West Platte junior Sam Baker (#5) shoots a 3-pointer over North Platte senior Camryn Kersten (#33) at West Platte High School on Dec. 15.
WESTON – Following a close first quarter, the North Platte girls’ basketball team (7-1) slowly but surely pulled away from West Platte (1-4) by taking and making smart shots en route to a 56-36 triumph on Dec. 15.
KCI Conference play officially began with this contest between rivals that know each other well. Since the 2020-21 season, North Platte holds a 6-3 advantage over West Platte in the nine meetings with the most recent one being the biggest margin of victory in that time frame.
The contest was tight in the beginning with West Platte only trailing 10-8 after eight minutes of play. North Platte went on a 16-6 run in the second quarter and led 26-14 at halftime.
The Lady Blue Jays were only outscored by three points in the third quarter, but the margin reached 20 points by the time the final buzzer sounded. The Lady Panthers were hot from downtown on the night, shooting 7-of-12.
Many of the team stats were relatively close as both teams had 13 turnovers and nearly the same foul count, points off turnovers and points in transition with the offensive efficiency being a big factor. Simply put, North Platte shot the ball better than West Platte did.
The road team made 56.4 percent of its shots from the field, whereas the home team only shot 13-of-37, which comes out at a 35.1 percent rate. West Platte junior Sam Baker shot 3-of-6 from deep, and the rest of her team went 0-4 from behind the arc.
North Platte senior Kenedie Summers was an efficient scorer, leading the contest with 20 points on 8-of-10 shooting and 4-of-5 from three. Lindsay Ramsey had 11 points and MaKenna Cartwright had 10 points as the duo shot 50 percent or higher from the field.
Allyson Smith didn’t miss a shot, ending with 10 points and two steals. Camryn Kersten had five points and Brianna DeBord played the most minutes and didn’t turn the ball over once.
Baker led West Platte with 13 points and tied with Avery Holmes with three steals. Julia Pattison ended with 10 points and Blair McHenry had nine points.
Although there isn’t another matchup on the schedule, these teams have two more chances to meet this season. They will both be in the North Platte Invitational Tournament in late January and will compete in the same district in late February.
Next up for West Platte is a matchup with Kingsville (3-4) in the Twelve Courts of Christmas at Hy-Vee Arena on Dec. 21. North Platte will take on Tarkio with Fairfax (2-5) at the St. Joseph Civic Arena for the final game of 2023 on Dec. 21.