Eric Mitchell believed his team needed to see the challenge, even if the result ended up being difficult.
Platte County sophomore center Addy Schlake goes up for a basket against Raytown on Tuesday at Pirate Fieldhouse.
In the first game back from an extended holiday break, Platte County lost touch early and ended up with a 56-32 loss to Raytown on Tuesday night in the first-ever game played at the brand new Pirate Fieldhouse. However, the Pirates’ first-year coach experienced frustration with the outcome but understands there is a chance for his players to build back up after seeing a five-game winning streak come to an end.
“We talked a lot about getting the opportunity to play them again,” he said. “We’ve talked with this group about how to develop a little bit of swagger and wanting to play teams like this. These are the games that really judge where you’re at and how far you’ve gone. I’ve told them: you can’t be afraid of failure. In order to have success, we have to fail a little bit because they have to learn where to grow and where to get better. Not just the players — the coaches and the whole program. We’re getting there.”
Platte County didn’t have a double-digit scorer and managed just seven points total in the second and third quarters.
After a slow start, Raytown poured in five 3-pointers and eventually held a 53-23 lead in the fourth quarter of the Suburban Conference White Division matchup. The Blue Jays showed off scoring balance, defensive pressure and athletic rebounding in what ended up a dominant performance.
The positives for Platte County came from newly installed starting sophomore center Addy Schlake, who scored a team-high eight points to go with two rebounds.
Platte County junior guard Lydia Doole takes a 3-pointer against Raytown on Tuesday at Pirate Fieldhouse.
“Addy has come probably as far as any girl in the whole program from the beginning of the season to this point,” Mitchell said. “I just hope she continues to put the work in and grow and become a really good basketball player. She’s doing a really good job right now. She’s learning. She’s got a great attitude — fun player to coach.”
Platte County jumped to a 5-2 lead in the early moments of the first quarter with junior guard Lydia Doole banking in a contested 3-pointer from the right wing where she appeared to draw a foul not called. Pirates sophomore guard Haley Barlow then came up with a driving layup for her only field goal on the way to scoring three points.
Raytown endured a scoring drought of more than 3 minutes after hitting a basket on the game’s opening possession before turning up the defensive intensity with a full-court trap. Multiple turnovers helped shift the momentum, but a 3-pointer from Platte County senior forward Reese Pickett briefly tied the game at 10-10 late in the fourth quarter. From there, the Blue Jays went on a 15-2 run spanning deep into the second quarter.
“We have to be better against the pressure,” Mitchell said. “That’s kind of been our issue at times this year, when teams have ratcheted up some really good ball pressure, we’ve struggled. That’s just something we’ve got get better at doing in practice and then carry it over into game situations and not turn the ball over nearly as much.”
Schlake’s laying off a nifty offensive rebound-quick assist play from senior forward Joslyn Hupp put the deficit at 28-15 and provided Platte County with its only field goal of the second quarter.
Platte County senior forward Reese Pickett takes a jump shot against Raytown on Tuesday at Pirate Fieldhouse.
Raytown scored four quick ones late, including a buzzer-beater to go into halftime up 32-15. The Pirates’ only field goal of the third quarter came from Hupp, who finished with a well-earned seven points and eight rebounds against the Blue Jays’ athletic frontline.
Platte County shot just 26.8 percent from the floor and made only 8 of 17 free throws to add to the frustrations. Pickett finished with five points, while Pirates sophomore Lauren Stone added four on a difficult shooting day and junior guard Delaney Childers had two points off the bench.
Entering off of a break of almost two full weeks, Platte County had won five straight ahead of the Christmas break — a stretch that included impressive results against rival Smithville and St. Pius X. Mitchell stressed the loss to Raytown (10-1, 4-0) didn’t undo all of the positives that put the Pirates one win away from matching the win total from all of 2021-22.
“Definitely, this is a team that is in our conference that’s highly rated and a quality basketball team with athleticism and size that we needed to see,” Mitchell said. “People will scoff at me or laugh, but I feel like if we make a few plays here or there — especially in the second quarter — the game might look a little bit different. We’ve just got to learn that good, bad or ugly, when our shots aren’t falling, we’ve got to win on the defensive end. That’s just a learning lesson that we’ve got to get to.”
Platte County 31, Belton 29
Platte County bounced back Thursday night on the road and improved their record to 8-3 and 1-1 in conference play with a comeback effort on another off night for the offense.
Doole hit two of her three 3-pointers in the fourth quarter to close the gap on Belton. She finished with a team-high nine points, and Schlake went 3-for-4 on free throws on overtime to total five points in addition to her team-high 12 rebounds — seven on the offensive end.
Stone bounced back with eight points for Platte County, while Pickett (four points, six rebounds and three steals), Barlow (three points, three assists and three steals) and Hupp (two points, five rebounds and two steals). Platte County was just 9-for-40 shooting from the field and against struggled at the free throw line (9-for-91) but dominated Belton on the boards with a 31 to 14 advantage.
Platte County also matched Belton in 3-pointers with 4. Stone added the fourth.
With the win, Platte County did match last season’s win total with two months left to play. The first chance at the ninth win will be Monday at home vs. Excelsior Springs.
