West Platte senior Klaira Groom shoots a contested layup against East Buchanan in the blowout courtwarming win on Feb. 9.
WESTON – On courtwarming, the West Platte girls’ basketball team (12-10) got back to .500 in the KCI Conference play, regaining momentum ahead of postseason play with a comfortable 43-25 win over East Buchanan (11-13) on Feb. 9.
It hasn’t been as smooth of a season as West Platte has hoped, starting the year 1-5 and having offensive struggles from times but the Lady Blue Jays are rolling with district right around the corner. They’ve won six of their last seven games, which included a 5-game winning streak.
West Platte capped that win streak off with a 43-24 victory over DeKalb (9-11) on Feb. 5. That was the first time that McKenzie Reagan coached against her old team.
West Platte was in control all night, forcing 27 turnovers and scoring 12 points in transition. Julia Pattison, Avery Holmes and Zoe Stigman combined for 17 of the 21 steals.
Pattison also led the way on offense, putting together a stat line of 20 points, five rebounds and four assists. Sam Baker made the teams only 3-pointer on the night and had 13 points, along with two steals.
West Platte’s 5-game winning streak was snapped on the road by one of the best teams in Class 3, Lathrop (22-0). The Lady Blue Jays only scored six points in the first half and lost 43-25 on Feb. 6.
The away team shot 6-of-31 from the field and turned the ball over 20 times. Pattison finished with nine points and Holmes had six points.
West Platte bounced back against East Buchanan, taking down the KCI foe for the second time in the last three years and moving to 3-3 in the conference. The Lady Blue Jays le 9-4 after one quarter and slowly built onto that lead en route to the 18-point triumph.
Pattison shot 4-of-6 from the field and 5-of-6 from the charity stripe to score 13 points, along with forcing four steals. Holmes knocked down one of her three tries from behind the arc to give her seven points.
Maddison McMillan and Catelyn Carlston both scored six points and Blair McHenry added five points. Carlston also had three steals and one block.
West Platte only had one more game in the regular season after that one, a matchup with Plattsburg (14-10) on Feb. 13. The Lady Blue Jays will have a short turnaround before the Class 2 District 15 Tournament, which will be at North Platte High School.
West Platte is the No. 4 seed and will kick off the postseason against Barstow (7-11) on Feb. 19. With a win, the Lady Blue Jays would advance to the semifinals to take on top-seeded University Academy Charter (18-4) on Feb. 21.