PLATTE COUNTY – In the aftermath of an eventful basketball season, the KCI Conference shared what players deserved awards for their strong play on the court, which includes 12 from North Platte and West Platte.
North Platte guard Lindsay Ramsey was one of the five Lady Panther starters to be a KCI Conference First Team Selection this season.
The KCI Conference has a first team and a list of honorable mentions from eight schools. North Platte had three first team selections and five honorable mentions, whereas West Platte had three first team selections and one honorable mention.
The North Platte girls were the one of the last teams standing in the KCI Conference, making it to the Class 2 State Quarterfinals. Following the first district title since 2019, 24 wins and a 6-1 KCI Conference record, the Lady Panthers’ entire starting lineup earned all-conference awards.
Senior Kenedie Summers and junior Lindsay Ramsey were KCI Conference Unanimous First Team selections. Sophomore Allyson Smith joins the junior duo of Brianna DeBord and Camryn Kersten as honorable mentions.
North Platte scored 55 points per game with the starting lineup combining for 46.3 of those points. Night in and night out, any one of the starters could’ve been towards the top of the scoring chart as they collectively shot 42.4 percent from the field.
Ramsey ended with the most points for North Platte in her junior campaign, averaging 12.4 on a 44.8 percent rate. The guard added 5.2 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 2.8 steals.
Summers was next on the scoring leaderboard, being the only other double-digit scorer as the senior averaged 10.5 points. Summers went out with a team-high 3.9 assists per game and 44 made threes – making 35.5 percent of them – along with an average of 2.3 steals.
Smith picked up the pace late in the year, scoring in double figures in four of the last six games – including a career-high 15 points in the postseason loss to Skyline – after only doing so four times in the first 24 games. She averaged 6.9 points, 2.1 assists, 3.5 rebounds and 2.9 steals.
DeBord was an efficient guard, knocking down 38 shots from behind the arc and scoring 9.4 points a night. She was one of two Lady Panthers to make more than 60 percent of her free throws, knocking down 59 of her 95 attempts.
Kersten led the team in free throw percentage, shooting at a 65-percent rate. The post scored 7.1 points, grabbed six rebounds and forced 1.3 steals this season.
The West Platte girls had their deepest postseason run since 1996, reaching the Class 2 District 15 Championship and falling to North Platte. Seniors Julia Pattison and Avery Holmes both were awarded by the KCI Conference after helping turn the program around from a 2-20 record as freshmen to a 31-20 record over the last two years.
Pattison was a unanimous choice for the KCI Conference First Team, being the floor general for the Lady Blue Jays. Pattison ended her senior campaign with averages of 13 points, 5.6 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 2.7 steals.
West Platte made 102 3-pointers this season and half of them were made by Holmes, which resulted in her being a KCI Conference Honorable Mention. Along with shooting 80 percent from the free-throw line, Holmes made 51 shots from deep on a 31.3-percent rate, while scoring 7.3 points on offense and having 2.2 steals on defense.
It’s worth mentioning that Sam Baker was a key contributor for West Platte this year, despite not being a KCI Conference selection. As a junior guard, Baker averaged 7.5 points, 1.2 assists and 2.6 steals and made 24 shots from behind the arc in 24 games.
Being the last two teams standing in the Class 2 District 15 Tournament, West Platte and North Platte had several all-district selections. Ramsey, DeBord, Summers, Kersten, Pattison and Holmes made the cut.
As for the boys, North Platte had its best season since 2005 with 18 wins. Much of that credit goes to the sophomore tandem of Brenden Matt and Dylan Armstrong, along with senior post Creek Johnson, all of which got a KCI Conference shoutout.
Matt improved his shot big time this season, earning a unanimous number of votes for the KCI Conference First Team. He made 3.2 threes a game at an impressive 39 percent mark.
Matt’s sophomore season comes to a close with the average stat line of 17 points, four rebounds, two assists and 1.4 steals. He also shot 83.5 percent from the free-throw line.
Matt was the only Panther who earned all-district honors. North Platte was in the Class 3 District 15 Tournament.
Johnson was a monster down low in his final year at North Platte and walks away from the game as a KCI Conference Honorable Mention. He scored 13.1 points on a 56.5-percent rate, grabbed 6.4 rebounds, dished out 1.4 assists and blocked one shot per game.
Armstrong is on pace to be a four-year starter and ends his sophomore campaign as an all-conference honorable mention after leading the Panthers in rebounds, assists and steals. Armstrong had five double-doubles on a season where he averaged 10 points, 9.1 rebounds and 3.5 assists.
West Platte reached a district title game for the fourth straight season and says farewell to 6’6 KCI Conference First Team selection Miles McHenry. Drake Montez had the same honor as McHenry after an impressive sophomore season with averages of 12 points, 2.5 assists and 2.1 steals.
They were both all-district selections in the Class 2 District 15 Tournament. McHenry stuffed the stat sheet in his senior year as he scored 13.1 points, grabbed seven rebounds, forced 1.6 steals and blocked 0.8 shots per game while shooting 54.9 percent from the field.