A sluggish start doomed North Platte in the consolation game of the Lawson Invitational on Friday, Jan. 15. Gallatin took full advantage of the lull, cruising to a 50-35 win in Lawson, Mo. The Bulldogs outscored the Panthers in each of the first three quarters, allowing just three points in the second quarter on the way to a 28-12 halftime lead.
Gallatin had three players reach double figure scoring with Harris Cameron tallying a game-high 12. North Platte had just one double-figure score — senior guard Andrew Roberts with 11. The Panthers hit five 3-pointers, two for Roberts and one apiece for Anthony Hernandez, Austin Snook and Ben French, but were just 4 of 9 from the free throw line.
Entering off of a KCI Conference loss to West Platte, North Platte went 1-2 in the tournament and has not won back-to-back games since taking the consolation title at the KCI Conference Tournament in early December. The Panthers went into a Tuesday, Jan. 19 nonconference matchup with Mound City at 6-7.
The result was not available at The Citizen’s deadline.
North Platte 51, Carrollton 41
Roberts scored 20, and senior forward Kyle Ewing added a season-high 17 points Wednesday, Jan. 13 in Lawson, Mo. as the Panthers came back from an opening round loss to reach the consolation game. North Platte allowed just 11 points after halftime and scored 32 to turn around a 30-19 deficit at the break. The Panthers hit 14 of 19 free throws to preserve the cushion late.
Richmond 46, North Platte 38
A slow third quarter doomed the Panthers in the opening round of the Lawson Invitational on Tuesday, Jan. 12.
North Platte scored just four points in the first 8 minutes out of halftime and couldn’t rally back from its double-digit deficit in the fourth quarter. Roberts scored a game-high 18 points while Hernandez added 10.
Starting fast, North Platte led 11-6 after the first quarter but trailed 20-18 at halftime.
Gallatin 60, West Platte 41
The Bluejays were eliminated from the Lawson Invitational on Wednesday, Jan. 13 after bad offensive finishes to each half.
West Platte scored just 10 combined points in the second and fourth quarters, while the Bulldogs scored 33. McKaulley Stephenson and Daniel Cicha, seniors for the Bluejays, each reached double figure scoring with 14 and 10 points, respectively.
The two tournament losses came on the heels of back-to-back wins for West Platte (6-7), which took more than a week off before returning to KCI play Friday, Jan. 22 at Lathrop.