North Platte junior Lindsay Ramsey has led her team in scoring early on this season.
DEARBORN – Being eliminated in the district semifinals for the last four seasons, the North Platte girls’ basketball team is hoping to claim its first district championship since 2019.
Having posted a combined 39-16 record in 2022 and 2023, North Platte’s upperclassmen are equipped with winning. There are six players who will likely see the starting lineup throughout the year.
“Brianna DeBord is our point guard; Allyson Smith and Kenedie Summers are guards; and Lindsay Ramsey is kind of a guard-forward combo,” North Platte head girls’ basketball coach Ryan Davis said. “Then we have Camryn Kersten and Makenna Cartwright at forward. They all have starting qualities.”
North Platte claimed a top-2 seed in the Class 2 District 15 Tournament each of the last two seasons and was upset both times. The Lady Panthers haven’t forgotten that and have a solid squad with high hopes in the postseason to make a run.
“There’s a lot of girls who return that were contributors on those teams and they obviously remember that but with graduating a bunch of seniors, you have different leadership groups and different playstyles. In a way, a lot of things are different, but there’s a lot that carries over and there’s a unique kind of a hybrid between the two,” Davis said.
Ramsey comes in as one of the most experienced players, being a KCI Conference Honorable Mention after averaging nine points, five rebounds and three steals a game as a sophomore. She has made a huge impact on both sides of the court and leads the way defensively as North Platte only allowed 23 points per game through its first two games of the year.
“That can be a strength of ours; we can play a lot of different defenses. We have guards who can be long, athletic and could cause trouble,” Davis said.
North Platte is aiming to have an 8-player rotation with sophomore Kate Wolf and junior Marissa Wortham coming off the bench. The Lady Panthers are off to a solid start so far and plan to keep that rolling all winter.
“We’re just going to take it one game at time. We’ll see as we go but looking forward to another quality team here at North Platte and another good year in the KCI,” Davis said.