No matter the productive momentum of positive point differential, Eric Mitchell didn’t stop coaching with passion and vigor.
Platte County junior forward Lauren Stone takes a 3-pointer against Smithville on Monday at Pirate Fieldhouse.
Platte County’s second-year coach eventually allowed for a celebration of a comfortable 47-35 victory over rival Smithville on Monday at Pirate Fieldhouse. The Pirates led by as much as 22 and the advantage never dipped into single digits during the second half, even while dealing with some nerves in handling a late push.
The result seemed perfect for Mitchell — important to Class 5 District 8 seeding with positive and negative takeaways.
“That’s probably a little bit of my personality,” Mitchell said. “We always try to talk a lot about not looking at the score. I challenged them the last game at Van Horn when we were up big at half that it was 0-0, and we did a great job. It’s kind of the same scenario here. We can’t just be happy with a lead. We’ve got to continue to execute and understand in those moments: what’s the best play to execute.
“That’s just growing, and we’re getting there. It’s December, and we have a long way to go to the end. Hopefully, this was a good learning moment.”
Platte County junior forward scored a game-high 24 points, nearly matching the career-high of 25 she put up a week earlier in a win over St. Michael the Archangel. Only five players scored for the Pirates as Mitchell shortened rotations with both teams attempting to utilize demanding pressure defense.
Smithville committed 26 turnovers, and Stone also notched a team-high five steals, while junior Addy Schlake added three and senior Delaney Childers, junior Haley Barlow and sophomore Rylee Carr adding two apiece. The Warriors managed only 12 field goals total, and half came in the fourth quarter.
Platte County senior Lydia Doole makes a pass in traffic against Smithville on Monday at Pirate Fieldhouse.
Chris Stubbs, former head coach for Platte County and current assistant to Mitchell, installed the defensive gameplan.
“He did a good job, and we coached it up,” Mitchell said. “They executed. The girls did a great job executing it tonight. It kept working, and we just stuck with it. It paid off in a lot of success.”
Platte County (7-2) led 24-12 at halftime, and senior guard Lydia Doole hit her third and final 3-pointer early in the third quarter on her way to finishing with nine points. Stone added her fourth moments later to push the lead to 18. At that point, the Pirates were on a 21-4 run with all of the points coming on 3-pointers.
Schlake finished an inside basket through contact moments later and missed a free throw that would have made it a 3-point play with 6 minutes 4 seconds left in the third quarter. That marked the Platte County’s first basket inside the arc since the first quarter.
Platte County’s advantage swelled to 38-16 on a drive-and-dish from Doole to Schlake for a layup. She scored all six of her points in the third quarter with 2-of-7 shooting on free throws limiting her offense.
Doole added a team-high six assists and five rebounds, and Schlake led Platte County with 10 rebounds to accentuate their offensive contributions.
Platte County junior guard Hayley Barlow dribbles through traffic against Smithville on Monday at Pirate Fieldhouse.
Smithville had just one field goal in the third quarter but used its own pressure defense to start making a comeback late. The Warriors drew within 43-31 with 3:49 left in regulation on the second 3-pointer for sophomore Peyton Wohlford but ultimately ran out of time make a serious push.
“We were just trying to hold on to the ball and get the best shot out of our offense,” Childers said. “We definitely felt the pressure.”
Smithville led 2-0 early but immediately gave up nine unanswered points and trailed the rest of the way.
Stone jumpstarted the offense for Platte County with a pair of long jumpers that allowed Mitchell to deploy the full-court trapping pressure with Childers, a rangy defensive specialist, at the front. She earned the start with Carr (six points) coming off the bench thanks to her developing roll as the key to creating stops for the Pirates.
“It’s what I am; it’s who I am,” said Childers, who finished with two points and three assists. “I love the defense side of basketball.”
Doole, Carr (six points) and Stone combined to hit five 3-pointers in the second quarter as Platte County slowly pulled away. Stone hit the final two, one with 9 seconds left in the half to push the Pirates’ lead to double digits for the first time.
Platte County junior Addy Schlake goes in for a layup against Smithville on Monday at Pirate Fieldhouse.
Platte County finished with eight 3-pointers, which represented half of the made field goals overall.
“It’s kind of who we are,” Mitchell said. “We tell them to look for the best shot we can get, and we’ve got some girls who can shoot it so we just let them go. If they’re in rhythm and ready to catch and shoot and have an open look, we’re not going to tell them not to shoot it. They’re starting to feel their way with that, and they’re shooting the ball better.”
Platte County 44, St. Pius X 37
The Pirates ran the current winning streak to four ahead of the holiday break with a nonconference victory Wednesday in Kansas City.
Schlake totaled a team-high 11 points, her second game in double figures this season and first since the season-opener at Savannah to go with a team-high eight rebounds. Barlow added 10 points for Platte County, which started slow and led just 17-14 at halftime. However, the Pirates notched 13 steals — four from Stone and three each for Schlake and Childers — in another solid defensive effort.
Platte County shot 11 of 19 on free throw with Schlake attempting 10 and making half of those, while Barlow went 4 of 5. Stone (seven points), Doole (seven points) and Childers (five points) hit one 3-pointer apiece.
Carr rounded out the scoring with four points.
