Two days after an improbable overtime upset win over Gallatin (23-3) in the Class 2 District 15 Tournament, the West Platte boys’ basketball team (18-8) couldn’t be David to the Goliath of juggernauted Plattsburg (28-0) and lost 53-47 in the district championship on Feb. 24.
Before a single postseason game was played, many had already crowned Plattsburg as district champions due to its impressive undefeated record and performances throughout the year, but none of that quite matters once the postseason begins. The Tigers haven’t had many competitive games this year – with only three decided by single digits in the regular season – and had beaten the Blue Jays by a combined score of 133-87 in two regular season matchups, but West Platte didn’t care about the past and came to play.
Having heard similar noise ahead of the semifinal matchup, with there being high speculation that the Bulldogs would be the Tigers’ opponent in the championship, the Blue Jays took that personal and used it to motivate the deep run. This was the third consecutive season that West Platte played in a district title game, going 0-3 in that time frame, and the second in a row against the hosting school after falling to the Bulldogs in Gallatin last winter.
Against all odds, the No. 3 seed in the district gave its all against the No. 1 team in the state, falling six points short of another postseason upset bid. The Tigers roared to a nearly double-digit lead in the opening minutes, scoring the first eight points of the contest, but the Blue Jays soared back into the game and went up 14-12 heading into the second quarter.
After being knotted at 22 at the break, Plattsburg junior – and recently all-time leading scorer for both boys’ and girls’ programs – Isaia Howard scored 22 of his game-high 35 points in the final 16 minutes. James Braddy hit a pair of triples late in the third quarter to put the Tigers up 39-33.
West Platte senior Charlie Kinslow (#1) guards Plattsburg junior Isaia Howard (#23) in the Blue Jays 53-47 district championship loss on Feb. 24.
West Platte continued to stay close but couldn’t quite put the ball in the basket more than Plattsburg down the stretch. The Blue Jays have a history of taking down a highly ranked, undefeated conference team in the district championship as they have done it before in 2007 when Mid-Buchanan was 29-0, but history didn’t repeat itself.
Plattsburg and West Platte met twice in the regular season with the Tigers having one big half in each matchup to lead them to the win. In the KCI Tournament Championship, the Tigers went up 33-13 at half – which was a season-low of points for the Blue Jays – before winning 55-41.
In the regular season matchup, the second half was how the Tigers pulled away as they outscored the Blue Jays 42-17 in that time to win comfortably behind Howard’s 40 points. West Platte made adjustments in round three to assure that there wouldn’t be similar headaches in the postseason.
The real kicker for the postseason was the 61-59 victory over Gallatin – who ended the regular season tied for No. 6 in all of Class 2 – in the semifinals on Feb. 22. The Bulldogs were up by as much as nine points in the final minutes of regulation, but Charlie Kinslow happened.
The West Platte point guard played arguably the best half of basketball in his prolific career, scoring 22 of his 24 points after halftime. Down by nearly double digits in the closing minutes of regulation, the margin was cut down to two possessions after a pair of free throws by Drake Montez and a layup by Kinslow.
The 3-year starter pulled up from beyond the volleyball line, swished it, and suddenly West Platte had a legit chance to pull off the comeback. With less than 30 seconds on the clock, Gallatin had the ball and a 57-55 advantage, but West Platte forced a turnover and regained possession with 8.2 seconds left.
Kinslow took the inbound pass on the right side of the backcourt and bullied his way past the Bulldogs’ defense, converting on a game-tying layup on the left side right ahead of the buzzer. Gallatin didn’t call a timeout and the game went into overtime tied at 57.
In the extra period of action, junior Miles McHenry was the hero as he scored all four of West Platte’s points. With the game tied at 59, Kinslow found McHenry down low for the go-ahead bucket and the Blue Jays held on to eliminate the team that sent them home a season ago.
Gallatin had a remarkable season, but West Platte had the right blueprint, being responsible for two of the Bulldogs’ three losses on the season. Gallatin won 23 of its 24 games that weren’t against West Platte this winter, with the other loss being in the third-place game of the Lawson Invitational on Jan. 14, which was also the last time the Bulldogs had lost in the regular season.
While the 3-year run of district championship appearances went with a loss in every trip, it has been quite a turnaround from the six years prior that saw a combined postseason record of 2-6. The Blue Jays haven’t won a district title since 2014 – which was the third consecutive at the time – and had little postseason success for over half a decade until this year’s senior class arrived.
Ezra Stigman, Xavier Reynolds and Kinslow were all starters this season, with Chad Jameson filling out the senior class. Kinslow has been a huge part of the Blue Jays’ recent success in the postseason, being a starter from his sophomore year on and even coming off the bench when he was a freshman.
Reynolds was the first player off the bench last season and started a few games before being a full-time starter this season where he led the team in made 3-pointers. Stigman and Jameson have also been a part of this program that has fought back into relevancy.
West Platte is a perfect two-for-two in district championship appearances under head coach Tyler Funk. The second year coach has led the Blue Jays to a 38-15 record over the last two winters, which is the best 2-year stretch since 2013-14.