Platte County’s Morgan Stewart, above, scored eight first half points against Smithville on Feb. 21
In what could be a preview of the district semifinals, the Platte County girls’ basketball team (8-13) matched up with Smithville (17-7) on Feb. 21.
With the Warriors being the No. 1 seed in the Class 5 District 8 Tournament and the Pirates being the No. 4 seed, the Red Division rivals could meet again on Feb. 28 if both teams win their first postseason contest. In the second to last regular season game for Platte County, Smithville came out on top 45-34.
The Pirates’ offense took some time before it started clicking as Platte County was scoreless in the opening 4:08 of the contest. Trailing 7-0, Kiersten Robbins found Joslyn Hupp for a layup and the Warriors sank four 3-pointers in the opening frame to take an 18-5 margin.
Morgan Stewart and Amaira Peterson converted on a pair of shots from downtown to start the second quarter off strong for the visiting team. Stewart capped off her impressive first half - where she scored eight points - by converting on three free throws after being fouled on a 3-point attempt and Smithville led 28-18 at halftime.
The Pirates narrowly chipped the deficit down to nine points at the end of the third quarter, but the Warriors pushed the lead up to as much as 16 in the fourth quarter. Stewart and Peterson both made a shot from behind the arc in the final 1:14, but it wasn’t enough as the Warriors pulled off the 11-point victory.
Platte County will have one more regular season game at Pembroke Hill (9-12) with a chance to reach .500 in the conference on Feb. 23. After that, the postseason will begin as the Pirates take on Van Horn (7-14) on Feb. 26 at 1 p.m. at Platte County High School.