West Platte sophomore Avery Holmes, above, made two 3-pointers against Troy on Feb. 1.
After a bit of a losing skid, the Lady Blue Jays have bounced back with consecutive victories.
Coming off a stretch where it lost eight of its last 10 games, the West Platte girls’ basketball team (9-11) set the tone early in back-to-back games to get one step closer to .500. West Platte defeated Troy 53-25 on Feb. 1, before taking down Lathrop (10-11) 45-35 on Feb. 4.
In the Blue Jays’ first game in the month of February, they jumped out to an early 16-3 lead in the opening frame that led them to a large margin of victory. Colby Shepardson led the way when the junior scored 12 points, grabbed five rebounds and dished out five assists.
Avery Holmes knocked down two of West Platte’s four shots from downtown, while Madisyn Matlick and Libby Vandel made the other two. Hailey Shepardson scored nine points in her seven minutes on the court.
In the conference matchup against Lathrop, West Platte took a double-digit lead early. The Mules trailed 16-6 entering the second quarter and progressively chipped at the deficit as the game went on.
The Blue Jays’ lead was cut down to three points with one quarter to go, but West Platte prevailed. Lathrop struggled to take care of the basketball, turning the ball over 28 total times in the contest.
West Platte had 17 steals with four players ending with three apiece, and Matlick led the team with four steals. Colby Shepardson scored 12 points again and added two blocks.
Matlick made four of her eight 3-point attempts and scored 14 points. Katie Groom ended with seven points, two rebounds and two assists.
West Platte has two regular season games remaining - both of which are against conference opponents at home. The Blue Jays host Plattsburg (10-9) on Feb. 11 and North Platte (17-5) on Feb. 15.
The Class 2 District 15 Tournament has recently released the standings. For the first time in recent history, the Blue Jays will have a top seed, as West Platte clinched the No. 3 seed.