Eric Mitchell understood the challenge of taking over a program with a recent history of struggles.
Platte County senior forward Reese Pickett takes a shot against Belton on Monday at Pirate Fieldhouse.
With a roster building experience on how to win, Platte County’s veteran coach knew not all games would go according to plan. That made Monday’s performance in a comeback win over Belton so rewarding. Platte County overcame early struggles on senior night eventually pulled away to a rewarding 50-43 victory at Pirate Fieldhouse to lock up third place in the Suburban Conference White Division standings.
Platte County senior Reese Pickett led the way start to finish with a game-high 16 points, while fellow senior Joslyn Hupp converted a key three-point play late on her only field goal.
“It wasn’t maybe the way we planned it, but as I told them, in a basketball season, you have five games where you’re basically unstoppable and you’ve got five where you’re not very good at all and the rest are somewhere in the middle,” Mitchell said. “I’d probably say that was one where we weren’t very good, but we did find a way to win.”
Platte County (14-8) honored seniors Pickett, Hupp, Mackenzie Shields and Morgan Stewart before the game then put all four into the starting lineup — an appropriate opportunity to the quartet of four-year players who endured three straight losing seasons to get to this point.
However, the emotion didn’t immediately provide the expected lift. Platte County committed turnovers on the first four possession and six of the first seven overall.
Belton shot out to an 8-0 lead behind a pair of early 3s for Anna Shrum, who finished with a team-high 12 points, and Mitchell took a timeout with 4 minutes, 9 seconds on the clock in the first quarter, looking to solve the trapping defense causing problems. Platte County routinely settled for deep jump shots in addition to the turnover issues.
Platte County senior forward Joslyn Hupp goes up for a shot against Belton on Monday at Pirate Fieldhouse.
“I didn’t think our energy was very good in the first half, and somehow, we found a way,” Mitchell said. “Second quarter, I thought it got a little bit better. The first quarter was not good at all, and that’s something this team lives on. We’ve got to be able to get on the floor for loose balls; we’ve got to tie it up; we’ve got to be aggressive in the passing lanes. Our defense will help drive our offense.”
Pickett provided the necessary response, converting a three-point play after drawing a foul on a nifty floater in the lane and then adding a deep jumper from the left wing. After going nearly five minutes without scoring, Platte County drew back within 8-7 but went into the second quarter down 12-7.
Without Pickett’s spark, the eventual outcome would have been even more unlikely.
Belton ended up with an 8-2 run, only for Platte County to again respond with a quick burst. Six unanswered points included baskets for sophomore center Addy Schlake on both ends of the surge to force a Belton timeout with 3 1/2 minutes left before halftime.
Belton ensured Platte County kept Platte County from taking a lead with Kennedy Holloway hitting a 3 out of the timeout. However, Pickett finished the first half with nine points, and the teams went into the break tied 20-20. She hit a pair of baskets around a split of two free throws for sophomore Lauren Stone, who finished with five points.
Platte County sophomore Addy Schlake throws a pass on a fast break against Belton on Monday at Pirate Fieldhouse.
“Reese had a really nice game,” Mitchell said. “She’s kind of turning the corner. She had a little hard luck in the shooting column at times, but we knew to just tell her to keep taking those shots. Those are good lucks, and they’re going to fall. Tonight, a lot of them did fall for her, and she did a great job of keeping us in the game.”
Platte County took its first lead on the opening possession of the third quarter with Schlake, who finished with eight points, grabbing a hustle offensive rebound and putback to make it a 7-0 run. The teams then went back-and-forth until junior guard Lydia Doole hit the first of her two 3s at the 4:56 mark to give Platte County a 29-25 lead and the first double-digit advantage of the night.
In what became the back-and-forth theme, Belton’s 9-0 run erased the lead and forced another timeout from Mitchell. Belton then added Shrum’s final 3 right before the third quarter buzzer to take a 37-33 lead into the fourth.
Platte County seemed to take control with six straight to start the fourth quarter, capped with a steal and layup for Stone.
However, Belton hit two more 3s around Doole’s second triple to take a 43-42 lead. Those ended up the final field goals of the night for Belton.
Platte County’s final surge included a three-point play for Hupp, who finished with just five points — all in the second half. Doole, Pickett and Hupp combined to go 6-for-7 at the line late to seal the victory.
Platte County junior guard Lydia Doole attempts to go around a Belton defender on Monday at Pirate Fieldhouse.
“We made some plays when we needed to down the stretch,” Mitchell said. “Credit to Belton. They came in here and didn’t just roll over. They played tonight, and we had to match their effort. Lydia did hit that big shot for us, and Jos maybe didn’t have her best offensive night but she was really active for us defensively.”
Despite 19 total turnovers, Platte County made it two straight conference wins in what eventually became an even 4-4 split of White Division matchups — losing both to co-champions Raytown and Grain Valley but sweeping both Belton and William Chrisman. Doole put up 10 points in a rare appearance off the bench and tied with Schlake for the team lead in rebounds with six. Schlake scored eight in addition to two steals and two blocks.
Only six players scored with sophomore guard Haley Barlow also coming off the bench with Doole to score six and dish out three assists. Hupp added five rebounds and two blocks.
Raytown 51, Platte County 47
In what became another positive moral victory, the Pirates led early and nearly scored an upset of Class 6-ranked Raytown on Thursday at Raytown High School.
Platte County lost the first matchup with Raytown by 24 and a January meeting with Grain Valley by 35 two weeks later. The rematches of those games a month later resulted in a 13-point and two-possession loss. The Pirates were within eight of Grain Valley in the second matchup before giving up a few late baskets.
On Thursday against Raytown, Platte County bolted to a 16-10 lead in the first quarter and went into halftime down just 22-21. The Pirates ended up shooting 41.9 percent from the floor but hit only three 3s — all from Doole — while committing 22 turnovers.
Doole and Hupp finished with 11 points apiece to lead Platte County, while Hupp and Schlake both added eight rebounds. Mitchell used only six players with Barlow (eight), Stone (seven), Schlake (seven) and Pickett (three) rounding out the short rotation. Schlake added four assists and two blocks for the Pirates.
Platte County finishes the regular season this week with a road game at North Kansas City on Thursday and a rescheduled home game with Oak Park on Friday. The latter will have a 5:30 p.m. start and serve as the first half of a doubleheader with the Pirates boys hosting Grandview the same night.
