Platte County smothers Fort Osage behind high-scoring trio

Platte County locked down on defense to build a comfortable halftime lead and then efficiently created offense when the pace quickened after the break.

Fort Osage attempted to speed up the action in the second half of Tuesday’s Suburban Conference White Division matchup at Pirate Fieldhouse with unsuccessful results. The Pirates pulled away for a 55-40 victory with seniors Lauren Stone and Addy Schlake plus junior Rylee Carr accounting for the their first 34 points and 47 overall.

Platte County held serve in a pivotal spot to set up a potentially decisive matchup in terms of conference title hopes at home Tuesday against Grain Valley (18-1).

“We for sure had to work the entire game,” Schlake said. “It just kept us in the mentality of we’re not going to slow down; we’re not going to give up. We’re going to drive and finish the game.”

Fort Osage (11-9) held a pair of brief leads in the first quarter and presumably gained confidence after beating the halftime buzzer with a 3-pointer.

Instead, Platte County (12-5) quickly extended an 11-point lead to 34-16 on a transition 3-pointer from Stone, and a turnover led to senior point guard Haley Barlow drawing a foul on the next possession. She went to the line out of a timeout and split a pair of free throws to account for her only point to give the Pirates their biggest lead of the game.

Platte County made just 1 of 4 free throws as the offense slowed in the third quarter, and Fort Osage would pull within 35-23. Carr then snapped the Pirates out of the funk with a bucket, and junior reserve guard Addie Ayers hit a corner 3-pointer for five quick unanswered points.

Ayers accounted for all five of her points in the latter stretch of the third quarter to send Platte County into the fourth up 43-30. The Pirates ended up with just seven bench points with sophomore forward Amani Harlin splitting two pairs of free throws in trips to the free throw line in both the third and fourth.

Platte County went 9 of 15 on free throws overall with a few of the misses giving Fort Osage small openings to potentially make a run to get back into the game.

Stone, who finished with a game-high 18 points and led Platte County with four assists, kept Fort Osage from ever coming back within single digits. She put up seven in the fourth quarter, and her fourth 3-pointer plus a driving layup for Carr pushed the advantage back out to 16.

Schlake scored 15 of her 17 points in the first 19 minutes of action and notched a double-double for Platte County with a game-high 13 rebounds, seven on the offensive end. Carr finished with 12 points to go with three steals. Stone in particular took charge of the Pirates’ offense during the crucial segments of the fourth quarter and continued her recent run of double-digit scoring games, now at nine straight.

“It’s nice to have a leader out there we can look to and just know that’s someone who can pick us up,” Schlake said of Stone.

Fort Osage finished with 19 turnovers and didn’t consistently generate easy looks on offense. Indians senior forward Niki Brisbee (12 points) made a 3-pointer on the game’s opening possession but then went more than 4 minutes without scoring before hitting shots on back-to-back possessions — the second a banked in 3-pointer for junior guard McKenna Simons (11 points) from an almost impossible angle in the left corner.

Platte County trailed 8-7 at that point despite controlling the action and ended up taking a two-point lead into the second quarter after Stone’s first 3-pointer from the left wing with 13 seconds left in the opening frame. Schlake, a 6-foot-2 center, scored the next eight points for the Pirates, while Fort Osage went 1 of 4 on free throws while slowly falling further behind.

“Our offense wasn’t flowing as much as we wanted to. We were struggling just to make some shots,” Schlake said. “I definitely got some baskets off of O-boards. It’s easy. I was able to go after the ball and be able to put it in and keep our energy up even if we miss some shots.

“Sometimes, I can’t kick it out. There’s three girls on my back, and I just have to go up with it and see what I can make work.”

With choppy play for both teams, Platte County received a lift from the defense of senior forward Haley Schank and freshman reserve point guard Kinleigh Howren. The duo grabbed two steals apiece and made big contributions despite going scoreless.

Stone’s second 3-pointer of the first half came from the right wing with only 10 seconds left before halftime to put Platte County up 23-9, but Fort Osage sophomore Teagan Schockley hit on the other end for the Indians’ only field goal of the second quarter.

Fort Osage went into the break down 11 despite making only four shots from the floor — three on 3-pointers.

“We did a really good job in the second quarter of taking them out of what they wanted to do offensively,” Platte County coach Eric Mitchell said. “I think we left a few (shots) on the rim. We had some good looks; they just didn’t fall. The key and what I keep telling them is to keep up the defense and that allows you to keep them at bay.”

Schlake scored five more early in the second half, converting a three-point play in the process, in what became a dominant second half.

Platte County committed 17 turnovers but positively navigated the changing tempos, especially when Fort Osage tried to use a press defense to create havoc in the final two quarters. Coupled with a 65-point win Thursday over Ruskin, the Pirates improved to 7-1 in conference play with the pivotal rematch looming.

Grain Valley won the first meeting with Platte County 60-48 in early January, and the Pirates likely need to earn the series split to have a shot a share of the White Division title. Fort Osage currently sits third and plays Platte County again in the regular season finale later this month.

Mitchell earned his 50th career victory in his third season as Platte County’s head coach. The Pirates won 20 games in 2022-23 coming off of three straight losing campaigns and then reached the Class 5 District 8 title game a year ago.