North Platte senior Kruise Patch, above, made six 3-pointers in the Panthers losses to North Andrew and Plattsburg last week.
After winning six of their last nine games, the Panthers have lost consecutive games for the first time in the 2022 calendar year.
The North Platte basketball team (7-10) fell to the likes of North Andrew (11-7) and Plattsburg (13-4) this past week after a fifth place finish in the Osborn Tournament brought them to a game within .500. Both losses were against tough opponents, starting with North Andrew on Jan. 17.
North Platte had a massive offensive outpour in the fourth quarter when the Panthers hosted the Cardinals but it was too little, too late. In the last eight minutes of the contest, North Platte outscored North Andrew 21-3, but the Panthers entered the final period with a 34-point deficit.
The Panthers scored exactly 10 points in each of the first three quarters and the Cardinals’ offense – which shot nearly 50 percent from the field in the game – poured out 46 first half points and 18 points in the third quarter.
Kruise Patch continued his hot shooting from downtown as the senior sunk four of his attempts to lead his team with 14 points. Westin Snook converted on three of his six treys when the freshman finished with nine points and four rebounds.
The next opponent that North Platte had to take on was one of the top KCI teams so far this season in Plattsburg - who had rattled off five straight victories ahead of the matchup on Jan. 21. After leading 23-14 after one, Plattsburg had two massive quarters when it outscored North Platte 17-4 and 30-13.
The Tigers went on to defeat the Panthers 74-40 when Patch knocked down a pair of 3-pointers to give the senior 12 points. Landon Bartlett shot an efficient five of six from the charity stripe when the point guard had seven points, three assists and two steals.
The Panthers are in the midst of one of the toughest parts of their season schedule as they are hosting a juggernaut of a tournament at North Platte High School where North Platte is the lowest seed. Seven of the eight teams will enter the tournament with an above .500 record.