When the clock struck zero in the North Platte Junior High Gymnasium on Jan. 28, the Panthers’ boys’ basketball team (8-12) surpassed the seven-win mark for the first time in six seasons.
In the loaded North Platte Invitational, the Panthers dropped a pair of games against Mound City (18-0) and Platte Valley (11-6) early before taking on Polo (9-8) in the seventh-place game. In a contest with large postseason implications on seeding in the Class 2 District 15 Tournament, North Platte came out with a big 61-55 win.
“That was a huge game; we were looking at the matchup and looking at seedings and I told our boys that we are fighting for that four or five seed,” North Platte head coach Braydn Kemper said. “For us to go get that win to avoid having to start postseason play against a top-3 seed in our district is really big for us, the boys played well tonight.”
North Platte senior Riley Hyde, above, passes out of a Polo double-team in the Panthers 61-55 win in the North Platte Invitational Seventh Place Game at North Platte Junior High Gymnasium on Jan. 28.
The first half was a back-and-forth battle that included six lead changes and two ties in the second quarter alone. When Polo took a 28-26 lead with 2:30 left in the first half, North Platte’s defense shut out its opponent for the rest of the second quarter and never trailed for the rest of the night.
The Panthers scored five points in the final minute of the half to retake the lead starting when Kruise Match made a shot from downtown. With 33 seconds left, Landon Bartlett scored a fast break layup and North Platte went into the locker room with a 31-28 lead.
“Second half, we went to more of a man look and I think we did a good job in covering their flex offense. They burned us on that early, so we went to zone for a bit, but then we went back to man and our boys really locked in on defending the paint – I told them before the game, if we win the paint battle, we are going to win the game and I’m pretty sure we won the paint battle,” Kemper said.
When Polo narrowed the deficit to one-point midway through the third quarter, North Platte rattled off eight straight points to take its largest lead of the night: 46-37 with 2:13 remaining. Kaden Mullendore sunk a 3-pointer, Bartlett made a free throw and Riley Hyde scored back-to-back buckets.
Polo closed the gap with a buzzer beater 3-pointer, and it trailed 50-46 entering the final frame, but North Platte never faltered. With 5:14 left, Polo knocked down two straight jumpers to tie the game at 54, but North Platte called timeout and closed out the game on a seven to one run.
“That is a team with a winning record, so anytime you do that it is a huge win. I think our boys are motivated and excited to get a win like that to push us to eight wins, which I love and the team loves,” Kemper said.
The Panthers seventh place finish in their home tournament gave North Platte its second win against a Class 2 District 15 opponent this season as it also defeated Osborn (12-8) 47-40 on Jan. 3. The Panthers next contest will be at home against Lawson (7-13) on Feb. 4.