The North Platte girls’ basketball team (19-6) dropped two straight conference games late in the regular season, while also earning the No. 2 seed in districts.
North Platte senior Jaylin Burgess finished with seven points in the 42-33 loss to East Buchanan on Feb. 10.
The Lady Panthers had a chance to finish towards the top of the competitive KCI Conference before losing 47-41 to Lathrop (14-8) on Feb. 7 and 42-33 to East Buchanan (19-4) on Feb. 10. Free throws were vital in the games as the Lady Panthers had less attempts in both.
North Platte played Lathrop twice this season and fell both times, including a 45-42 defeat in the KCI Conference Tournament. In the more recent matchup, the Lady Panthers had a season-high 20 turnovers, which was crucial in the contest.
“I was pleased with the team for correcting the issue that plagued them in the previous contest with Lathrop, which was rebounding,” North Platte head girls’ coach Ryan Davis said. “On this night, we outrebounded Lathrop 47 to 37.”
Lathrop also took advantage of the trips to the charity stripe – shooting 16-of-24 – while North Platte only shot six free throws. It was a relatively low scoring affair until the final frame as Lathrop led 13-9 after the first quarter and 22-19 at halftime.
The Lady Mules’ lead was 30-26 entering the fourth quarter and they held on to win by six, despite Lindsay Ramsey’s double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Brianna DeBord had nine points – thanks to shooting two-of-three from downtown – while Kenedie Summers had eight points.
North Platte went on to take on East Buchanan next, playing solid defense early. The Lady Panthers had an 8-5 advantage at the end of the first quarter and were up 18-13 at the break, but the Lady Bulldogs had strong end of quarter performances.
“We led throughout the game and played one of our best defensive games of the year. The end of the first two quarters ended up hurting us as Gracie Kelsey banked in a three at the end of the first quarter and another shot was made at the buzzer of the first half to cut into our lead,” Davis said.
North Platte led 30-26 heading into the last eight minutes, but East Buchanan hit a pair of triples on back-to-back possessions to take a lead and it never surrendered the advantage. The Lady Bulldogs went on to win by nine after having a higher shot percentage, fewer turnovers and less steals.
The Lady Panthers had 14 more shot attempts than the Lady Bulldogs, but North Platte didn’t shoot a single free throw opposed to its opponent shooting 25. Karli Guinn had 10 points and five rebounds and Jaylin Burgess finished with seven points.
North Platte will be the second seed in the Class 2 District 15 Tournament – which will be at North Platte High School – with a first-round matchup with Maysville (1-19) on Feb. 21. If the Lady Panthers win that game, they’ll play the winner of Polo (16-5) and Penney (1-22) on Feb. 23 at 7:30 p.m. with a chance to advance to the district championship, which will be on Feb. 25 at 1 p.m.