The Lady Pirates fell behind early to Smithville (9-5) and were unable to fully recover as the Platte County girls’ basketball team (4-9) fell to the Warriors 46-30 on Jan. 20.
Platte County junior Joslynn Hupp, above, drives into the paint against Smithville in the Lady Pirates 46-30 home loss on Jan. 20.
Smithville scored the first bucket of the game and after Joslyn Hupp tied the contest with a Platte County basket, the Warriors scored the next 12 points to close out the first quarter. Lydia Doole knocked down a 3-pointer and scored seven straight points for Platte County to start the second period and the Pirates began to chip at the deficit.
After Doole scored a fast break layup off a pass from Haley Barlow with 5:12 remaining in the first half, Smithville’s lead was 16-9. The Warriors scored five straight points and Morgan Stewart responded by knocking down a shot from behind the arc, and Platte County eventually went into its home locker room trailing 27-14 at the break.
The Warriors took a 20-point lead in the final three minutes of the third quarter, but Platte County closed the period out on a 6-0 run with three different Pirates scoring. Doole sunk another trey with 1:45 left, followed by Reese Pickett sinking one of her two free throw attempts with 1:20 on the clock and Hupp scored a layup with 21 seconds left.
Despite the late surge in the third frame to narrow the margin to 38-24, Platte County was unable to complete the comeback in the final eight minutes of action and lost by 16 points. Hupp led the Pirates with 11 points, while Doole scored 10 points off the bench for Platte County.