For the second time this season, Platte County lost back-to-back games to geographical and Class 5 District 8 rivals, and the Pirates appear to head into the stretch run at another crossroads.
Platte County wound up second in Kearney’s Bulldog Classic despite going 1-2 in a unique outcome thanks to a six-team field. The Pirates opened with a victory over Lafayette (St. Joseph) in Pool B play and then advanced to the title game despite the second loss this season to Smithville two nights later thanks to point differential.
In the championship, Kearney surged in the second half for a 50-43 victory Saturday night at Kearney High School. Platte County’s losses on back-to-back nights were reminiscent of defeats agains the same two teams in a span of four days in December. The Pirates had won three of four since then but dropped to 7-6 overall.
Kearney won the first meeting between the two teams 68-63 in overtime.
In the rematch, Platte County led 30-26 at halftime but totaled just 13 points in all of the second half. The Pirates had just five in the third quarter, including a 3-pointer from senior guard and leading scorer Judah Vignery while junior forward Jaden Peterson had seven of his eight points after halftime.
Platte County made just two field goals in the second half, the other a 3-pointer for senior guard Isaac Dittrick.
Vignery finished with a team-high 10 points — seven in the first half to help build the early lead. He had one of six 3-pointers before halftime for the Pirates while senior guard Brady Wetzel (eight points) added two and Dittrick (six points), senior point guard Connor Currence (six points) and junior reserve guard Anthony Morrison (five points) each had one.
With a schedule delayed due to inclement weather, Platte County opened the tournament Wednesday night with a second victory this season over Lafayette — 62-52, an almost identical result to a 62-53 triumph in December that incidentally also came right before back-to-back losses to Kearney and Smithville. Vignery totaled a game-high 31 points this time around with four 3-pointers and a 9-for-11 performance on free throws while adding a team-high seven rebounds.
Platte County led 23-16 at halftime, only for Lafayette to make a push and tie score 34-34 in the fourth quarter.
Morrison’s second of two 3-pointers on the way to nine points and two free throws from Vignery kickstarted a 12-0 run spanning into the fourth quarter that led to a 46-34 Platte County advantage with under 6 minutes to play. The Pirates finished 21 of 29 overall on free throws — 5 of 8 for Peterson (12 points) — to hold the advantage and supply a margin of victory that became critical.
Smithville lost to Lafayette and the 62-55 win over Platte County led to a three-way tie between the teams in Pool B.
Platte County advanced with the biggest win of the three teams. Vignery kept the Pirates close to Smithville with a double-double of 21 points and 11 rebounds on Friday night despite not hitting a 3-pointer.
Peterson added 11 points, and the pair combined to go 12-for-15 on free throws with Vignery hitting all seven of his attempts. Wetzel added six points, while junior reserve forward Archie Wesley had four points for a second straight game. The Pirates received uncommonly diverse offense with junior forward Hayden Schultz (four), Currence (three), Dittrick (two), Morrison (two) and senior forward Jacob Isaacson (two) all showing up in the scoring column.
However, Platte County didn’t receive enough support for the top two scorers to upend Smithville, which hit 10 3-pointers.
Platte County now returns to Suburban Conference White Division play with a 2-1 record, facing off against Grain Valley (7-5, 1-1). Both teams have beaten Belton and lost to Raytown.
Grain Valley won three meetings between the two teams last year.
After the conference matchup, Platte County hosts Winnetonka on Thursday before participating in Grain Valley’s Sonic Showdown next week. The Pirates won the tournament title in 2021 and 2022 and placed third last year after losing to the hosts in the semifinals.
