Despite holding Richmond scoreless in the third quarter, North Platte Couldn’t generate enough offense to come back and win the Lawson Invitational title game on Saturday, Jan. 16 in Lawson, Mo. The Spartans ended up staging a late comeback and even survived a bit of controversy in the final seconds. North Platte didn’t have a double-digit scorer but made 13 field goals, shooting 27 percent overall and 0-for-8 on 3-pointers. However, they shot just 3-for-9 on free throws. Despite the struggles, North Platte took a 25-21 lead with about 4 minutes to go.
Richmond responded with a 6-0 run, and North Platte didn’t lead again.
Kaycee Hodgson’s putback tied the score for the final time at 29 with 25 seconds to go. Kaylee Van Trump, who scored 19 of the Spartans’ 31, drew a foul attacking the basket on the next possession and hit both free throws to make it 31-29 with 14 seconds left.
North Platte coach Ryan Davis called a timeout to draw up a play to go the length of the court. Richmond came out of the huddle with six players, and the extra player did not leave the court until after the ball went out of bound with 8 seconds to go. Despite a protest from the crowd, no call was made, and Emmie Lee’s contested 16-foot jumper missed in the waning seconds.
After a foul, Richmond missed a free throw, and Erin Manville’s desperation heave came up short. Richmond led 12-4 after the first quarter and 17-12 at halftime, but the Spartans went without a basket in the third quarter, making just eight shots from the floor total. North Platte scored just five in the third quarter, tying the score at 17 to start the fourth quarter.
Richmond enjoyed a distinct advantage on free throws, going 13-for-19. Emmie Lee led North Platte with nine points and fouled out.
North Platte dropped to 10-3 overall ahead of a Tuesday, Jan. 19 road trip to Mound City. The result of the matchup between two state ranked teams was not available at The Citizen’s deadline. North Platte return to KCI Conference play on Friday, Jan. 22 at home vs. Hamilton.
North Platte 45, Trenton 37
The Panthers used some early defense to build a lead, and Erin Manville did the majority of the scoring in a semifinal Thursday, Jan. 14 in Lawson, Mo.
Manville finished with a game-high 20 points to go with seven rebounds, four assists and three steals. North Platte led 10-4 after the first quarter and kept the Bulldogs without a double-digit scorer. Maddie Lee added nine points, and Brittney Gerling tallied six points and five rebounds.
North Platte 60, West Platte 41
The second straight rivalry meeting in the span of five days featured about the same result in the opening round of the Lawson Invitational on Tuesday, Jan. 12.
Again, the Panthers jumped out to an early lead thanks to a high octane first quarter. The lead stood at 22-12 entering the second, and the deficit slowly climbed from there to the final margin.
Emmie Lee led a trio of double digit scorers for North Platte with 15 points while Maddie Lee (11) and Manville (12) also cracked the 10-point plateau. Kaycee Hodgson added eight points.
West Platte senior forward Taylor Binkley led all scorers with 16 points and fellow senior Gretchen Hiatt added 15. No other West Platte player scored more than five points.
Hamilton 51, West Platte 47
The Bluejays bowed out of the Lawson Invitational on Wednesday, Jan. 13, falling behind early and unable to fully recover.
Karen Knox hit six 3-pointers on the way to a game-high 18 points for West Platte, while Binkley added 12. The Bluejays hit four 3-pointers totals but were down 22-15 at halftime before scoring 32 in the second half.