A high-scoring third quarter when the Knights outscored the Panthers 20 to 10 was a large factor in the North Platte boys’ basketball team’s (1-1) first loss of the 2021 season when it was defeated 61-46 by Kansas City Lutheran (1-0) on Nov. 30.
For the second straight game to start the season, the Panthers found themselves scoreless and trailing early. In the season opener victory over Midway on Nov. 23, North Platte trailed 12-0, and it fell down 8-0 in the home opener until Landon Bartlett drove into the lane and scored a layup with 4:20 remaining in the first quarter.
North Platte senior Landon Bartlett, above, scored a layup with 4:20 remaining to give the Panthers their first bucket after trailing 8-0 in the home opener.
“We talked a lot to them after the game about our practices,” North Platte head coach Braydn Kemper said. “We have to take our practices more seriously from the get-go because that led to us starting a game slow again, but we are going to learn from it and get better.”
Bartlett scored another layup and knocked down a 3-pointer and Noah Heckman scored a basket and a free throw to help narrow the margin 12-11 at the end of the opening quarter. North Platte freshman Westin Snook came off the bench and gave the Panthers a spark offensively in the second quarter.
“We brought the intensity a little bit better after we initially started. When we get the intensity going on the defensive end, I think that gets our offense going, but I’m proud of the way our guys kept fighting,” Kemper said.
When the Panthers trailed 14-12, Snook went on a 7-0 run by himself against the Knights as the freshman converted on a layup before banking in a 3-pointer and a turnaround 2-point jump shot to give North Platte its first lead. After trailing 19-14, KC Lutheran closed out the half to take a 29-24 lead at the break before it extended the lead in the third quarter to take a 49-34 margin over the Panthers entering the final quarter.
“You have to give them props, they were hitting shots. They were hitting threes, they executed their offense and did what they wanted to do perfectly,” Kemper said.
In the fourth quarter, the Knights and Panthers matched points early on before Bartlett took over for North Platte and scored eight straight points to narrow the deficit to 56-46 with 3:13 remaining in regulation. The Panthers were unable to find the inside of the hoop from that point on – with multiple shots going in and out – as the Knights knocked down some shots from the charity stripe to seal the game, 61-45.
“Landon is a great kid and a competitor; there were a few times I thought he was going to fall over because he was so tired, but that’s the kind of player he is. He’s a leader and is a building block for our program; to get to where we want to be we need other guys to buy in like he has,” Kemper said.