North Platte head coach Bradyn Kemper and Mid-Buchanan head coach Bryce Kemper - who are father and son - share a hug following the Panthers first-round win over the Dragons in the KCI Conference Tournament at Penney High School on Dec. 5.
HAMILTON – The KCI Boys’ Basketball Tournament was action-packed, starting with a son defeating his dad for the first time as a head coach and ending with North Platte (4-1) erasing an early deficit to take down West Platte (2-2) for third place.
For the first time since 2015, North Platte and West Platte met up in the early season tournament with a third-place finish at stake at Penney High School on Dec. 9. It’s been four years since the rivals were on the same side of the bracket following the first round and this was the Panthers’ best finish in the tournament since winning it all in 2004.
Prior to the trip to the third-place game, North Platte hadn’t won any game in the KCI Conference Tournament since 2015, being double eliminated every year in between. Clinching a top-4 seed in the tournament was helpful and head coach Braydn Kemper matched up with his alma mater Mid-Buchanan (4-3), which is coached by his father, Bryce Kemper.
North Platte sophomore Brenden Matt scored 17 points in the Panthers 49-45 comeback win in the KCI Conference Third-Place Game.
Prior to this game, the Kempers had played each other four times with the Dragons winning each one: two 35-point margins in 2021-22, followed by scores of 52-43 and 44-42 last season. North Platte had lost 11 straight matchups to Mid-Buchanan dating back to Jan. 30, 2016 – when the Panthers’ head coach was still in high school – but that changed with a 72-63 triumph thanks to a career-high 29 points and eight 3-pointers from Brenden Matt on Dec. 5.
On that same night, West Platte opened tournament play with a 57-37 win over Lathrop (1-6) when three guys scored in double figures, led by Miles McHenry who shot 8-of-11 from the field to end with 18 points and 10 rebounds. Drake Montez scored 10 points and Jonah McGivern had 12 points, five assists and three steals.
The second round was a rough outing for the two KCI Conference schools that reside in Platte County as they lost by lopsided scores on Dec. 7. Top-seeded Plattsburg (4-1) beat North Platte 63-44 and No. 2 seed East Buchanan (4-1) defeated West Platte 63-35.
North Platte’s Dylan Armstrong goes up for a layup at Penney High School.
In the third-place game, West Platte took an early 11-3 lead thanks to some hot shooting. Gunner Smith, Cohen Kite and Kane Cogan all let it rain from deep in the opening minutes and McGivern scored the last four points of the first quarter to make the score 15-6.
Matt scored the first seven points for the Panthers in the second quarter to help cut the margin down to 24-19 late in the first half. McGivern was fouled with 0.1 seconds on the clock and split the free throws to give the Blue Jays a five-point lead at the break.
After Montez scored a layup with 7:04 on the third quarter clock, West Platte’s offense failed to make a shot from the field until there were 17 seconds left. In the meantime, North Platte marched back and tied the game at 29 with 1:33 left with a shot from the left corner by Matt.
Coen Rainsbarger knocked down a 3-pointer from the right wing with 45 seconds left to give the Panthers their first lead. Kite scored a putback layup on the other side as the Blue Jays trailed 32-31 entering the fourth quarter.
The final eight minutes were tight and Montez brought West Platte back with a clutch triple, tying the game at 43 with 1:26 left. Snook hit a deep, go-ahead 3-pointer on the next possession for North Platte and Creek Johnson came up big with a press-breaking layup and block down the stretch.
West Platte senior Miles McHenry had two points on Dec. 9.
McGivern scored a layup and Hunter Palmer split a pair of free throws in the last seconds to make the final score 49-45. This was the first time since Dec. 3, 2011, that the Panthers beat the Blue Jays in the KCI Conference Tournament and their first time beating the rival in any capacity since doing so in districts in 2019.
Matt led all scorers with 17 points to go with three assists and three steals whereas Snook shot 4-of-8 from deep to end with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Cogan made three triples for the Blue Jays, leading his team with 11 points – which was a career-best.
It won’t be long until there’s a rematch of this one; the Blue Jays host the Panthers in the start of conference play on Dec. 15. Before that, North Platte headed to Mound City (1-3) and West Platte took on Kansas City Lutheran (2-1) on Dec. 12.