In the North Platte Invitational, the Lady Panthers ran into a team who had won 47 consecutive games ahead of tip-off on Jan. 29.
North Platte senior Josie Roach, above, scored a floater with three seconds left in the first half to make the first Panther field goal of the second quarter when Platte Valley led 28-13 at the break of the North Platte Invitational Girls’ Championship Game on Jan. 29.
In a cutthroat tournament from top to bottom, the North Platte girls’ basketball team (15-5) advanced to the championship and were tasked with taking on the reigning Class 1 State Champions in Platte Valley (17-0). Platte Valley relied on a strong second quarter to thrust a double-digit margin, which eventually ended in a 45-22 loss by the Panthers.
North Platte kept it competitive early – specifically in the first 7:59 minutes of the game – as it never trailed by more than two possessions. Six of the Panthers’ 10 first quarter points came from the free throw line with their first field goal being when Josie Roach made a floater with 1:45 remaining in the first quarter.
Kenedie Summers converted on a layup with 24 seconds left to close the gap, 13-10, but Platte Valley beat the buzzer with its second 3-pointer of the period, which ignited a 15-1 run. The Panthers had an offensive drought in the following quarter as they only scored three points – all of which were by Roach – and didn’t make a field goal until there was three seconds left in the half as North Platte trailed 28-13 at the break.
“You can’t have stretches like that where you don’t score against a team like that, it’s not going to work,” North Platte head coach Karl Matt said. “Part of the reason we didn’t score is because they are so big and really good inside. We had some shots and didn’t make them, but we had a good effort.”
The Panthers’ offense improved in the third quarter, but Platte Valley continued to pour out points to increase its lead. Gracelynn Hoffman sank a shot from downtown and Lindsay Ramsey scored a fast break layup and a free throw, but North Platte trailed 45-22 with one quarter to go.
“We tried a few different things, but we just didn’t make shots. We are 15-5 now and all games we’ve lost, we’ve had stretches where we didn’t hit shots,” Matt said.
Platte Valley sailed to another North Platte Invitational first place finish and the Panthers ended in second place. Gracie Ramsey and Roach were both selected to the all-tournament team after having impressive outings throughout the tournament.
North Platte was the No. 3 seed and matched up with Plattsburg (9-9) in the opening round in the second matchup with the KCI opponent in six days. The Panthers defeated the Tigers 51-37 on Jan. 25 before beating the No. 2 seed Polo (14-5) 53-46 on Jan. 27.
“Beating Plattsburg on Tuesday was a good win and Polo was 14-3 coming into that matchup, so that was a really nice win to get. It was a good week overall and we ran into a great team that we played with for awhile, and we have a few more weeks until districts, so hopefully we can get to that level,” Matt said.