DEARBORN, Mo. — Referees waved off Emmie Lee’s shot at the end of regulation, and after four bounces as the buzzer sounded, more emphatic whistling quickly quelled the excitement from the home crowd as the ball fell through the net.
North Platte and North Andrew then went into overtime Monday, Jan. 4 at North Platte High School with the visitors taking a lead and running away to a 69-61 victory in a battle of recent small-school powerhouses. Neither team led by more than six during regulation, but North Andrew scored the first five points of overtime before pushing out to the eight-point final margin.
Playing for a second time since returning from a second torn ACL, North Platte senior Erin Manville scored a team-high 13 points but fouled out midway through the fourth quarter. North Andrew overcame a 53-50 deficit after she went to the bench.
“I think she’s still coming back,” North Platte coach Ryan Davis said. “I think she’s looking good. We still have to work on meshing everyone together and getting the continuity. It’s still somewhat early in the year. We still have to get everybody on the same page to execute stuff.”
North Andrew went ahead 54-53 before Lee gave North Platte its final lead at 55-54 on a press-breaking layup.
Eventually tied at 57, North Andrew committed a loose ball, non-shooting foul that gave the Panthers the ball under their own basket with a chance to win. Davis took a timeout with 7.5 seconds left, but the final sequence took too long to develop, and Lee, who finished with 11 points, couldn’t get her shot from just inside the 3-point arc in enough time.
North Andrew opened the overtime with a quick 3 in the corner from Kensey Edwards, who hit five overall to finish with a game-high 23 points. Katie Cole then extended the lead to five with a bucket in the lane to give her 18.
North Platte didn’t have the ball down one possession the rest of the way.
“Hopefully, they learn execution,” Davis said. “I thought if we would have taken care of the ball and kept our heads a little better going down the stretch we would have had a much better chance to win.”
Gracie Roach scored 12 to round out a trio of double-figure scorers for North Platte, 6-2 after the loss and ranked No. 6 in Class 2 in the Missouri Basketball Coaches Association polls released in mid-December. Janell Manville finished with eight points off the bench, while senior forward Kaycee
Hodgson chipped in six, including a turnaround jumper that put the Panthers up 48-47 entering the fourth quarter.
Erin Manville finished with seven steals.
North Andrew boys 41, North Platte 38
Anthony Hernandez elevated for a desperation 3-point attempt before the buzzer as first-year head coach Tim Sutton pleaded for a timeout in the closing seconds of a loss Monday, Jan. 4 at North Platte High School. The officials didn’t grant the timeout, and Hernandez’s attempted tying shot from the left wing hit the front iron.
“We got a look,” Sutton said. “The kids worked hard. They did a great job tonight. A couple of bounces here or there and we didn’t pick up the ball in a couple of places. It’s just the ball bouncing. If we pick it up, we get some things done there.”
North Platte led 38-34 with 1 minute, 21 seconds remaining, and Hernadez on the line in a one-and-one situation. He missed the front end, and North Andrew took full advantage, scoring the game’s final seven points.
Jacob Powelson started the run with a 3-pointer in the corner — part of his game-high 19 points — to cut the lead to one. The Cardinals sophomore then picked off ensuing inbounds pass and converted the layup to give the Cardinals their first lead since a 6-4 advantage in the first quarter.
North Platte’s final three possessions ended in two missed shots sandwiched around a turnover, while North Andrew split a pair of free throw opportunities to take the 41-38 lead.
“It’s tough (to watch the lead evaporate),” Sutton said. “It was the first time all season we’ve been in that situation. Unfortunately, we didn’t handle it. They’re high school kids, and they will next time. They’ll learn.”
North Platte led 17-11 at halftime, but the fourth quarter started with a 24-24 tie.
Andrew Roberts, the Panthers’ high-scoring senior guard, quickly broke the deadlock, scoring the next six points on his way to a team-high 18 points. He fouled out with 17.5 seconds left, leading to Powelson’s 1-for-2 trip to the line, giving him six straight points in the late flurry.
Following North Platte’s final turnover, North Andrew senior guard Mitchell Officer then hit 1-of-2 freebies before the final frantic play. Hernandez threw up the shot after realizing the timeout wouldn’t be granted, capping a frustrating fourth quarter that saw the Cardinals score 17 points after being limited to 11 in the first half.
“We played such a beautiful first half, to hold them to 11, but we didn’t shoot it real well,” Sutton said. “We should have been up 30-11, but we’re at 17-11. As I look back on it, a couple of things (stand out). We didn’t take advantage of playing well but not getting the ball in the hole in the first half and not taking care of it as well as we needed in the second half.
“We played really well until about the two-minute mark in the fourth quarter. We controlled the game and just let it slip. But hey, it happens to everybody.”
Just five players scored for North Platte with Hernadez (nine), Kyle Ewing (seven) and two points each from Austin Reynolds and Ben French.
North Platte was scheduled to play Maysville in a girls-boys double header on Tuesday, Jan. 5, but the result was not available at The Citizen’s deadline. The Panthers travel to Weston, Mo. on Friday, Jan. 8 for the KCI Conference version of the rivalry game with West Platte. The girls meet up for the first time this season, while North Platte seeks its second win against the Bluejays, having beat them previously in the KCI Conference Tournament.
Other games
West Platte boys 50, DeKalb 20
The Bluejays led by 12 points at halftime and cruised to a win Monday, Jan. 4 at DeKalb high School in DeKalb, Mo.
Seven different players scored for the Bluejays, led by senior forward Brett Shepardson with a game-high 11. Fellow senior McKauklley Stephenson chipped in 10, while Daniel Cicha added nine and Shayne Kleinsorge eight.
West Platte won its fourth straight to move to 4-4 ahead of nonconference matchups at Savannah on Tuesday, Jan. 5 and vs. Richmond on Thursday, Jan. 7. The result of the matchup with Savannah was not available at The Citizen’s deadline.
The KCI matchup with North Platte concludes a span of four games in five days for West Platte.
DeKalb girls 47, West Platte 40
Poor shooting in the third quarter doomed the Bluejays in a trip to DeKalb, Mo. on Monday, Jan. 5.
West Platte senior Taylor Binkley scored a game-high 19 points, including seven in the second quarter as part of a 13-3 run to build a 25-23 advantage at the halftime break. She narrowly missed a double-double with nine rebounds in the loss, which snapped the Bluejays’ three-game winning streak.
Gretchen Hiatt scored seven and Lauren Moose added six on a pair of 3s to provide the bulk of the West Platte’s offense.
NCMC Holiday Hoops
North Platte girls 67, Novinger 15
Erin Manville made her return to help the Panthers overwhelm Novinger on Monday, Dec. 21 in at North Central Missouri College in Trenton, Mo. The Panthers senior guard scored 13 and added six steals and four rebounds.
Novinger failed to score in the first quarter and trailed 36-9 at halftime.
Alley Rickel added 12 points, four steals and three assists, while senior forwards Brittney Gerling and Hodgson contributed eight points and six rebounds apiece for North Platte.
Novinger boys 59, North Platte 53 The Wildcats pulled ahead in the second half Monday, Dec. 21 in Trenton, Mo. Hernadez scored a team-high 17 points for North Platte, and Roberts chipped in 15. Ewing added seven points.
Roberts and Hernandez scored five points apiece, each with a 3-pointer, during the second quarter to create a 25-25 tie at halftime. The game remained tight throughout the second half, but Novinger went 10-for-15 from the free throw line in the fourth quarter to cement the win.