Playing three games in three days while potentially still without a full complement of players, Platte County broke in a new roster and came away with one win in an annual trip to the Savannah Invitational. The Pirates opened with a loss to the hosts on Tuesday at Savannah High School, came back to blow out Hogan Prep on Wednesday and came back late to beat Chillicothe on Thursday.
Platte County junior Jacoby Keith starts driving to the basket during a Savannah Invitational game against Hogan Prep on Wednesday at Savannah High School in Savannah.
Platte County senior point guard Jayden Martin — not only the lone returning starter but also the only player on the roster with significant experience at the varsity level — made the all-tournament team. He led the Pirates in scoring during all three games and totaled 46 points.
With the football team not wrapping up the season until Friday, Platte County didn’t have juniors Jordy Moore or Jude Brown with both potentially factoring into the rotation at some point. That left Martin and junior Eli Hockaday as the only players to appear in a game last season for the Pirates.
The inexperienced showed in a slow start Tuesday.
Savannah led by 10 points after the first quarter, and Platte County went into halftime down 39-23 after scoring just nine in the second quarter. The Pirates played better in the second half Martin, Hockaday and juniors Jacoby Keith and Andrew Parrish combining 10 3-pointers.
All four players set career-highs in scoring in the 70-60 loss.
Platte County sophomore MaCallen McMillian takes a shot during a Savannah Invitational game against Hogan Prep on Wednesday at Savannah High School in Savannah.
Keith ended up with 14, Hockaday, 10 and Parrish seven. Martin’s team-high 18 points bested the 17 he put up in last season’s regular season-finale against Fort Osage, while Hockaday had just six point total as a sophomore.
Keith added five rebounds, while Martin and Parrish dished out three assists apiece.
On Wednesday, Platte County came away with a 55-26 victory against Hogan Prep, which forfeited in the first round due to travel issues. The Rams then scored just eight points in the first half.
Martin shot 3-for-4 on 3-pointers and ends up with team-highs of 15 points, six rebounds and five assists, while Keith (nine), Hockaday (eight), sophomore MaCallen McMillian (eight) and junior Isaac Nelson (six) provided balance in scoring for Platte County, which again excelled on outside shooting. Keith added three 3s, McMillian two and Nelson one with the Pirates going into halftime up 43-8.
Hockaday led Platte County’s defense with three steals.
To win the consolation bracket, Platte County pulled away late with 19 points in the fourth quarter. Martin capped his week with 13 points, while Keith hit four 3s to account for all of his scoring and give him a second game in double figures.
McMillian hit two more 3s to finish with eight points, while junior Brock Dye added five.
Platte County now takes more than a week off before starting Suburban Conference White Division play Friday night at home against Raytown, which went 24-5 last season. The Blue Jays won both meetings between the two teams last year and finished second in conference and Class 5 District 7 play.
