Platte County rallies late in rare road test to upend rival Kearney

KEARNEY, Mo. — For much of Thursday’s nonconference rivalry game, Platte County struggled to solve a persistent zone defense.

Kearney used a combination of forced turnovers and timely outside shooting to lead the majority of the first three quarters, but for one stretch, the Bulldogs yielded a little too much. The Pirates used a quick burst of scoring early in the fourth quarter to take the lead for good on the way to a 38-34 victory at Kearney High School to run the current win streak to 11 straight.

Platte County junior Lauren Stone scored a game-high 16 points, and the Pirates held on late by hitting 5 of 6 free throws in the last minute of regulation.

“Sometimes we do come out pretty slow, and we don’t start showing what we can actually do until like the third quarter,” Platte County senior guard Haley Barlow said. “But once we start showing it, we’re pretty good.”

Platte County didn’t hit a field goal in the final 6 minutes, 32 seconds of the third quarter.

Yet, Kearney went into the final frame with a tenuous 27-26 lead, and Platte County senior guard Lydia Doole finally ended the frustrating stretch with a 3-pointer from the right wing. Pirates junior center Addy Schlake created the opening look with a nice find out of the post.

Platte County’s 29-27 lead put Kearney behind for the first time since the opening portion of the first quarter. The Pirates parlayed that into a six unanswered points, capped when junior reserve Rylee Carr grabbed the second of her two steals and dribbled up the floor before finding Barlow with a bounce pass for an easy layup.

Kearney took a timeout with just under 6 minutes left, suddenly trailing 32-27.

“It was a good pass from Rylee when she assisted it, but after the layup, I think we all got our energy up,” said Barlow, who finished with three points, four rebounds, two steals and one assist.

Platte County did not have another field goal the rest of the way, and Kearney closed within 33-32 after junior Kayla Resler drew a foul on a 3-point attempt and hit all three free throws with 3 minutes left in regulation. After the teams exchanged turnovers, the Pirates bled off a bunch of time before missing a shot and grabbing one their 13 offensive rebounds.

The clock continued to roll, and Kearney committed a foul with 56 seconds remaining. Doole stepped up and hit both free throws, and Stone did the same moments later to answer two points from the line at the other end from the Bulldogs. Schlake, who finished with just two points, split a pair with 11.6 to go to provide the final margin and avoid any chance at a game-tying 3-pointer in the remainder.

Doole finished with 10 points — all in the second half. She hit a pair of 3-pointers and went 4-for-4 on free throws, continuing her recent run of contributing clutch shots at big moments.

“She’ll get into it, even if she misses a few,” Barlow said. “She’ll end up making some.”

Platte County’s first lead of the game came after committing turnovers on its first two possessions of the game. Stone hit a pair of free throws, only to have Kearney respond with a 13-4 run that included three 3-pointers. She scored the Pirates’ first six points and helped keep the deficit at single digits.

Kearney ended up hitting five 3-pointers in the first half — two for junior Ryleigh Van Emmerik, who finished with a team-high 11 points.

Platte County called a timeout after the second put the Bulldogs up 13-6 in the first quarter, and Carr, who finished with four points came up with a putback basket on one of her five rebounds to pull the Pirates within 14-8 at the end of the first quarter.

“She was important. It takes somebody to take the lead in order for all of us (to follow),” Barlow said of Stone’s offense to that point.

The first lengthy scoring drought for the two teams came in the first half with nearly 5 minutes going by between field goals late in the first quarter until Platte County senior guard Delaney Childers scored on a putback with 4:32 left before halftime. Resler, who finished with nine points, and Stone then exchanged four straight 3-pointers — two each — on consecutive possessions that left Kearney with a 20-17 advantage. The Bulldogs then missed a pair of free throws with 1.0 on the clock in the second quarter that kept their lead at just 20-18 going into halftime.

Kearney shot 8 of 17 on free throws compared to 16 of 24 for Platte County.

“I don’t know. Our defense was really slow at first, but we got it together,” Barlow said. “At halftime, we all made sure we were coming out to take the win. We knew we weren’t going to give it to them easy.”

After Platte County missed a 3-point attempt on the opening possession of the third quarter, Van Emmerik hit her third triple at the other end. Doole then hit her first of two 3s to answer, and neither team hit from the floor again until Doole’s next 3 early in the fourth quarter. The Pirates tied the score at 23-23 and 25-25 before going into the fourth quarter down one after Barlow, Stone and Doole combined to go 5 of 8 on free throws in the frame.

Platte County ended up just 9 of 34 from the field, and Schlake received limited touches in the post against the zone defense. However, she hit two big free throws in the fourth quarter, the first coming when she split a pair after grabbing three straight offensive rebounds and missing three straight outbacks on one possession during the 6-0 run.

Schlake finished with 13 rebounds and three assists, while Doole recorded three offensive boards out of her five.

Platte County improved to 14-2 overall and goes into this week ranked No. 9 in the last Class 5 Missouri Basketball Coaches Association poll, although the Pirates could move up when the next one comes out Monday. The Pirates were on the road for the first time in more than a month playing at Kearney but still have not lost since a setback against Lafayette in early December.

Still in contention for the Suburban Conference White Division title and No. 1 seed in Class 5 District 8, Platte County’s unbeaten streak is the longest for the program since winning the first 13 games of the 2008-2009 season, which ended with a Class 4 state championship. The Pirates were just 8-15 in 2021-22 before a resurgent season last year in coach Eric Mitchell’s first year, which ended with a winning record and loss in the district title game.

“I think it’s really important because winning all these games is us coming together,” Barlow said. “A few years ago when we weren’t winning, I don’t think we were as close as a team. Now that we’re winning all these games in a row, we’re way more closer.”

Platte County 61, William Chrisman 28

The Pirates were dominant in a blowout victory in White Division play Monday at Pirate Fieldhouse.

Stone led a trio of double-digit scorers for Platte County with 16 points, while Schlake added 12, five rebounds and three assists and Barlow 10 points and five assists. The Pirates totaled 24 points in the first quarter — nine from Stone and eight from Schlake — and led 36-16 at halftime before expanding the lead into a running clock.

Nine players scored for Platte County with Doole held to just two, although she added a team-high six rebounds and five assists. The Pirates forced 30 turnovers, and Doole, Schlake, Stone and junior Haley Schank all contributed here apiece.

Platte County’s bench produced 19 points — six each for Carr and freshman Armani Harlin, four for Schank and three for sophomore Addie Ayers. Childers also scored two points to go with three assists. The Pirates made just three 3-pointers but shot 28 of 55 overall from the floor.

With the win, Platte County improved to 4-0 in White Division play and leads Grain Valley (2-1) in the standings. The teams play again Monday in Grain Valley with the Pirates on the road for the final four league games.