The senior duo of Chandavian Bradley and Boston Walhert showed up with impressive performances by combining for 33 points in the Platte County boys’ basketball team’s (3-5) 52-41 home opening win over Kearney (3-5) on Dec. 16.
Platte County senior Chandavian Bradley scored a team-high 19 points in the home opening 52-41 win over Kearney on Dec. 16.
With the first six games being on the road, the Pirates looked comfortable in their home gym as they only trailed for 45 seconds on the night. Kearney took a 4-3 lead in the opening two minutes of the game but a floater by Judah Vignery put Platte County ahead and it never looked back.
Wahlert scored five points and Bradley had four points in the first quarter when the Pirates led 12-7 before pushing the lead to 26-17 at the break. A 7-0 run to start the third quarter that saw a slam dunk by Bradley gave the Pirates a 35-22 advantage and Kearney trailed by 11 heading into the final quarter.
Bradley threw down another dunk in the final quarter and the Pirates’ lead was pushed to 51-32, but the Bulldogs made a late run before ultimately falling to the home team. Bradley had 19 points and Walhert had 14 points.
That was a big win for Platte County who started off the season with a sluggish 2-4 start, including two straight losses to William Chrisman (5-2) and St. Joseph’s Lafayette (2-1) ahead of the home opener. The Pirates also went 1-2 in the Savannah Tournament after winning it the last two years.
Platte County took on Benton (1-5) twice in a 4-day stint, falling 55-54 in the tournament on Dec. 3 and winning 43-42 in regular season play on Dec. 6. In the win, Vignery scored 14 points and Walhert had nine points while Bradley scored 17 points, grabbed four rebounds, snatched four steals and blocked two shots in the loss.
Most recently, the Pirates took on one of their biggest rivals, Smithville (5-3), in the Twelve Courts of Christmas at Hy-Vee Arena on Dec. 19. The Warriors jumped out to a 30-16 lead at the half and won 61-48.