In a game that saw a 14-point deficit, the Platte County girls’ basketball team (11-6) had a chance to force overtime against Kearney (7-10), but Joslyn Hupp’s shot from the right corner bounced off the rim at the buzzer and the Lady Pirates fell 45-42 on Jan. 26.
Platte County was down by 14 points at the break and trailed by six in the final minute to Kearney. The Lady Pirates fought back to tie the contest at 37 with a layup by Haley Barlow with 4:03 to play before Kearney hit two straight triples.
Platte County was in the bonus with fouls and after Kearney missed the front end of a one-and-one free throw, Lauren Stone – who was questionable to play ahead of the game due to an ankle injury – made her second trey of the night with 40 seconds left. Kearney turned the ball over on the inbound play and Lydia Doole attempted to tie the game with a shot from behind the arc, which was no good, but Platte County ended up with the loose ball on the rebound and Stone made a pull-up jumper.
After Stone went on a 5-0 run by herself, Kearney called a timeout with 23.5 seconds left with a narrow 43-42 lead. Lady Bulldog junior JoJo Kutch sunk a pair of free throws to go up by three points and Hupp’s final shot to extend the game was no good.
Platte County’s Haley Barlow defends a Kearney player in the first quarter of the Lady Pirates 45-42 loss on Jan. 26.
Hupp would have potentially had a team-high in points if she knocked down the shot as she had nine points, only trailing Barlow who had 10 points. Stone and Addy Schlake both finished with eight points as Stone made both of her shots from downtown as the rest of the Lady Pirates went 1-12 from deep.
Platte County actually started the game off strong, leading a majority of the opening frame, but Kearney took a tight 12-11 margin entering the second quarter. Hupp scored a bucket with right under six minutes left to bring the game within one point, but the Lady Bulldogs scored 12 straight before going up 29-15 at the break.
This game had huge postseason implications on the line with both teams being at the top of the standings in the Class 5 District 8 Tournament. Smithville (10-7) is also in the mix but Kearney and Platte County both beat the Lady Warriors, so the Lady Bulldogs were put in the driver’s seat for tiebreakers for district standings with this victory.
Platte County only has five games left in the regular season, with two home games and three road games to go. The Lady Pirates host Grain Valley (14-4) on Feb. 6 for their next contest.