Round three between the North Platte girls’ basketball team (20-6) and West Platte (16-8) lived up to the hype in the regular season finale with the Lady Panthers narrowly winning 51-48 on Feb. 14.
The first two matchups of the season were in tournaments with the KCI Conference rivals splitting those games. North Platte won 40-35 in the KCI Conference Tournament on Jan. 5 and West Platte came out on top 58-47 in the North Platte Tournament on Jan. 26.
North Platte senior Karli Guinn (#42) gets double-teamed by Madisyn Matlick (#25) and Colby Shepardson (#34) as the Lady Panther post had a career-high 28 points and 15 rebounds in the 51-48 win on Feb. 14.
Coincidentally, the two tournament games were located at West Platte and North Platte with the host schools losing both of those matchups. History didn’t repeat itself in the final game of regular season play, as the Lady Panthers won on their home court.
The Lady Blue Jays went up early, but a 10-9 margin in the backend of the first quarter was the last time they were leading. Lindsay Ramsey had a bucket to give the Lady Panthers an 11-10 lead later in the frame and they never relinquished it, but the game stayed competitive the rest of the way.
North Platte went up 17-13 at the end of the first quarter and went into the locker room with a 29-21 advantage. West Platte fought back and tied the game at 42 in the fourth quarter but wasn’t able to retake the lead – while also having to extend the bench after Julia Pattison and Blair McHenry fouled out – and the Lady Panthers held on to win 51-48 as Avery Holmes’ tough 3-pointer at the buzzer was no good.
The contest was relatively balanced statistically when perimeter shooting wasn’t kind to either team as both shot at a 15 percent rate, while also having 16 turnovers each. West Platte shot 17-of-27 from the charity stripe and North Platte shot at an 11-of-28 rate.
The Lady Panthers were highly dependent down low, scoring 30 points in the paint, led by a career night by Karli Guinn. The senior post shot 13-of-16 from the field with a career-high 28 points and 15 rebounds, along with one steal and two blocks.
No other Lady Panther surpassed double digits in scoring, while Pattison led the way for the Lady Blue Jays with 14 points, six rebounds, five assists and five steals. Madisyn Matlick knocked down all three of West Platte’s triples as she and Colby Shepardson both ended with 13 points.
The win gave both teams a share for second place in the KCI Conference with both teams ending the regular season with a 5-2 conference record. They both lost to East Buchanan (20-4) earlier this season and North Platte also had a conference loss to Lathrop (15-8).
West Platte is the No. 1 seed and North Platte is the No. 2 seed in the Class 2 District 15 Tournament and there’s a chance the rivals will meet for a fourth time in the district championship, which would be on Feb. 25 at 1 p.m. at North Platte High School. Before that, the Lady Panthers started with a matchup with Maysville (1-21) on Feb. 21 at 6:30 p.m. and West Platte will take on the winner of Gallatin (12-12) and Plattsburg (7-18) in the semifinals on Feb. 23 at 6 p.m. after receiving a first-round bye.