Platte County continues to search for the first Suburban Conference White Division victory, and the task likely became more difficult in the initial portion of the regular season’s closing stretch.
Platte County senior guard Jayden Martin goes up for a contest layup against Ruskin on Thursday night at Pirate Fieldhouse.
Ruskin pulled away before settling for a comfortable 55-46 win over Platte County on Thursday night at Pirate Fieldhouse. The Pirates started fast and looked in contention but saw junior guard Jordan Moore go down with a potentially serious ankle injury during the first half.
Moore’s emergence as a top scoring option corresponded with improved play for Platte County despite inconsistent results. The Pirates have not won a game outside of tournament play and dropped to 4-14 overall and 0-8 in White Division play.
Platte County closed the previous week’s trip to the Grain Valley Invitational with a tight win over Fort Osage but lost the immediate return conference matchup Tuesday and then couldn’t build out an early lead in Thursday’s loss to Ruskin.
With Moore watching most of the game on crutches, Platte County’s offense went back through senior point guard Jayden Martin (18 points) and junior shooting guard Jacoby Keith (15 points), who hit four 3-pointers — two in the first quarter. Keith’s first field goal from outside the arc tied the score at 7-7 with under 4 minutes left in the first quarter, and his second gave the Pirates their first lead at 12-10.
Ruskin trailed 17-13 after the first quarter but scored the first six points of the second while starting to tighten up on defense.
Platte County junior guard Jordan Moore drops off a pass against Ruskin on Thursday night at Pirate Fieldhouse.
Platte County junior forward Brock Dye ended the first of two prolonged scoring droughts with a layup off an underneath inbounds play with just over 4 minutes left before halftime. After a stop, Keith hit a tough contested faraway jumper to put the Pirates back in front at 21-19.
Ruskin didn’t trail after senior forward Mark Jones turned a steal into a dunk with time running out in the first half, and Martin’s 3-point attempt at the buzzer in traffic came up well short. The Eagles started the third quarter with a 3-pointer from senior guard Hunter Thurman into what became a 12-3 run that included a one-handed dunk from Jones on another transition opportunity.
Jones finished with a team-high 15 points, while Thurman added 11 and senior guard Clayton Levels, Jr. the third player for Ruskin in double figures with 10.
Platte County scored just four points total in the third quarter — a 3 from Martin to stop a lengthy dry spell and 1 of 3 free throws for Keith after drawing a foul on a shot from outside the arc. Ruskin led 41-26 going to the fourth quarter, and the Pirates didn’t close within single digits until the closing moments of regulation with help from five 3-pointers in the final 8 minutes.
Dye finished with seven points, while junior guard Elijah Hockaday added five off the bench, hitting a 3 as part of the late flurry.
Platte County junior guard Jacoby Keith takes a 3-pointer against Ruskin on Thursday night at Pirate Fieldhouse.
With Moore out, only five players scored for Platte County despite nine players seeing the floor. Jude Brown, a junior forward making a second straight start, went 1 for 4 on free throws to account for his only point. The Pirates now wait to see Moore’s status with six games — all in conference play — left in the regular season.
Platte County plays at Grain Valley (14-5) and Truman (12-7) this week with only two more home games left on the schedule.
Fort Osage 58, Platte County 54
Four days after a loss in the fifth-place game of the Grain Valley Invitational, the Indians ended a five-game losing streak behind 11 3-pointers Tuesday night in Independence.
Platte County countered the outside barrage with a balanced showing on offense between Keith (team-high 13 points), Brown (12 points), Dye, Moore and Martin (eight points apiece. However, the Pirates ended up in a 28-18 hole at halftime after Fort Osage senior guard Dominic Soto hit four of his seven 3-pointers in the first quarter. He finished with a game-high 23 points with more than half coming in the opening 8 minutes.
Platte County rallied in the third quarter, mostly behind Brown and Martin. However, Moore also hit a 3-pointer with the Pirates went 7 of 8 on free throws.
Fort Osage maintained the slim lead late with Platte County hitting just four 3-pointers total — two each for Keith and Moore. The Pirates did receive four points from senior reserve forward Bryton Bertram and sophomore MaCallen McMillian split two free throws in the fourth quarter to finish with one.
Moore scored a team-high 23 points in Platte County’s 59-54 victory over Fort Osage the previous week. The Pirates led by as much as 17 in that game before trailing multiple times in the fourth quarter.
