Coming off their best seasons in recent memory, the West Platte and North Platte boys’ and girls’ basketball teams had 10 combined players who were awarded postseason honors.
For the Lady Panthers, senior Gracie Ramsey and junior Jaylin Burgess were chosen on the Class 2 District 15 All-Tournament Teams. In the semifinal loss to Plattsburg, Ramsey scored 17 points to earn a spot on the first team and Burgess scored 12 points en route to being selected on the second team.
North Platte senior Kruise Patch was a KCI Honorable mention and made the second team in districts after making a total of 77 3-pointers this season.
Ramsey was the only Lady Panther who earned KCI All-Conference Honors, and she was a unanimous selection. Ramsey led North Platte to its best season in six years and to the No. 1 seed in the districts when she averaged 11 points, eight rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.7 steals in her senior campaign.
In a year where the North Platte boys’ basketball team had its most success since the 2015-16 season, the backcourt duo of Landon Bartlett and Kruise Patch were rewarded for their impressive performances on the basketball court. After falling to Maysville in the postseason - where Bartlett had seven points, five rebounds and five assists and Patch scored 22 points with four made shots from deep - the two seniors made the all-district second team.
Bartlett was selected to the KCI All-Conference Team, while Patch was an honorable mention after he made 76 total 3-pointers in his senior season as he averaged 13.5 points. Bartlett ended his career by scoring 12 points, grabbing 3.9 boards, dishing out 4.6 assists and snatching 2.1 steals a game.
“Landon is a great kid and a competitor,” North Platte head coach Braydn Kemper said about Bartlett earlier this season. “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.”
For West Platte, Julia Pattison and Colby Shepardson made it to the all-conference team when they gave the Lady Blue Jays’ basketball team one of its most successful seasons in program history. When West Platte fell in the district semifinal to Polo, the two Blue Jays played well enough to earn all-district honors after the Blue Jays had their first postseason win since 2014 – not counting last season’s forfeited victory due to COVID-19 protocols.
Despite never playing basketball until she was a freshman, Shepardson ended up being a huge asset for her team and was selected to the all-district first team, while Pattison was on the second team. In her senior campaign, Shepardson scored 12 points per game, while grabbing nine rebounds a game and having three steals a game.
“Colby was our most important player this season, when she played well, we typically had a favorable outcome,” West Platte head girls’ basketball coach John Kruse said. “She is one of the most improved players I’ve ever been around and was consistently one of our best defenders.”
Pattison was a key factor to West Platte’s season when the point guard averaged 11 points, five rebounds and three assists. She was an All-Conference Honorable Mention as well as All-District in her freshman season last year.
“Julia is the heart and soul of our team; she makes us go on both ends of the floor and had a very solid sophomore year on a much-improved team. Her scoring went up by four points a game from last year to this year, and all other statistical categories also increased,” Kruse said.
The West Platte boys’ basketball team ended in second place in the competitive KCI Conference and had three seniors – Tanner Rowe, Ryan Pattison and Mason Montez – make it to the all-conference team, while Charlie Kinslow was an honorable mention. Rowe and Montez also made the second team in the Class 2 District 15 Tournament after leading the Blue Jays to their second consecutive district championship game.
Rowe and Pattison were tied with 10.1 points per game as the leading West Platte scorers, while Montez averaged 8.6 points, 3.5 rebounds and 2.2 assists. In his junior campaign, Kinslow averaged 8.1 points, 3.8 rebounds and 2.5 assists.