Emotions struck high upon the faces of the players on the West Platte girls’ basketball team (16-9) walking off the court for one last time this winter in the aftermath of a stunning overtime postseason defeat on Feb. 23.
West Plate head girls’ basketball coach John Kruse has turned around the program, bringing them form a 1-win team in the year before he arrived to earning the No. 1 seed in the Class 2 District 15 Tournament and claiming second-place in the KCI Conference after his fourth season, which is also his last after accepting the high school principal position.
Trailing 46-44 in the final seconds of overtime, Madisyn Matlick took a pass deep in the backcourt from Colby Shepardson and the senior had a one-handed heave from beyond half court. The Hail Mary of a shot missed and with the sound of the buzzer, the greatest West Platte season since 2000 ended with a heartbreaking loss to Plattsburg (9-19).
Entering the Class 2 District 15 Tournament as the No. 1 seed, West Platte only needed to win one game against the No. 5 seed to advance to a district championship for the first time in 23 years. In what might be looked back at for years as ‘what could have been’ ended up being a tragic ending to the John Kruse era.
“You’re never ready for a season to end, but this one was different,” Kruse said on a statement on Twitter after the loss. “It’s hard to put into words what West Platte means to our family, it’s even harder to describe what this team means to me.”
West Platte junior Avery Holmes leads the Lady Blue Jay offense in the second half of the Class 2 District 15 Semifinal loss.
Kruse coached the Lady Blue Jays for the last four seasons but has recently taken the high school principal position which will be in full effect next school year, so this was the last game he coached. What Kruse has done in his short time at the helm is nothing short of remarkable, taking a team that was 1-20 in the year prior to his arrival to the top-seed in the Class 2 District 15 Tournament and tied for second place in the competitive KCI Conference.
“One of the last things I told the girls is that I’ve been fortunate to receive many blessings in my life. From marrying my wife, to our son being born, the list goes on and one, but this basketball program is one of the greatest blessings I’ve ever been given,” Kruse said.
Crossing off multiple milestones in the last two years ended anticlimactically with three losses in the final four games of the season. West Platte had beaten Plattsburg in three of the previous four games in the series – dating back to January of 2022 – including a one-sided 59-26 victory in the sole matchup of the regular season back on Feb. 10.
Julia Pattison goes up for a layup against a trio of Plattsburg defenders as she poured out 20 points - to go with seven steals - at North Platte High School.
The Lady Blue Jays received a first-round bye and had nine days in between the regular season finale and the first postseason game. Too much rest ended up being more of a curse than a blessing, with West Platte coming out rusty and falling behind early.
Junior Julia Pattison was the only Lady Blue Jay to score in the opening eight minutes when the Lady Tigers had an early 17-6 advantage. Plattsburg pushed that lead to 26-13 at the break, but West Platte fought back in the second half.
Trailing by three with less than four minutes to go, West Platte eventually took a lead, but regulation ended with a tie at 39. Pattison had more than half of the Lady Blue Jays’ points – heading into the extra period with 20 points – and was the leading scorer in the contest as she didn’t score in overtime.
The Lady Blue Jays took control in overtime and led 44-43 in the final minute, but the Lady Tigers had the ball with one last shot at pulling off the upset. Avery Mumm took a bad pass from the sideline and had to run it down in the backcourt but recovered and started to run a play.
With right over 10 seconds to play, Letecia Howard had the ball and dribbled towards the right wing where Sam Baker and Pattison double teamed her. She skipped the ball to the opposite side and Julia James was ready to catch and shoot – which she did – and knocked down the shot with six seconds on the clock.
Madisyn Matlick made both of West Platte’s two 3-pointers to end with six points on Feb. 23.
West Platte called a timeout to set up a play, but the final shot was no good with Matlick and Shepardson walking off the high school basketball court for one final time. West Platte was cold from deep – shooting two of 21 from behind the arc – as Matlick was responsible for both triples to make all six of her points.
“What the young ladies did for this program over the past four years is often overlooked, but it shouldn’t be. What I’ve witnessed is nothing short of remarkable, they took a program that was largely unsuccessful and turned it into something they should be really proud of,” Kruse said.
Pattison shot nine-of-24 from the field to carry West Platte with 20 points, three rebounds and seven steals. Avery Holmes forced six steals and Baker added four steals, while Shepardson ended her West Platte career with 12 points, six rebounds, one steal and one block.
Colby Shepardson ended her West Platte career with 12 points, six rebounds, one steal and one block
Kruse built this program from the ground up, improving in wins every season. In his first two years, West Platte went from 2-20 to 8-14 before surpassing double digit wins last winter and this season.
Knocking on the door of a .500 finish, the Lady Blue Jays ended with a 12-13 record last year and won a postseason game for the first time since 2014. This year, West Platte ended with its first winning record and highest finish in the KCI Conference in more than two decades and had at least 10 wins for only the third time since 2009.
“The girls never quit; they didn’t cut corners. They showed up every day, got better and now future Blue Jays will benefit from what they have built,” Kruse said.
A big part of this program being built was Kruse’s commitment to also coach the middle school girls, so he was able to ease the transition once they got into high school. While the future is up in the air for who will be coaching the Lady Blue Jays, they are in a good position with multiple talented athletes who will be returning.