Platte County’s Reese Pickett scored nine points against Benton in the first round of the Savannah Tournament on Nov. 29.
The Platte County girls’ basketball team (0-2) struggled against Benton (2-0) in the opening round of the 93rd Annual Savannah Invitational Tournament when the Pirates fell to the Cardinals 50-23 on Nov. 29.
The Cardinals opened the contest with the first 13 points until Lauren Stone scored a fast break layup with less than a minute remaining in the first quarter. Reese Pickett knocked down a pair of jump shots to start the second quarter, but Benton poured out 18 points to take a 31-11 lead at the break.
Morgan Stewart also hit a shot from behind the arc and Joslyn Hupp converted on one of her three attempts at the charity stripe in the second period. The third quarter was the Pirates’ lowest scoring period when they only scored four points – a turnaround layup from Amaira Peterson with 7:37 remaining and a layup from Pickett with 1:11 left.
Trailing 40-15 entering the final quarter, Platte County matched Benton with six points in the first four minutes with a pair of two-point jumpers from Pickett and Mackenzie Shields, along with a Kiersten Robbins layup. The Pirates only scored one more bucket in the contest as Peterson converted on two free throw attempts.
Pickett led Platte County with nine points, including one 3-pointer, followed by Peterson with four points. The Pirates will take on Maryville in the next round of the tournament on Nov. 31 at 4 p.m. at Savannah High School.