Platte County’s Morgan Stewart, above, knocked down four 3-pointers in the 12 Courts of Christmas at Hy-Vee Arena on Dec. 22.
The Lady Pirates were gifted their second win of the season in the 12 Courts of Christmas shoot-out when the Platte County girls’ basketball team (2-6) caught fire from downtown and defeated Cameron (6-3) 46-42 at Hy-Vee Arena on Dec. 22.
The Dragons flew into the contest with a six-game winning streak and jumped out to an early double-digit lead in the opening frame. After trailing 19-9, the Pirates’ offense got rolling in the second quarter by scoring the opening nine points and narrowed the deficit to five points at the break.
“I think there was a little bit of nerves with some time off and the facility that we aren’t used to playing in,” Platte County head coach Rebbeca Strobbe said. “It started with our defense getting stops; they didn’t score until a little over two minutes left so that really propelled us and gave us that energy that we needed.”
The second half is when Platte County’s hot shooting was at its best as 12 of the Pirates’ 17 points in the third quarter came from behind the arc. Morgan Stewart converted on three shots from downtown in the third period to help Platte County take its first lead of the game. Cameron regained the lead and then Amaira Peterson tied the contest at 34 with over one minute remaining, Lydia Doole knocked down another Pirate 3-pointer in the final seconds to help them regain the lead.
“We came up with a new defense the other day and our bench wasn’t as deep as it has been, but the girls that were playing played hard. Morgan (Stewart) was big with four 3-pointers tonight,” Strobbe said.
Stewart sunk another trey in the final frame and Reese Pickett knocked down a mid-range jumper and Platte County led 44-40 with 4:27 left in regulation. Cameron brought the game within one possession a minute later, and it was a defensive battle from then on.
Neither team made another basket from that point on and when the Pirates missed a free throw with less than 15 seconds remaining, the Dragons rebounded the ball and had a chance to tie the game or take the lead. With 10 seconds left, Haley Barlow poked the ball loose and Kiersten Robbins ended up with the ball and sealed the game with a pair of free throws after being fouled with four seconds remaining.
“We gave up a few offensive rebounds, but for the most part we did a good job of securing the ball and not allowing them extra opportunities to score. I attribute to the girls to know the personnel and the shooters and to get out on them,” Strobbe said.