Platte County finally started to manufacture offense in the fourth quarter of the Suburban Conference Blue Division opener on Friday.
Platte County sophomore Joslyn Hupp looks to shoot against the Kearney defense on Thursday at Kearney High School.
Unfortunately, Kearney came up with repeated responses and pulled away for a 38-22 victory at Kearney Fieldhouse. The Pirates nearly doubled their scoring total in the final 5 minutes with junior forward Amaira Peterson scoring five of her six points in the closing stretch.
Platte County sophomore Joslyn Hupp finished with seven points but did not score in the fourth quarter. The 22 points were a season-low and came just three days after the Pirates beat Oak Park 52-34 to move to .500 on the season for the second time.
Kearney led 22-10 after a sagging man-to-man defense limited the Pirates to just one free throw in the third quarter. Peterson hit a layup early in the fourth to briefly close the deficit to 10 points, but the Bulldogs answered with a 3-pointer and a layup. They hit four of their five 3-pointers in the fourth quarter after both teams had struggled to score for much of the game.
Entering as winners in three of the past four, Platte County (3-4) took a 4-2 lead late in the first quarter on a short jumper from Hupp. Kearney rallied back to lead 6-5, and Hupp accounted for the only four points of the second quarter for the Pirates.
Kearney went on a 10-0 ran that included the first 3-pointer take a 16-6 lead, and Platte County only closed to within 16-9 on Hupp’s three-point play with 47.1 seconds left in the half. The Pirates’ offense dried up from there with sophomore Reese Pickett finishing with four points — all in the fourth quarter —while sophomore reserve Morgan Stewart had three points in the final 8 minutes. Kylene Loy, the lone senior on the roster, added a pair of free throws early in the first quarter for her only two points.
Platte County played without junior Kiersten Robbins for a third straight game, and the Pirates will hope to be at full strength when the Blue Division schedule resumes after the New year. They are scheduled to play at Ruskin on Monday, Jan. 4.
