilt despite losing four-year No. 1 Gavin Nichols, a four-time district champion and state qualifier in singles.
Platte County senior Will Kimlinger hits a backhand shot during a doubles match in the Class 2 MSHSAA Tennis Championships third-place dual with Warrensburg on Friday at Cooper Tennis Complex in Springfield.
Havemeier played singles only as a first-year junior and moved all the way from No. 6 to No. 1 this season. Bralley spent all four years in the lineup and slotted in at No. 2 for a second straight season, while Cook occupied the No. 3 spot in both of his years as a varsity contributor for Platte County. However, the key for the Pirates stemmed from the ability for Kimlinger, Diano and sophomore No. 6 Mitchell McBratney to make an immediate impact.
In fact, Havemeier (singles) and Bralley/Cook (doubles) both earned individual district championships, while Kimlinger (singles) and Diano/McBratney (doubles) both came up one win short of earning state berths in the recent Class 2 District 8 individual tournament. The Pirates then carried the momentum into the team bracket and recorded dominant 5-0 shutouts over Kearney and William Chrisman to earn a return to the playoffs.
Platte County then reversed the results of a prior matchup with Branson and staged an unlikely comeback to earn a 5-4 win clinched in the early evening in Diano’s three-set victory that required a 14-12 super tiebreaker to decide. Branson defeated Platte County 7-2 during the regular season.
That set up a rematch with MICDS (14-0), which defeated Platte County 5-1 in last year’s state championship dual. The Rams pulled this year’s semifinal sweep on the way to a second straight Class 2 title.
Platte County senior Jack Bralley prepares to hit a serve during a match in the Class 2 MSHSAA Tennis Championships third-place dual with Warrensburg on Friday at Cooper Tennis Complex in Springfield.
“MICDS was the best team in any class in the entire state,” Keith said. “We were not necessarily a threat to beat them, but we certainly played good tennis against them and did our best to make them earn the victory. I thought we played some of our best tennis of the year against them, but they were just so good that the scoreboard doesn’t really reflect that.”
Platte County then took a 2-1 lead over Warrensburg (17-2) in the third-place match after doubles but missed a chance at a bigger advantage. The Tigers’ team of Nick Staab and Kaleb Smarr trailed 6-3 at No. 3 doubles before winning the final five games for an 8-6 victory over McBratney and Diano at No. 5.
Bralley earned Platte County’s lone win in singles, while Warrensburg clinched the dual by taking the Nos. 1, 3, 4 and 5 matches. McBratney was also facing a match point at No. 6.
Consistent with duals all season, Platte County used Havemeier and Bralley at No. 1 and Cook and Kimlinger at No. 2 in doubles. Both teams earned victories to establish the early lead against Warrensburg, but the Pirates were unable to earn at least a split of the six singles matches to finish the season with a win.
“I think it’s easy to look at the 0-2 result in the final four not understand how competitive our guys were in both matches,” Keith said. “The Warrensburg match is the one that I know our guys would probably like to play again. Warrensburg deserved to win, and they definitely outplayed us in singles. But I really feel like we didn’t collectively play our best tennis.”
Platte County only three playoff appearances in program history, all in successive seasons. The Pirates lost in the quarterfinals to Helias in 2023 and have now earned state trophies in each of the past two.
Signed to continue playing tennis at St. Mary’s (Minnesota) in college, Havemeier went 1-2 in his first and only trip to state as an individual. Platte County goes into next year with five straight district champions in singles, while Bralley and Cook became the first two-time medalists in doubles after finishing sixth in Class 2. They were eight as juniors.
Platte County has sent at least one doubles team to state in four straight seasons, and Bralley leaves as the program’s only three-time qualifier in doubles.
