Stevens’ late 3-pointers provided final lead change in win over Belton

Even after some early struggles, Braiden Stevens went up with confidence, even if the 3-point attempt looked a bit off balance.

Platte County’s junior guard knocked in a pair of shots from beyond the arc on back-to-back possessions, the second providing the final lead change in Tuesday’s Suburban Conference White Division matchup with Belton at Pirate Fieldhouse. Platte County overcame a 10-point halftime deficit with an impressive comeback effort despite persistent foul trouble for senior forward Jaden Peterson, who still finished with a team-high 16 points.

Timely outside shooting from Stevens, junior point guard Jayden Martin (14 points) and senior guard Anthony Morrison (six points) helped Platte County end a two-game losing skid.

“That’s what I like about our coaches, they never make me get down or anything about it,” said Stevens, who finished with four 3s and 14 points in just his second game of the season. “They just tell me to keep shooting, just trust my shot, and it makes me very confident.”

Platte County (4-2, 2-1) entered off of a conference loss to Raytown and with the full complement of expected contributors available for just the second time on the season. The Pirates followed up with a victory Friday at William Chrisman go into the holiday break with momentum and a roster

Stevens and seniors Cobe Pollard and Jack Utz missed the first tournament of the season while helping Platte County’s football team to a Class 5 state title. Stevens and Utz received limited playing time a year ago, while Pollard returned to the roster after a year hiatus.

“I think our chemistry is very good,” Stevens said. “We get better each and every week. We work hard in practice, and I think we’re going to come out with a good season.”

Belton went into halftime with a 35-25 lead behind the high-scoring trio of sophomore Caleb Campbell, senior JW Johnson and junior Cooper Shrum.

Platte County avoided losing touch and made a quick run with four points from Peterson and one of Martin’s three 3-pointers. Belton took a timeout with 6 minutes, 32 seconds on the clock with the lead nearly completely gone.

Martin added another 3 at the 5:53 mark to give Platte County 10 unanswered points and create a tie at 35-35.

“We did move the ball better,” Platte County coach Rick Hodge said. “We did go through the pain. I think that opened up our 3 balls more when we were going through paint touches and block touches, which is a staple in our program and offensive philosophy. It was really great seeing those players — those guards — step up and knock down some shots.”

After a Shrum putback ended Belton’s drought, Morrison hit a deep 3 — his second — to give Platte County the lead at 38-37.

Belton suddenly trailed for the first time since the first quarter. Platte County continued to surge with senior reserve guard Brett Mueller driving for a layup, and a turnover led to another bucket for Peterson, who scored five in the third quarter and added a 3 in the fourth while spending much of the second half on the bench due to foul trouble.

Mueller’s only bucket came at a critical juncture for Platte County, which started the season with just seven players in the season-opening Savannah Invitational.

“He’s done that,” Hodge said. “He’s kind of deceptively or sneaky gets into the paint and finishes there about once a game. It’s nice to have that, as long as he’s not turning it over and keeping us in our offense. His layup came at a good time (tonight).”

Belton closed the third quarter on a 6-0 run, and a 3-point attempt from freshman Jayce Maiden at the buzzer could have extended the two-point lead.

Platte County continued to chase for much of the fourth quarter, and Stevens’ 3 from the right corner finally put Belton back behind at 51-49 with 3:39 left in regulation. Belton answered with a basket only for Stevens to rise up again on the next possession from just left of the top of the key to put Platte County up for good.

“I work on that a lot at practice — all of my 3s, plenty of reps. I just felt hot, so I shot it, and it went in,” Stevens said. “Sometimes you can just feel it. It feels good, and you’ve shot so many times in your life, you just know it’s going to get in.”

Platte County senior forward Hayden Schultz scored six of his nine points in the fourth quarter, including a pair of free throws with 39.9 seconds left.

Belton answered with a basket from Campbell, who finished with a game-high 20 points, and Stevens needed two more free throws with 17.6 seconds left to keep the lead at three. Shrum missed an initial 3 on the final possession, but Belton grabbed the last of 21 offensive rebounds with Maiden dribbling out to the right corner and missing the final attempt, as well.

Martin ended up with the loose ball and dribbled out the clock with overtime avoided.

“I was happy until we gave up the offensive rebound, and he dribbled out and got another look at the horn,” Hodge said. “That can’t happen.”

Undersized at forward, Platte County struggled with giving up second chances in what ended up a frustrating first half.

Both teams went scoreless for the first 3 1/2 minutes, and Peterson missed a pair of free throws early after Platte County went behind 2-0. However, hustle plays led to second and third opportunities with Morrison capping a long possession with his first 3 to provide an early lead.

Schultz added a 3 on Platte county’s next possession, and Stevens’ first 3 put Platte County up 9-7.

The teams went back and forth the remainder of the first quarter, but Belton answered both of Peterson’s first two buckets. Campbell’s driving basket at the buzzer sent Platte County into the second quarter down 15-13.

Belton led from that point through to the early part of the third quarter.

Platte County ceded an 8-2 run driven by second-chance points and took a timeout with 4:13 left before halftime. A 3 from Martin briefly trimmed Belton’s lead to five, but a costly over-and-back turnover on Platte County’s final possession of the second quarter helped compound problems.

Campbell again drove for an easy layup in the closing seconds to establish the 35-25 lead.

“I was more frustrated with the offensive rebounds that we gave up because there’s no excuse for that,” Hodge said. “We were also missing assignments as far as giving up the drive and things like that. The offense wasn’t as frustrating for me because we haven’t had very much time to gel and learn each other and play off each other. It wasn’t really there but will come with playing together throughout the season and understanding each other.”

Belton scored just eight points in the third quarter, while Platte County hit six 3-pointers to fuel the swift comeback.

Platte County avoided an 0-2 start to conference play after the loss to the defending White Division champions four nights earlier. The Pirates benefitted from the increased depth although junior guard Brennan McLaughlin, Utz and Pollard went scoreless.

Raytown 63, Platte County 52

The Blue Jays pulled away with a strong fourth quarter Friday, December 13 in Raytown.

Platte County trailed 38-34 entering the final 8 minutes but couldn’t come up with enough offense late. Raytown shot 19 free throws in the fourth quarter, while the Pirates tried to keep up with 3-pointers — three from Stevens and another for Peterson.

Peterson provided Platte County’s most consistent scoring presence with 17 points, while Stevens finished with four 3s and 13 points. The Pirates overcame a slow start to pull within 22-21 at halftime.

Raytown scored just four points in the second quarter, while Platte County received a variety of contributions to storm back from a double-digit deficit. McLaughlin put four of his seven points in the first half, while Martin (five), Morrison (four), Schultz (four) and Mueller (two) also scored.