West Platte senior Avery Holmes backs down a Mid-Buchanan defender in the opening round of the KCI Conference Tournament in the Lady Blue Jays’ 36-34 loss on Dec. 2.
WESTON – The West Platte girls’ basketball team (0-3) has been on the wrong side of three consecutive one-score games to start the season, losing all by a combined four points.
The start of the McKenzie Regan era has yet to see a victory, but each game came down to the wire. In every game so far, West Platte has trailed by double digits and fought back.
In the 42-41 season opening loss to Cameron (6-1) back on Nov. 20, the Lady Blue Jays had a rough second quarter being outscored 12 to five. West Platte headed into the locker room trailing 29-20 and was down by as much as 15 points but rallied back in the second half.
Cameron only scored one point in the third quarter and entered the fourth quarter behind 31-30. There were opportunities for both teams down the stretch before the away squad survived.
Free throws were a big difference on the night as Cameron converted 12-of-21 and West Platte only shot 6-of-15. Julia Pattison was responsible for four made free throws – on five attempts – and led her team with 14 points, followed by Sam Baker who knocked down a pair of triples and had 11 points in her junior debut.
West Platte had a bit of a break before its second game, a trek to Hamilton to play in the KCI Conference Tournament at Penney High School. The No. 3 seed was without Pattison – who was briefly injured – in the first round and sixth-seeded Mid-Buchanan (4-3) pulled off the upset with a buzzer beating layup on Dec. 2
The first half was tight with the Lady Blue Jays leading 18-17 at the break before the Lady Dragons had a big third quarter to lead 32-24 with one quarter to play. West Platte outscored Mid-Buchanan 10 to two until the final moments.
With the game tied at 34, Mid-Buchanan had the ball on the opposing side with 14 seconds left and after crossing half court on multiple passes, London Wilson drove in to make a layup as time expired to send West Platte home with a first-round loss in the KCI Conference Tournament for the first time since 2020. The Lady Blue Jays knocked down five 3-pointers at a 23.8 percent rate, which is a season best in both regards.
Avery Holmes shot 3-of-8 from downtown to score nine points and Catelyn Carlston added a triple to end with eight points. Baker was big on both sides of the court, having six points and forcing eight steals.
West Platte matched up with Plattsburg (2-1) in the consolation side of the bracket on Dec. 6. It was another night that the Lady Blue Jays struggled to score – ending the contest shooting 26.5 percent from the field, 11.1 percent from behind the arc and 50 percent from the free-throw line – but they erased a 10-point deficit to take the lead in the fourth quarter.
Trailing by one with right under 40 seconds, Baker got a 3-point shot up and Pattison rebounded the miss and got fouled but missed both shots. The senior redeemed herself by forcing a turnover on the other side and West Platte called a timeout with 11.4 seconds left to draw up one last play.
Plattsburg played tough defense and Pattison had to force up a shot from around 15 feet out surrounded by three defenders as time expired and missed as West Platte fell by a score of 34-33, being eliminated from the tournament with its second loss. Pattison impressed in her return, tallying 12 points, nine rebounds, four assists and two steals.
Holmes and Baker both scored six points and Blair McHenry ended with five points and nine rebounds. Baker recorded two more steals to put her at 12 total on the year.
West Platte has fallen to 0-3 for the first time since 2018 and looked to turn that around when they hit the road to take on Kansas City Lutheran (1-2) on Dec. 12. KCI Conference play officially begins when North Platte (5-1) comes to town on Dec. 15.