Platte County provided a potential preview of postseason individual entries during Friday’s Tana Stock Invitational at Oak Park High School in Kansas City. The results were very encouraging for the Pirates.
One of only three Class 2 teams, Platte County placed second out of 11 teams and finished just one point back of champion Park Hill. Both doubles teams and the two singles players all advanced into the championship side of the brackets.
Platte County senior Macy Doll and sophomore Clare Hayter won the No. 2 doubles flight after entering the bracket as the No. 1 team, while juniors Katelyn Newberry (third, No. 1 singles) and junior Jayne Muir (second, No. 2 singles) both outperformed their seed.
“With the way everything worked out, we were one point behind Park Hill so any matches we lost would’ve pushed us over the edge,” Platte County coach Scott Blakley said. “That might be the highest we’ve ever finished in that particular tournament.”
Platte County’s team of senior Ellie Kaser and junior Macie Keith bounced back from a semifinal loss to place third at No. 1 doubles in perhaps the most competitive bracket top to bottom. Kaser and Keith captured last season’s Class 2 District 8 title and went on to become the first in program history to win a state match in doubles, going 1-2 in that bracket.
With the top two players in the lineup seemingly a lock to play doubles, that appears to leave Newberry (No. 4) and Muir (No. 6) — a pair of second-year contributors — as the likely single entrants in the Class 2 District 8 individual tournament scheduled for Friday at St. Pius X’s home courts in Kansas City.
Newberry entered as the No. 4 seed in No. 1 singles and lost 8-3 to Park Hill South’s Finley Mitchell in the semifinals. Mitchell went on to sweep the championship mach with Park Hill’s Anna Chambers, while Newberry beat third-seeded Sara Gupta of Central (St. Joseph) 8-5 in the third-place match after winning the final four games.
“Katelyn Newberry had a great tournament,” Blakley said. “With the way everything worked out
Newberry played in the Class 2 District 8 team lineup but was not an individual entrant.
Muir played singles last season at districts and went 1-1 but held the No. 3 seed in Friday’s No. 2 singles bracket. She moved into the finals with an 8-0 sweep of Oak Park’s Eva Hopkins before beating No. 3-seeded Ellie Jura of Central (St. Joseph) 8-1.
Park Hill’s Chloe Falkenhain won the championship match 8-3.
Hayter, who moved from No. 6 to No. 3 in the lineup, played singles and Doll — a three-year contributor — doubles a year ago at districts but have been a successful duo all year in the No. 2 spot for Platte County. The championship run included just five lost games in dominant victories over Kearney’s Maddie Korthanke and Leighton Murray, Park Hill’s Ali Bray and Brynn Wilkens and Truman’s Stepfani Lopez and Kennedy Catlett.
Kaser and Keith lost 8-6 to Park Hill’s Ireland Callagy and Y-Quira Lacy in the matchup, but Platte County’s second-seeded team came back to dominate Blue Springs’ duo of Genevieve Melton and Eliana Barrios in the third-place match.
“It was a really good match, and (Ellie and Macie) are playing really good tennis,” Blakley said.
The finalists in singles and doubles in the Class 2 District 8 individual tournament advance on to state, while the team bracket starts the following week with Platte County the No. 1 seed. Kaser looks to become the first three-time qualifier in program history while Keith could become the fourth to qualify at least twice in doubles.
Platte County 6, Park Hill 3
In a week marred by weather and cancellations, the Pirates picked up an impressive road victory Monday at Barry Road Park in Kansas City.
Park Hill won at No. 1 doubles in the same matchup with the same score as the Northland semifinals, but Kaser and Keith came back to take the top two singles matches in an important reversal for the final result. Platte County led 2-1 out of doubles after Doll and Hayter (8-3 at No. 2) and Newberry/Muir (8-1 at No. 3) posted dominant performances.
Having dropped the No. 1 doubles match 8-6, Kaser dominated 8-2 at No. 1 singles, while Keith held on late for a 9-7 victory that became even more important after Chambers beat Hayter 9-8 at No. 3. The No. 5 singles match also played to a 9-8 tiebreaker with Doll winning, while Muir added an 8-3 victory at No. 6 over Wilkens.
“We had a really good dual,” Blakley said.
Platte County was also scheduled to play Blue Springs South, Pembroke Hill and Barstow over the next three days with all three canceled due to weather or other scheduling circumstances.
