Platte County goes into postseason looking for answers to recent skid

Platte County goes into the postseason facing adversity not yet seen in a resurgently successful season.

Raytown South came back for a 53-50 victory to spoil senior night at Pirate Fieldhouse on Tuesday, and the Pirates dropped their regular season finale on the road at Grandview three nights later. They go into Class 5 District 8 play having lost a season-high four straight overall in the wake of a knee injury to senior starting guard Isaac Dittrick that turned out to be a torn ACL.

Platte County coach Rick Hodge ended up needing to tinker with rotations and lineup combinations in the closing stretch ahead of Thursday’s first round district matchup with Smithville at Winnetonka High School.

“I’m not worried because they’re still playing hard and still competing,” he said. “At this time of year, you’ve got to be crisp and sharp with everything you’re doing in practice and everything you’re doing in games. You saw it tonight (vs. Raytown South) that when we’re not staying with our guy or don’t get the box-out, a lot of those little things can add up and then you lose a one-possession game. We’re looking at quality of play as opposed to result, but that’s about to change.”

On Tuesday, Platte County honored five key contributors including two-year starter and leading scorer Judah Vignery plus point guard Connor Currence, Brady Wetzel, Jacob Isaacson and Dittrick. All have started at least a portion of this season, and Hodge used the healthy quarts plus junior forward Jaden Peterson to open the matchup with Raytown South (15-11).

Peterson ended up scoring the game’s first four points before Vignery, who recently became just the eighth in program history score 1,000 for his career, added a layup and a 3-pointer to put Platte County ahead 9-4. The long run of mostly uninterrupted play led to Hodge using his four seniors longer than expected.

Platte County (13-12) then seemed to take all momentum into the second quarter.

Raytown South tried to hold the ball for a last shot in the first quarter, but Vignery notched a steal and went in for a layup. The Cardinals then immediately threw the inbounds pass straight to Peterson, who missed a quick shot but hit a putback at the buzzer.

Platte County led 15-6 at that point, and junior guard Anthony Morrison knifed in for a layup early in the second quarter to increase the lead to a game-best 11.

“I was happy with our start and the energy,” Hodge said. “

Raytown South then took some advantage of Vignery’s normal rest period to start the second quarter with a pair of 3-pointers. He re-entered and hit a left corner 3-pointer to put the Pirates back up 20-12 and survive the first charge.

Instead, Raytown South answered with an 8-0 run to tie the score at 20-20. The Cardinals hit three of their seven 3-pointers in the second quarter.

Platte County ended up taking a 27-22 lead into halftime thanks to a steal and layup for Currence and then another turnover on an inbounds pass that gave Vignery an easy layup. Peterson’s late 3-pointer inside of a minute made the lead two possessions again.

Vignery scored 12 of his team-high 21 points in the first half, while Peterson had 11 of his 17 before the break.

“Any time Judah is on the floor he just gives you a lot,” Hodge said. “Obviously scoring, but also the ballhandling vs. pressure. He also gives you the passing, and he’s guarding their best player the whole time on the defensive end. You have to feel good when he’s out to just maintain and keep where we are so we were happy at that point.”

Platte County then started to uncharacteristically react to the emotions of a physical game.

Currence, who finished with four points and two steals, picked up a personal foul with 4 minutes, 53 seconds left in the third quarter, and officials added a technical foul based on his reaction. Raytown South split the free throws and scored on the resulting possession to tie the score at 29-29 while Currence went to the bench with four fouls. The Cardinals then took their first lead at 32-31 on a 3-pointer from guard Malik Tillman.

This provided a rare lapse for a Platte County in a season where second-half comebacks have been a regular occurence.

“The physicality of the game got to us a little bit,” Hodge said. “We started getting frustrated and losing our poise. We keep talking to kids about playing through it. You can’t gesture to officials; you can’t speak to officials. Just keep playing. I think when we were trailing and the other team picked up the physicality then we get frustrated.”

