Postseason wins have been few and far between in recent years for the Platte County girls’ basketball team (18-8), but that has changed in the first season under Eric Mitchell as the Lady Pirates are heading to their first district championship since 2011.
Platte County guard Lydia Doole (#21) knocked down a career high five 3-pointers in the Lady Pirates’ win over St. Theresa Academy to advance to their first district title game since the 2010-11 season on March 4.
Entering the Class 5 District 8 Tournament with the No. 3 seed, Platte County had a 3-game postseason losing skid with the last win being back on February 23, 2019. Nonetheless, the Lady Pirates won a pair of district games to advance to the championship and will have a chance to win a district title for the first time since 2008.
Platte County knocked off No. 2 seeded St. Teresa’s Academy (14-10) thanks to a hot shooting day by Lydia Doole on March 4. The junior knocked down a career high five 3-pointers – to give her a game-high 15 points – after her previous best three triples in a game happening five times before.
The Lady Stars trailed 8-6 after the first quarter but led 15-13 at the break due to poor free throw shooting by Platte County, which shot two-of-10 in the opening 16 minutes. Doole opened up the second half with a shot from behind the arc and Haley Barlow converted on a 3-point play to put the No. 3 seed back on top, 19-15.
Doole buried her final trey with less than three minutes left in the third quarter to make the score 24-18, which was the largest margin of the night at that point. Platte County ended up scoring more points in the frame than the entire first half, 14, to go into the fourth quarter with a 27-20 advantage.
Platte County held on to that 7-point lead and added more in the final eight minutes to pull away with a 12-point victory. Joslyn Hupp ended with six points, nine rebounds and one block while Barlow had six points and four steals.
Platte County’s Haley Barlow goes up for a transition layup on March 4.
Platte County opened the postseason up with a 39-29 victory over Winnetonka (10-15) in the first round of the Class 5 District 8 Tournament on March 2. This was the second time this winter these teams collided with Platte County, also winning 57-43 back on Jan. 19 before taking on the sixth-seeded Lady Griffins in the postseason.
The Platte County defense didn’t allow Winnetonka to score until the final minute of the first quarter as the No. 3 seed scored the opening six points and led 8-2 heading into the second quarter. The Lady Griffins brought the game to within one possession, but the Lady Pirates closed out the first half on a 10-2 run – with Lauren Stone leading the way with six points – to go up 22-12 at the break.
Platte County went into a scoring drought coming out of the locker room until Doole made a shot from behind the arc with 2:12 to play in the third quarter. Reese Pickett had a buzzer beating deep 2-point jump shot to put the Lady Pirates up 32-23.
Platte County’s defense once again stepped up in the opening half of the fourth quarter, locking Winnetonka up and not allowing any points until there was less than four minutes left in regulation. The Lady Pirates led by as much as 15 in the final quarter and pulled off the 10-point victory, led by Addy Schlake who had 11 points and seven rebounds on four-of-seven shooting.
Platte County moved on to play top-seeded Lincoln College Prep (16-9) – which has won its last six games and 11 of its last 12 – in the Class 5 District 8 Championship. The game was scheduled on March 7 at Platte County High School.