Platte County shows mettle, nearly upends Benton with late comeback

Faced with a daunting deficit against a consistently successful program, Platte County didn’t fold but instead found validation.

Benton needed a late comeback to come away with a very-well earned 60-57 victory Monday night at Pirate Fieldhouse. The Cardinals (4-1) did so after senior star Andrea Simmons fouled out with 16 points and a lead of as much as 14 completely evaporated in a tense and competitive second half.

Platte County learned much more from a second straight loss than in a blowout of Ruskin three nights later, even as the Pirates have experienced more adversity in an intentionally challenging schedule.

“We’ve been talking about that the last couple of games. We’ve had a tough stretch of games, and we’re trying to navigate making fewer mistakes in these type of games,” Platte County coach Eric Mitchell said. “We’re playing quality teams that aren’t going to give you a lot of opportunities, so when you get your opportunities, we’ve got to execute better — top to bottom, coaches, players, everybody. We’ve got to do a little bit better, and if we clean those things up, I think we can turn the corner.”

Platte County senior center Addy Schlake’s putback of senior guard Lauren Stone’s missed 3-pointer gave the Pirates a 57-56 lead with 1 minute, 51 seconds left in regulation. Stone finished with a team-high 16 points, while junior forward Rylee Carr added 14 to combine with Schlake to lead a second half comeback.

Benton’s final four points all came from the free throw line, including two for senior Emma Loehnig with 18.2 seconds left.

Platte County called a timeout with 13.7 seconds left to set up a final play with Carr and senior point guard Haley Barlow both on the bench after fouling out. With limited options, the Pirates went back to Stone, who took a deep, potential game-tying 3-pointer that rattled across the front and back of the rim before popping out.

Benton corralled the rebound, and officials allowed time to run out even as Cardinals coach Chris Michaels seems to desperately call for a timeout.

“The girls talked about that in the huddle that we have to go win this thing,” Mitchell said. “We had some opportunities; we just didn’t execute very well on a couple of possessions when we need to be better.

“(Stone’s shot) looked good; it just didn’t go in for us tonight.”

Platte County (5-3) trailed nearly the entirety of the first half, but senior Haley Schank, who finished with three points, found a key moment for her only field goal right before the break. The Pirates then appeared to miss a chance to build on the momentum.

Behind an early basket from Carr in the third quarter, Platte County came back within eight, and a steal for Barlow led to a shooting foul for Stone, who missed two free throws. The Pirates used noticeable hustle plays to generate second and third opportunities, but the extended possession ended with two more missed free throws from Carr.

Benton scored just two points in the first 3 minutes of the third quarter but went back up 10.

“I thought from the second quarter on our energy was very, very good,” Mitchell said. “They were locked in and intense and trying their best to execute.”

Down 38-28, Schlake (10 points and a game-high 16 rebounds) and Barlow (four points and three assists) scored back-to-back baskets to finally trim Platte County’s deficit to six. Benton freshman Jenna Cox responded with a 3-pointer out of the timeout, but the Pirates answered with six more unanswered to close within 41-38.

A quick sequence with a basket for Schlake over the top of a press break and a steal and layup for Stone cut Benton’s lead to one, and with 16 seconds left in the third quarter, Platte County junior guard Addie Ayers hit a 3-pointer from the right baseline to create a tie at 46-46. Ayers finished with three 3s to account for all nine of her points despite a difficult start to her night shooting, just three nights after she scored a career-high 14 in a loss to Oak Park.

“I always tell people shooters shoot,” Mitchell said. “You might miss some, but if you’re in rhythm and you’ve got an open look, keep shooting.”

Loehnig drew a loose-ball foul with 1.4 seconds left on the clock with 1.4 seconds left and split a pair of free throws to send Benton into the fourth quarter up one.

Stone banked in a 3-pointer with 6:27 left in regulation to again bring Platte County level, this time at 51-51. Benton answered with a 3 from Loehnig, who finished with eight points but all seemingly at critical moments. The Cardinals went back up five only to then give up the lead for the first time since early in the first quarter.

Ayers hit another 3-pointer to start a 6-0 run that concluded on Schlake’s putback with 1:51 to go.

“We’ve got players that can score; we’ve got players that can rebound,” Mitchell said. “We’ve just got to put it together at the right times.”

Simmons and Carr then fouled out to take away the leading scorer for both teams. Benton junior Eliana Arambula, who finished with a game-high 19 points, hit a pair of free throws with 1:02 on the clock to give the Cardinals the lead for good on a bizarre sequence. The Pirates were yet to sub Carr out when Arambula missed the first free throw, but the officials recognized their error and allowed her to take two more.

Both went down.

“(The officials) made a mistake; it is what it is,” Mitchell said. “That’s not why we won or lost. They did their best.”

Platte County’s next possession ended with a turnover, and Loehnig made the final two shots from the line to create the final three-point deficit. The Pirates were close late despite committing 17 turnovers and shooting just 9 of 19 on free throws.

Platte County trailed by as many as 14 in the first half in another costly slow start. Carr and Stone combined for three early free throws and a 3-2 lead, but the Pirates didn’t hit a shot from the field until the 4:43 mark of the first quarter.

Carr’s driving basket stopped an 8-0 run, but Benton continued to use a high-pressure defense to speed the game up.

“We were trying to keep Benton from running,” Mitchell said. “They’re a very fast team that loves to get out and run in transition. We were trying to do our best to limit them from doing that. They hit some big shots, too, early in the first half that we were hoping maybe they wouldn’t hit. And they just did and that helped them build that lead.”

Carr and Ayers hit back-to-back 3s later in the first quarter to pull within 17-11, and sophomore Amani Harlin provided a spark after making her season debut. She missed the first six games of the season with an ankle injury and scored just one point but added noticeable experience off of a short bench that also included Ayers and freshman Kinleigh Howren.

Platte County avoided a double-digit halftime deficit with help from the first of Stone’s two 3s, a three-point play from Carr and Schank’s basket right before halftime.

“Here in these last couple of games, we’ve dug ourselves a hole and have to fight our tails off to get back into it,” Mitchell said. “We talked at halftime, just get back in it. They did that in the third quarter. The girls were talking about how we have to get over that hump. The last couple of games, we’re getting to that point and we’re struggling to get over the hump. We got over the hump tonight but just didn’t execute when we got the lead.”

Benton entered the matchup ranked No. 4 in the Missouri Basketball Coaches Association’s first Class 4 poll of the season, while Platte County came in at No. 10 in Class 5.

Platte County 70, Ruskin 16

All 10 players on the roster scored in Thursday’s Suburban Conference White Division opener at Pirate Fieldhouse.

Schlake (14), Carr (12) and Stone (10) all finished in double figures for Platte County, which pulled away with 24 points in the second half. The Pirates made 31 field goals and only one 3-pointer, which came from Stone early in the fourth quarter.

Ruskin scored five points early and then didn’t score again until late in the second quarter.

Schank, Ayers and Harlin all scored six points apiece, while junior forward Malin Cole added five off the bench for Platte County. Barlow and Howren both finished with four points, and junior guard Emily Huehl rounded out the scorers with three.

Platte County played for the final time in the 2024 portion of the schedule and returns to action Monday, January 6 at North Kansas City.