The West Platte girls’ basketball team rushes half court to celebrate after junior Blair McHenry beat the buzzer to take down top-seeded University Academy at North Platte High School on Feb. 21 and send the Lady Blue Jays to their first district championship game since 1996.
DEARBORN – The clock was ticking, the gym was rocking and the ending of the Class 2 District 15 Girls’ Semifinals was one for the ages on Feb. 21.
Nearly three decades had passed since the last time West Platte (15-10) had reached a district championship and it took a March Madness-like finish to end the 28-year drought. Having a 13-point lead slowly slip away against top-seeded University Academy (18-6), West Platte was officially in trouble when Julia Pattison missed two free throws and fouled out on the rebound with 55.9 seconds to play.
Madison McMillan, another West Platte senior starter, fouled out two defensive possessions later when University Academy guard Anonda Ford drew a foul and scored a bucket inside and tied the game at 42. Luckily for the Lady Blue Jays, the free throw was missed, and they were able to call a timeout on offense with 10.1 seconds left.
Following a ball reversal from the left baseline to the right corner, Avery Holmes passed it back to Sam Baker at the wing and the junior let it fly from deep. The shot went short, landing in the outstretched hands of Blair McHenry in the paint.
The sophomore put the ball back up – without using the backboard – and it ricocheted from the back of the rim to the front of the rim, getting the friendly bounce and rolling in. What was McHenry’s only two points ended up being the most important points: the game-winning buzzer beater.
“We had a couple that fouled out late, our point guard (Julia Pattison) being one of them, and we talked about even if things kind of break down, don’t give up on what you’re trying to do,” West Platte head girls’ basketball coach McKenzie Reagan said. “It’s been a while since this team has been in a district championship and we’re not going to be satisfied with that.”
While the district semifinals went down to the wire, West Platte never trailed and led 23-11 at the break. University Academy made three shots from behind the arc in a 2-minute stint late in the third quarter to make it a 2-point game going into the fourth.
“They made some adjustments on offense, trying to hit people in the middle of our zone and that took us a minute to adjust to that. They started going to their main people, and we kind of forgot the people that we need to take things away from and force others to do things for their team,” Reagan said.
Baker shot 8-of-14 from the charity stripe to end with 14 points – the most she scored in any of the postseason games this year – along with five rebounds and four steals. Pattison scored 16 points on 6-of-13 shooting from the field, five rebounds and two assists.
The year was 1996 when West Platte last played for a district title, a solid decade before any of the current players were even born. Although this program hasn’t been in that big of a game in a long time, Reagan has coached in a district championship on more than one occasion when she was at DeKalb.
“I’ve never won one and I’ve been in the position many times; you can’t go away from the things you’ve been doing all season that have been successful, you have to stay in your identity. Obviously, we’ll make tweaks here and there based on our opponent, but that’s the key, just stay true to who we are and what we do well,” Reagan said.
In West Platte’s biggest game of the 21st century, it faced off with North Platte (22-5) – which not only hosted the tournament but entered the night with four straight wins of 20 or more points – in the district championship on Feb. 23.
The Lady Blue Jays started off strong thanks to three first-quarter triples by Holmes to put them ahead 15-8 but the offense cooled off. They didn’t make a field goal in the second quarter and only scored 15 second half points, coming up short, 40-32.
Before this year, the Lady Blue Jays only had two postseason wins since 2013 and they matched that total in the 2024 Class 2 District 15 Tournament alone. Pattison, Holmes and McMillan highlight the large senior class that led West Platte to three consecutive years of double-digit victories and back-to-back winning seasons, neither of which has happened since the 90’s.