The two teams went back and forth the rest of the third quarter, but a layup for Raytown South’s Ryan Blankenbanker at the buzzer put Raytown South up one. The Cardinals then took their biggest lead to that point at four with a 3 from Travon Henderson to start the fourth. He finished with a team-high 21, including three 3s.

Platte County would not lead again with Vignery, Peterson, Morrison (eight points) and Currence accounting for all the scoring.

“When we were hitting shots, they were hitting shots also,” Hodge said. “We weren’t getting the defensive stops we needed.”

Despite the struggles, Raytown South provided an opening with turnover issues. Currence produced a steal and layup with under 2 minutes left to pull Platte County within 51-50. The Cardinals immediately turned it over to start a sloppy stretch of play but ultimately benefited from not being called for a single foul in the fourth quarter.

Platte County shot just two free throws total — a pair Peterson hit in the third quarter — while Raytown South shot eight total and made six.

Platte County junior forward Archie Wesley tracked down a loose ball in a scramble that led to a timeout with 59.1 seconds left, and the two teams immediately exchanged two more turnovers in the Pirates’ frontcourt after the stoppage. Hodge then took a second timeout with 36.2 on the clock, and the resulting possession ended with a missed shot inside from Wesley.

Raytown South went to the free throw line with 18.2 seconds left and hit a pair.

Platte County would end up with two looks at a tying 3-pointer in the remainder out of timeouts. On the first, Vignery, who ended up with a double-double thanks to 10 rebounds plus a team-high three steals, missed from the top of the key only for the loose-ball rebound to go out on Raytown South. Morrison then caught a pass with 3.9 seconds left in the left corner and hoisted up a shot as Vignery pleaded for a pass.

Morrison’s shot also missed, bringing a sudden and stark end to a competitive game.

“We gave ourselves a chance,” Hodge said. “Judah had the open look top of the key and then Anthony in the corner. If one of those goes down, we’re probably going to overtime and would have taken our chances there.”

Platte County had not lost more than two straight at any point this season but have not won since beating William Chrisman three days after Dittrick suffered his knee injury in a win over Grain Valley. The Pirates missed out on a shot at a share of the Suburban Conference White Division title after back-to-back losses to Belton and Raytown and then couldn’t avoid a lengthier skid in the two nonconference matchups with former Blue Division rivals.

With Dittrick out, Morrison has received the majority of starts, but Hodge has also given more extended looks or additional playing time to Isaacson, Wesley, Wetzel, junior Hayden Schultz, junior Brett Mueller and sophomores Jayden Martin, Brennan McLaughlin, Jack Utz and Braiden Stevens.

How the minutes break down against fourth-seeded Smithville (13-12) in the Class 5 District 8 opener remains to be season.

Platte County ended up with the No. 5 seed despite having a win over No. 1 Winnetonka (21-5) and two vs. No. 3 William Chrisman (13-13). The Pirates have two losses each to second-seeded Kearney (13-12) and Smithville, which won a December regular season meeting and a January matchup in Kearney’s Bulldog Classic.

“Since Isaac Dittrick went down with that injury, we’re still looking at other things as far as players and increasing playing time,” Hodge said. “We’re still trying to search to get into a little bit of a rhythm with our rotations. We’re trying to get guys different breaks or rest time to go for the long haul so we are sharp.”

Grandview 59, Platte County 45

Peterson (16 points), Vignery (14 points) and Morrison (eight points) again did the majority of scoring in Friday’s road loss to one of Class 4’s top teams.

Platte County shot just 37.8% from the floor, and seven 3-pointers — three for Vignery, two for Morrison and one each for Peterson and Wetzel — accounted for half of 14 made shots. The Pirates were also just 10-for-19 on free throws and had only 15 rebounds in the game total.

Grandview led just 18-16 after the first quarter but held a 12-point advantage going to the fourth quarter.

In addition to the top three scorers, Martin added two points, while Currence and Utz each hit a free throw to finish with one point each. Vignery grabbed a team-high four rebounds and notched two steals, while Currence added three boards and three assists.