The Blue Jays showed up when it mattered the most down the stretch of the final three minutes of the North Platte Tournament opening round contest against Platte Valley (10-5) on Jan. 24.
The West Platte boys’ basketball team (14-4) relied on its experience in the final three minutes to pull out a 50-43 win and move on to the semifinals. After trailing 41-38 with 2:48 to play, the Blue Jays outscored Platte Valley 12 to two with multiple senior players stepping up to the challenge.
The late run was started by senior leading scorer Trent Taylor, who came off the bench and finished the night with 13 points. Taylor converted on a layup and a free throw after he was fouled on the play.
A layup from West Platte senior Tanner Rowe, above, with 57 seconds left put the Blue Jays up by two possessions en route to defeating Platte Valley 50-43 in the opening round of the North Platte Tournament on Jan. 24.
“Trent is so quick and athletic, and he was huge tonight,” West Platte head coach Tyler Funk said. “He came off the bench tonight and showed that he’s a tough kid who is going to bring a lot of energy and he fought his way to the basket and gave us a spark that we needed.”
After the game was tied at 41, Ryan Pattison came up clutch with a made shot from behind the arc to give West Platte its first lead since it led 30-28 with 5:23 remaining in the third quarter. Platte Valley went to the charity stripe on the ensuing possession – making one of the two attempts – and narrowed the deficit to 44-42 with 1:15 left.
With pressure from the Platte Valley defense, Tanner Rowe cut to the paint where the senior became wide open and scored a layup with 57 seconds remaining, making it a two-possession game. After West Platte’s defense forced a stop on the other side of half court, the Blue Jays knocked down enough free throws to seal the win.
“These kids just never stop fighting. We have been in these situations before in the fourth quarter where we have forced overtime and double overtime, so I know these kids aren’t going to give up. We finally got to the rim and made some layups – it felt like there was a lid on the basket there for awhile where we couldn’t get shots to fall, even though they were good looks,” Funk said.
West Platte’s largest deficit of the night was in the closing minutes of the third period when it trailed 36-28. In the last three minutes of the quarter, Dalton Hill made a layup and Taylor scored two buckets to close the gap, 36-34.
Mason Montez scored the opening basket of the fourth quarter in the fast break when the senior stole the ball and went the distance to tie the game at 36. Platte Valley scored five of the next six points – with a Charlie Kinslow free throw being the only point for the Blue Jays during that stretch – to take a three-point lead before West Platte took over.
“We found a way to make some stops against a really good team. I told the kids that this was the biggest challenge that we’ve had all year with five guys that constantly move, and can all shoot the ball,” Funk said.
West Platte has advanced to the semifinals to take on one of the best teams in all of Class 1: Mound City (17-0) – on Thursday, Jan. 27 at 5:45 p.m. Depending on if they win or lose to the Panthers, the Blue Jays will eather play in the championship game or the third-place game, both of which are on Saturday, Jan. 29.