Bluejays to get tested with tough road games

20-0. That gaudy record belonging to the West Platte boys basketball team will likely be tested with a pair of KCI Conference road games this week. The Jays, the top-ranked team in the state in Class 2, were scheduled to travel to Mid-Buchanan Feb. 11. West Platte has already beaten the Dragons twice this season and six consecutive times dating back to last year. But Mid-Buch gave the Jays all they wanted in the first half of the North Platte Invitational title game recently before the Jays pulled away in the second half. Then, perhaps, the toughest challenge of the season awaits West Platte on Valentine’s Day this Friday, when the Jays travel to Lawson. West Platte has already defeated Lawson this year, too, but it took nearly a half-court shot at the buzzer by senior standout Adam Roe in the championship game of the KCI Conference Tournament way back on Dec. 14. Get through this week unscathed and West Platte has a solid chance to finish the regular season unbeaten as it heads to the Class 2 District 15 Tournament the last week of February at Mid-Buchanan. West Platte dispatched East Buchanan 54-41 in Weston last week behind Roe’s 25 points and eight rebounds. Cody Guthrie added 10 points, four assists and three steals. • PLATTE COUNTY dropped to 7-11 with a 59-28 loss at Kearney last week. The Pirates trailed 33-14 at halftime and never mounted a threat against the hot-shooting Bulldogs. “I think the kids played better than it appeared, we just did a terrible job hitting shots and finishing inside,” Platte County coach Rick Hodge said. “The offensive movement was what we asked them to do; it was just not our shooting night.” John Houpe hit two three-pointers on his way to eight points for the Pirates. Topher Kilkenny and Jesse Eggers had six rebounds each. Platte County was scheduled to play host to Raytown South Feb. 11 and Winnetonka Feb. 14. • PARK HILL lost 71-63 to Lee’s Summit West Monday night when the Titans scored 28 points in the fourth quarter. Landry Shamet paced Park Hill with 19 points, while Deionte Wilson scored 12. The Trojans got their first conference win last Friday when they topped Truman 81-59. Shamet netted 23 points, Louis Reinmiller, 13 and Wilson, 12. The Trojans were scheduled to host St. Joseph Central Feb. 11 before traveling to Park Hill South Friday. • PARK HILL SOUTH improved to 14-5 on the season and continued their recent hot stretch with a 64-37 win over St. Joseph central Monday night. South built a 34-16 halftime lead and never looked back as Evan Hines scored 13 points, and Hudson Welty and Robert Lane added 12 points apiece. The Panthers will play host to rival Park Hill Friday night and will travel to Lee’s Summit West Feb. 18. • NORTH PLATTE won a pair of road games last week. The Panthers won 68-52 at Orrick Feb. 3 before winning 55-41 at Lathrop last Friday. Against Orrick, Andrew Roberts scored 22 points, with seven assists and four steals, while Levi Stillwell added 17 points and 10 rebounds. At Lathrop, Roberts scored 15 points and Stillwell added 12 points and eight boards. “We’ve talked all season about playing our best ball in February and we played two good games last week,” North Platte coach Brendan Cary said. “Orrick was a good opportunity to get a lot of guys involved and contributing. I think our pressure created a number of opportunities against Lathrop to get some buckets. All in all, I think a lot of things that we’ve been working on all year have finally come together. We cut down on the fouling and the turnovers and attacked the hoop offensively. We’ve still got a number of tough games ahead, but this week gave us the confidence boost we needed.” North Platte was scheduled to play host Lawson Feb. 11 and will travel to Plattsburg Friday.