Platte County likely closes story on current home gym with rout of Kearney

Twice in the second half, Chandavian Bradley brought a tightly packed, boisterous crowd to hysterics with with a highlight reel dunk.

Platte County’s star senior forward overcame early foul trouble to help put the finishing touches on a more-dominant-than-indicated 52-41 nonconference rivalry victory over Kearney on Friday night in the home opener at Platte County High School. He combined with senior guard Boston Wahlert to account for 33 of the points, but the energy truthfully started to build well before the anticipated tipoff.

Coming off a blowout loss earlier in the week at Lafayette, Platte County wanted to change the directory.

“They brought the energy to the practice for the last couple of days,” Platte County coach Rick Hodge said. “We got ran off the floor Monday. Tuesday, we took a day away and did a service project, and they came with energy Wednesday and Thursday. I told them this game was won Wednesday and Thursday — not tonight. It was from them. It was their dialogue with one another; it was their energy and sharing the ball. Were we perfect tonight? No. We weren’t, but I think we’re growing.”

Bradley scored 15 of his game-high 19 points in the second half, while junior guard Judah Vignery added seven of his nine points after halftime for Platte County (3-4), which has yet to win two win straight early in a season where Hodge must replace all but one starter and about 90 percent of the offensive production from a year ago. The Pirates led by 17 twice early in the fourth quarter — first after Bradley stepped out and hit his second 3-pointer of the half and again when Vignery made a strong move to the basket, converted a layup and then added a free throw for a three-point play after drawing a foul.

After a Kearney basket with just over 5 minutes left, Bradley went up for a one-handed dunk to make it 51-32 to end the competitive portion of the night.

“I think it was just stuff that was bound to happen at some point within the game,” Bradley said. “We couldn’t really take a big margin in the first half, but we knew that once we came out in the second half that we’ll be refreshed and we’re going to be able to do whatever we need to because we know how they’re playing at that point. So we just start taking off and doing what we need to do to get the win.”

Platte County struggled on free throws late, while Kearney turned up the defensive pressure to close on a 9-1 run. The Pirates led nearly the entire way, going up 3-0 early before briefly trailing 4-3.

Wahlert turned up the offense with the first of his two 3-pointers starting a run of seven unanswered points to give Platte County the lead for good. Bradley picked up his second foul and went to the bench with four points with under 2 minutes left in the first quarter, and the Pirates maintaining a 12-6 lead.

Platte County at first maintained, but a 3-pointer for Manny Linthacum cut Kearney’s deficit in half to 14-11 early in the second quarter. The Pirates then received a big boost from sophomore reserve Jaden Peterson, who converted a three-point play off a third-chance putback and then hit a jumper on the next trip down to push the advantage to 19-11.

“Jaden gave us a little bit of a spark there in that first half, and you know, Boston Wahlert gave us energy tonight,” Hodge said.

Wahlert put up 12 of his 14 points in the first half, and a transition layup and a second 3-pointer put Platte County up 23-13 and 26-15. Kearney hit a bucket late to pull within 26-17 at the break but couldn’t take advantage of a cold spell from the Pirates early in the third quarter.

Platte County’s lead went down to 28-22 before a 7-0 run that included a breakaway two-handed dunk for Bradley and a floating jumper that gently rolled home for senior forward Trevor Redding, who finished with four points.

Kearney didn’t come closer the rest of the way. Bradley, Wahlert and Vignery continued to do most of the scoring with senior guard Parker Amos limited to a single free throw during the opening minutes as the only other scorer on the stat sheet.

Wahret emerging as a dangerous offensive option could be key after he spent much of last year on the fringe of varsity playing time while occasionally showing his scoring potential.

“This year it’s about him actually doing the job we need him to do,” Bradley said. “Last year, we had enough pieces to work around it, and we could get away with some of the small stuff. But this year, since we have a less deep roster, he’s been able to step up into a (scoring) role.”

Platte County continues to show the high-scoring trio mostly needs to function at one time, but the Pirates also continued to show off a tendency for zone defense and timely offensive rebounding. They also provided what now should be the final chapter in the high school’s historic “north” gym.

The last game on the 2022 portion of Platte County’s schedule will be played Monday afternoon against rival Smithville as part of the 12 Courts of Christmas showcase at HyVee Arena. The Pirates should open 2023 in the new fieldhouse.

Originally, most thought the new venue would be open ahead of the matchup with Kearney, meaning last year’s Class 5 District 8 opening round blowout of Kansas City East would be the finale. Instead, this year’s growing and evolving group wrote one final memorable chapter.

“I’m really glad that if this our last game (here) that that was the one that will be our last game,” Bradley said. “But I’m also very ready and very prepared to be able to go into that new gym.”

Lafayette 68, Platte County 47

The Pirates went into the rivalry game against Kearney on a two-game losing skid after a blowout loss Monday in St. Joseph.

Falling behind from the outset, Platte County couldn’t catch up while shooting just 3-for-17 on 3-pointers and 8-for-19 on free throws, while committing 20 turnovers. Bradley led the way with 14 points and eight rebounds, while Wahlert added nine points and three assists.

Vignery’s run of double-digit scoring efforts ended with an eight-point showing, while Redding added six.

Platte County did receive a longer look at the role players with senior forward Kai Oates scoring five, and junior guard Connor Currence putting up three points and four rebounds. Peterson also had two points.